Creativity and education *

There is a call for increased creativity on the part of individuals, groups and society as a whole. For when creativity is blocked the mind becomes frustrated, even angry, violent and destructive. But why should creativity appear to be so compromised in our modern world? By contrast creativity appears to be totally natural and spontaneous in children; in their play, dressing up, make believe and even play fighting. Why then does it become impoverished as they become adults? Creativity in children is its own reward but as they enter school they find themselves rewarded for the work they do. Soon seeking approval and reward becomes their motivation and so they begin to look at the work of others for clues as to the rules of success. The paper discusses ways in which children’s creativity can be fostered rather than blocked. Creativity has become one of those “buzz” words that everyone gives lip services to. Put the word “creativity” into the title of a book and it will be a best seller. People ask: How can creativity be fostered? Is it possible to give exercises for creativity? A program? A system of education? Is creativity something that can be trained or taught? You can certainly train people to carry out tasks in a better way, acquire new techniques and skills, and to accumulate new knowledge. But the whole essence of creativity lies in its freshness, its freedom, its newness. Creativity is often unexpected and exciting. It involves seeing things in new ways and breaking rules. Creativity may result in something radically different − e.g. Picasso/ Stravinsky, or it may involve the unfolding of an old, established form with a total freshness. e.g. Bach and the fugue. I would argue that there can be no program, no system of training or education for creativity − whatever boundary we draw around it, something else that is totally creative will emerge in a different place. Creativity is not a skill; it is not a sort of muscle of the brain, or a technology of the mind. Creativity makes use of knowledge and skill but that is not where its roots lie. I have always felt that creativity is perfectly natural. We should not ask how to be creative, rather we must question why we are not being creative! Creativity is the essence of life, of evolution, of consciousness, of nature and of matter. The universe itself is in a constant act of creation so, as its children, we should ask ourselves − Why, in such a creative universe, do societies and some individuals at times appear to be stupid, dull, destructive and uncreative? * Talk given to an Ottawa group of teachers and parents interested in establishing alternative form of education on 23 Feb 1989. The talk began with a short introduction to the author’s background and about the sense of wonder at nature that seems to have been with him from an early age.