The role of adults – the importance of adults in the lives of children and young people

The Omnimodel emphasizes the primary responsibility of adults for ensuring that children and young people experience a safe and positive upbringing and learning environment in both kindergartens and schools. Here you can read more about adult roles and the responsibilities that come with different types of adult roles. 

Adult roles and responsibilities that come with it

Children and young people meet adults in different roles from birth and on throughout their lives. They meet their parents in the role of parent. They meet other family members in the role of aunt, uncle or grandparents. They meet adults as employees in kindergarten and eventually in school who are in a professional care role. They meet volunteer adult leaders at the cultural school, after-school club or in the role of coach. In the different roles, adults have an impact on different parts of the upbringing arena. What happens in the different arenas mutually affects each other. This is the starting point for the holistic and systemic thinking that underlies the Omnimodel.

Adults who clearly show that they want children and young people to be well strengthen the trust that children and young people have in other adults in different adult roles. These are adults who are present, show that they like the child, follow up, keep their promises and show that they can always be trusted. Similarly, adults who break the trust of children, who offend, and who show through actions and attitudes that they do not like the child, will contribute to destroying the trust in all other adults as well. These may be adults who do not give the child the care they need. We can say that the ways in which adults handle different roles in one arena affect children's experience of adults in other arenas.

All adults have a shared responsibility to educate and to create safe and positive environments for children to grow up in. Through the Omnimodel, attention is drawn to the different adult roles and how adults can use their influence for the best interests of all children. 

Children's well-being - adults' responsibility

Just as children and young people are different, so are adults. Even though we can talk about roles such as mother, father, aunt, uncle, employees in kindergarten or school, children discover early on that adults are different and behave differently. Children see that adults, both family and employees, act differently depending on who they are with and where they are. Children also notice that they receive different responses from different adults, and that rules vary depending on where they are. They thus experience and learn that they can (and must) act differently towards different adults and in different arenas. They learn to navigate the social world. These mechanisms are called positioning themselves (Davis & Harré, 1990, p. 44). Through the response you receive from others, you adjust yourself and "negotiate" your place in the group you are a part of, for example your group of friends. This happens every time a new group is to be formed, or when you get to know a new person. 

The adults around children and young people must cooperate to ensure that kindergartens, schools and leisure environments are good places for children and young people to be. Children and young people come from different homes, homes that can be different in many ways. Regardless of which family the child comes from, both the Kindergarten Act and the Education Act state that there should be cooperation between home and kindergarten/school. The connection between home and kindergarten/school is thus recognized in both legislation and planning as important. The cooperation should be based on the best interests of the child, cf. Section 104 of the Constitution, while kindergarten/school should work to equalize social differences.  

The authoritative adult role – the balance between being clear and firm, and caring and generous

Pål Roland (2021) writes that a characteristic of authoritative adults is that they build good, warm relationships that they constantly nurture and maintain. At the same time, they make demands. The authoritative adult is thus an adult who meets children and young people with warmth and understanding in combination with clear demands and expectations. The demands made can be about behavior, it can be expectations for tasks to be performed or an assignment about something specific to be learned. The theory is about the two dimensions of warmth and relationship building on the one hand, and boundary setting and demands on the other (Ibid.). These work best when they are allowed to work together. This means that boundaries should be set with respect and they should be justified. Demands should be made based on how mature the child is, and the child should have participation. These are some of the important principles of the theory according to Roland.

The professional adult role

Employees in both kindergartens and schools have a professional adult role. Their job is to take care of children and young people's needs for care, play and learning every single day. Here, this is called the professional adult. 

The professional adult in kindergartens and schools has the necessary competence to work there, both personal qualities, kindergarten or school-related knowledge and practical skills. The professional adult knows the routines and procedures in his/her organization and follows them, but also works systematically to evaluate these. The employee has familiarized himself/herself with the framework for kindergartens/schools, is familiar with his/her responsibilities and fulfills them. The professional adult uses measures and strategies that can be justified professionally through (pedagogical) theory and research. Furthermore, she/he works systematically to follow up on the development of children and young people both as individuals and as part of the group, but also to develop the kindergarten/school as an organization. The professional adult also fulfills the duty to follow up (cf. the partial duties in Chapter 8 of the Kindergarten Act and Section 12-4 of the Education Act), and can implement necessary measures to prevent, intervene, stop or deal with violations or unwanted behavior. 

Parenting

Parents play a crucial role in creating safe and positive learning environments for their children, both at home and in collaboration with the school. Safe children learn and develop best when they experience support, structure and love from those closest to them. Parents are children's first role models and have a major influence on their attitudes, values and ability to cope with challenges.

An authoritative parenting style, which combines clear boundaries with warmth and empathy, is particularly important. Children need predictability and rules to feel secure, while also needing recognition and understanding of their feelings and needs. This balance creates a solid foundation that gives the child self-confidence and security in facing the world.

Parents also play an important role in building good relationships between home and school. By working closely with teachers and showing an interest in their child's school life, parents signal that education and well-being are valued. When parents support the school's work while also safeguarding the child's perspective, this contributes to a holistic and safe learning environment.

Building relationships is key. When parents invest time in talking to and listening to their children, it becomes easier to identify and address challenges, such as bullying or misbehavior, early on. At the same time, parents can foster community by encouraging friendship, respect, and inclusion among their children.

By being committed, caring and clear adults, parents lay the foundation for children's well-being, security and learning. Through cooperation, good boundaries and a warm relationship, parents can be a strong resource in creating an environment where children feel safe and motivated, both at home and at school.

Are we talking about parenting? When my child does something wrong to someone else, what do I do as an adult?

Parent meetings in kindergartens and schools must mainly deal with various issues surrounding the role of educators, such as:

• What is a good thing to do when my child has been mean to another child?
• What do I do when my child doesn't want to invite another child to their birthday party?
• What is a good idea to do when my child gets their first mobile phone?
• What does it mean to collaborate with the kindergarten/school?
• Why should I prioritize participating in parent meetings and volunteer activities?

(Nordland Anti-Bullying Ombudsman, 2024)

Requirements for the adult role for staff in kindergartens 

The framework plan for the kindergarten formulates requirements for what the staff should do to meet children's needs for care and play, and what they should do to promote education, learning, friendship and community, communication and language, and how the staff should work in Sami kindergartens and with Sami children.

The staff shall: 

• organize space, time and play materials to inspire different types of play
• contribute to children gaining shared experiences as a basis for play and facilitate the development of play themes
• promote an inclusive environment where all children can participate in play and experience joy in play
• observe, analyze, support, participate in and enrich play on the children's terms
• guide the children if the play leads to unfortunate interaction patterns
• be aware of and evaluate your own role and participation in children's play
• Take the initiative for play and actively contribute to everyone joining in the game. 

(Norwegian Directorate of Education, 2017)

The staff cannot therefore opt out of play, and must also actively engage in play every day. They must both facilitate play, take the initiative and actively contribute to play together with children, which requires both social competence and play competence from the individual employee.

Adult role requirements for school employees  

The overall part of the curriculum states the following about the teacher's role:

A teacher is a role model who is supposed to create security and guide students on their journey through education. The teacher is crucial for a learning environment that motivates and contributes to students learning and development. This requires that the teacher shows care for the individual student. This also means helping students who make unfortunate choices, do not feel included, or who struggle to learn what is wanted and expected. By working for unity and belonging among students, the teacher should help develop a culture of learning and provide students with academic and emotional support. https://www.udir.no/lk20/overordnet-del/

Social competence

Social competence is the key to well-being in the community, both in kindergartens and schools. But is it true that everyone who works in kindergartens and schools is aware of what social competence consists of? The Norwegian Directorate of Education has some explanations of terms in the support material for the framework plan for kindergartens that may be useful for employees' reflection on social competence:

• Self-esteem: experiencing self-worth, accepting oneself, feeling accepted, experiencing inner strength and having a positive attitude towards oneself
• Empathy: having an understanding of others' perspectives, thoughts and feelings, being able to empathize with others' situations, showing compassion and consideration, and being able to interpret and understand emotional expressions.
• Prosocial behavior: having positive, social attitudes and being able to perform actions such as encouraging, caring, showing care, helping, and sharing with others.
• Assertiveness: being able to assert oneself and one's own opinions in a good way, daring to resist peer pressure, taking the initiative and joining in on games and conversations that are already underway, participating uninvited and inviting others.
• Self-control: being able to adapt to different situations, handle conflicts and defer one's own needs and desires in situations that require turn-taking, compromises and joint decisions.

(Norwegian Directorate of Education, 2017)

These explanations of concepts are useful in working with children and young people, but also in the staff's self-reflection: How are the employees' self-esteem, empathy, prosocial behavior, assertiveness, and self-control?

Good for everyone, especially good for Hanne

Adults participating in play or other activities is good for all children and young people, but especially for children and young people who struggle to be part of the social community. Adults should be supporters and contributors, this applies to both professional adults and parents. Wood, DJ, Bruner, JS and Ross, G. (1976)) describes this type of adult role with the metaphor “Scaffolding”, where the employee contributes with a lot of active support at the beginning, but gradually reduces the support as the children or young people manage themselves (Wood, Bruner, and Ross, 1976). The employee’s contribution can also be about being the “safe base” (Bowlby, 1969; Hart & Schwartz, 2009), the safe adult on whom children and young people know they can top up their security account. Some children and young people may need a lot of support and presence from adults, while others need less. In any case, all children and young people will benefit from adults getting involved and being so close that everyone feels safe when they are in kindergarten or school, but also in leisure environments. Traditionally, the use of secure base and attachment theory has been linked to kindergarten and starting there, but in our work with children and young people, we as authors have found that these theories are of great use in all social contexts. 

When adults engage in actions/behavior that are perceived as offensive to children

The authors behind the Omnimodel meet many employees in kindergartens and schools through staff meetings, workshops and conversations. In many of the stories that are told, it is about adults who in one way or another end up offending children and young people, both through what they avoid doing and through active actions. There may be employees and parents who do not see that children are being excluded or bullied, who do not stop negative actions and offensive language. There may be employees who roll their eyes or shrug their shoulders in resignation when a child “once again” does things they should not have done, or who express satisfaction when a particular child/young person is not present in kindergarten or school that day. Through such actions or lack of actions, adults facilitate the fact that children are, or can be bullied in their everyday lives. 

When asked what employees think adult abuse is, examples include:  

• Use of negative body language, such as rolling your eyes 
• Physically, grab the children 
• Yelling at the child in front of others/alone 
• Negative talk about the child/family 

The fact that employees provide examples of adult abuse may mean that this is something employees are actively working to prevent. At the same time, employees express that it can be difficult to tell colleagues that their actions are not good. 

The topic of adult abuse can be discussed with parents and employees, what significance it has, and how it can be avoided. In the section on FFSS, you can read about how employees can actively work to prevent such abuse.