It becomes quite obvious that creativity is not confined to geniuses. It is true that a few of us possess the originality of Leonardo Da Vinci, but we all have new ideas and insights. Every idea or expression that is original for the creator is an example of creativity.

Factors that discourage creativity:

• Too much focus on prevention of errors;
• Over emphasis on spoon feeding;
• Curbs on creativity;
• Peer pressures;
• Fear psychosis;
• Lack of adequate resources for working out ideas; and
• Too many bottlenecks while enjoying the freedom.

Principles for rewarding creative behaviour in the classroom:

• Be respectful of children’s questions. Don’t be under the impression they raise foolish questions.
• Show pupils that even their ideas and expressions have value.
• Pay attention seriously to their imaginative and unusual ideas.
• Provide enough opportunities for practice of experimentation without any test.
• Encourage self-initiated learning.

Incentive from a teacher: The teacher who varies his own routines and is constantly surprising his students with a new approach is putting an unspoken premium on creativity and gearing student appreciation to novelty.

Imagination is easier to foster in some curriculum areas than others. It is best expressed through the arts. A young child’s artistic moods bound up in his overall behaviour. He reaches, sees, touches and feels. Then of course he manipulates. If he feels that he is free to explore, this expressive sequence gives him the beginning of the confidence he needs later as he begins his primitive artistic explorations.

Rhoda Kellogg, who has gathered and analyzed a million drawings made by children around the world, has inferred that children universally go through almost the same stages in their artistic development (Kellogg and O’Dell, 1967).

Schools should encourage creativity in artistic expression by providing materials, time, and plenty of freedom to explore. The teacher’s role is to stimulate the pupil in the right direction to find a suitable means of artistic expression. The teacher should preserve the essential qualities of creativity: originality and individuality.