Instilling creativity in our students

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Am I creative or not? This is certainly not what we want our students to contemplate. Yet my experience has shown that most people would put themselves into one of two categories: creative or uncreative.  Educators must break this black and white thinking.  Do we overly praise students and adults who “produce” creative pieces, visual artwork, performing arts and writing pieces at the expense of other types of creativity? Do we put less emphasis on creative thinking or the exploration of ideas? Have you ever heard someone say, oh, you are so uncreative?  That wouldn’t be nice – however, unconsciously are you putting folks into creative vs. uncreative boxes? To instill creativity in students we may first need to adequately define it, as well as communicate its meaning through verbal recognition of it.

It would be my guess that from very early on my teachers must have put me in the “uncreative box.” I never associated creativity with school. I don’t ever remember being told I was creative or even encouraged to think creatively. My earliest recollection of school creativity was “show and tell” time in Kindergarten and playing in the dramatic play area. I loved art in elementary school, but all school exposure to the arts seemed to end there. I associated exposure to the arts and creativity more with my home life. Visits to museums, folk festivals, summer theater venues, and vast genres of literature were an important part of my upbringing. Rainy day projects, creative cooking, and made up games were also important at home. Any attempt to instill creativity in me began and unfortunately remained in the home. This all changed in my thirties when a professor of my masters program raved about the creativity of my lesson-plan presentation on using children’s literature to teach Spanish and culture to young children.  I shared that never in my life did I recall being referred to as creative, and we engaged in a conversation on creativity – its meaning, what it “looks like,” how important it to notice and acknowledge creativity in others. She changed my outlook on creativity, and enabled me to see myself as creative (and to realize I was creative before my 30s!!). This was a very important lesson for me as an educator/administrator. #1 it has enabled me to rely on and extend my own creative tendencies toward all my professional endeavors, and #2 I consciously work to recognize and encourage the creativity of others; have a better understanding of what encompasses creativity; and certainly do not categorize others as creative or uncreative.  So before we teach creativity in schools let’s ensure that all students believe in their creative potential (way before the age of 30). It is our job to lead the way. For additional ideas on developing “Creative Confidence,” I recommend this Ted Talk by David Kelly: How to build your creative confidence.  http://www.ted.com/talks/david_kelley_how_to_build_your_creative_confidence.html