~ How we discourage creativity

If intrinsic motivation is one key to a child's creativity, the crucial element in cultivating it is time: open-ended time for the child to savour and explore a particular activity or material to make it her own. Perhaps one of the greatest crimes adults commit against a child's creativity is robbing the child of such time.

It is perhaps ironic that within our culture we insist that we place such value on creativity and then blatantly try to steal it away from children in the contexts of their educational experiences and their upbringing. As a culture we need to finally decide what we really want for our children and then carefully design and monitor experiences which provide those things we value. Here Hennessy and Amabile (1992) identify common "creativity killers." It is important to note that all of these "killers" are commonplace in our schools and homes.

Surveillance- Hovering over kids, making them feel that they're constantly being watched while they are working, . . . under constant observation, the risk-taking, creative urge goes underground and hides . . .

Evaluation - When we constantly make kids worry about how they are doing, they ignore satisfaction with their accomplishments. . . .

Rewards- The excessive use of prizes . . . deprives a child of the intrinsic pleasure of creative activity.

Competition - Putting kids in a win-lose situation, where only one person can come out on top, . . . negates the process children progress at their own rates.

Over-control- Constantly telling kid how to do things, . . . often leaves children feeling like their originality is a mistake and any exploration a waste of time.

Restrictingchoice- Telling children which activities they should engage in instead of letting them follow where their curiosity and passion lead . . . again restricts active exploration and experimentation that might lead to creative discovery and production.

Pressure - Establishing grandiose expectations for a child's performance . . . often ends up instilling aversion for a subject or activity. . . .Unreasonably high expectations often pressure children to perform and conform within strictly prescribed guidelines, and, again, deter experimentation, exploration, and innovation. Grandiose expectations are often beyond children's developmental capabilities.