Art Education - Creativity

Art teachers, and teachers of many other disciplines, proclaim the nurturing of creativity as a principal component of their jobs. But definitions of creativity may vary considerably and what one individual sees as a creative exercise may seem to another to be rote learning of the simplest sort. In order to foster genuine creativity an art teacher must understand what creativity is and then develop the setting, attitudes, pedagogical style, and opportunities for children to develop their creativity. Although creativity is considered important in many subject areas--from learning to write to learning mathematics--it is often seen as the particular goal of art classes. But this does not mean that merely placing paint pot and paper in front of a child will nurture her/his latent creativity. In this discussion a definition of creativity is followed by an outline of various factors, largely under the art teacher's control, that are prerequisites for fostering creativity: the proper setting; students who are not inhibited by fear of freedom; a teaching style that blends acceptance, seriousness toward art productions, a sense of fun, and the absence of a desire to dictate acceptable outcomes; and, the time and materials for making art.

There are many different definitions of creativity. Even among arts educators who are "anxious to promote creativity in those [they] teach" because they believe that "all children are inherently creative and, moreover, [that] to be so is some

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t work counter to the needs of budding creativity. This counter-creative tendency may be most readily apparent in classrooms where teachers impose on their students "rote art lessons . . . aimed at imitating a 'model' fully prescribed by the teacher" (Bresler 93). But, sadly, many teachers who are aware of creativity's importance, are still unequipped to foster it, and they become determined to find it in any "unusual, strange, haphazard, or unexpected outcomes" or will see it in "products made by children which mirror those works of mature artists that [they] happen to admire" (14). First teachers must, of course, understand that creative thinking is something that can and should be nurtured and for many future classroom teachers this involves moving beyond the prevailing prejudice that "it permits children to do whatever they want, it has no goals, it causes mess and disruption, and it takes time away from teaching basic skills" (Saarilahti et al. 326). But teachers who are exposed to alternative approaches during their training can benefit from an introduction to the prerequisites for nurturing creativity in art classes. In terms of setting, teachers need to ensure that the space is adequate for the number of children, th

Category: Psychology - A