Principal’s Spotlight | A Creative Environment for your Creative Child
We all have a natural curiosity and an innate creativity, but does our environment nurture the quality of creativity allowing it to flourish? Even in the 21st century we still live in a world that values amassing knowledge over that of creativity. Our education system demands that we place a high value on examinations and for this very reason it is important that our children get a balance between amassing knowledge and allowing the creative juices to flow without being stifled.
Yes, we all have creativity – some more than others – but there is no doubt that we all benefit from the creativity of others. We can’t all write a symphony, paint a landscape or find the cure for cancer, but we all benefit and admire those who can.
I often look at our student body and know that in front of me I have creative children who will use their skills to contribute to the Arts, corporate Australia, scientific research, education, and more. Their creativity will generate problem-solving, barrier-breaking, curiosity, competitiveness, and even the perception of being loners. Therefore, the challenge for families and schools with these children is to welcome their creativity and use our empathy to understand them. We need their emerging innovation!
So, the next time you see your child daydreaming, playing with their imaginative friend, reading the same book over and over again, obsessing over perfecting their tennis stroke or their scales, stop for a moment and think before asking them to clean their room.
Creativity is the skill of the future. Is your child in an environment where creativity is encouraged and valued?
Pablo Picasso once said, “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist”.
Maxine Kohler, MEd
Principal
