I have heard and read many 'experts' in creativity talking about the stifling effects of education on creativity. Most of them refer to websites such as TED and talks with titles like 'Ken Robinson says school kills creativity.'
Besides that, many teachers do say that they not instill a sense of 'thinking outside the box' among their students; that it is an extremely difficult task to inspire students to be creative; that it is almost impossible to 'go against the system', and so on and so forth. However, quite a lot is known about how teachers can promote creativity, and I certainly thought about them today, as I saw all teachers at the language institute I work for promoting them. What I saw today was teachers relying principally on positive enforcement and encouragement to motivate students, rather than punishment. I saw teachers modelling creativity, questioning assumptions, allowing time for creative thinking, rewarding creative ideas and products, and allowing mistakes ('How to Develop Student Creativity', Robert Sternberg). I know and I can see that teachers do encourage creativity, although certainly not all. However, if one of your goals for your education or the education of your children is to develop creativity, the best thing to do is to select the teachers accordingly. They are - and have always been - the ones who can inspire students to be creative and change education for the better.
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