List,
Although I agree that creativity cannot be taught/learned, it can be and, in my opinion not infrequently, is stifled, thwarted, stunted. near smothered, derailed, and finally self-inhibited. It can also be fostered, nourished, and encouraged.
A simple example: For a large number years I taught and coached music at every level from middle- to graduate school and during that time I heard many a tale of a child who was told (sometimes by a parent, sometimes by a sibling, even by a music teacher!) that she "couldn't sing," and that one comment stifled even the desire to sing, sometimes for decades (I should add that most of these folks had lovely voices once they were "released"). Many of them 'found' their voices in the course of working with me.
Interesting, Gary. I was one who was told they couldn't sing. I still don't like to, but I found my voice through learning to chant. Very enlightening :-)
I had a similar experience with art, but my training in technical drawing eventually blossomed into creative drawing. I still don't like it much, but I can certainly do it. I recall in 3rd grade we were asked to draw a picture of what we wanted to be when we grew up. Unlike the stick and balloon figures of most of my classmates, I drew a picture of a rock outcrop with bushes and trees, with a man with a rock pick beside a pickup truck examining the outcrop. It was pretty realistic. I eventually did become and Earth Scientist. The in art class the next year I was told I couldn't draw and had little creativity. Sad. I had a similar experience with creative writing, so I entered a contest at our school that was anonymous, and I won. It was only much later that I realized that I was being pushed strongly into an analytical/scientific style in the mistaken idea that it was incompatible with creativity. Sad :-(
John
Professor John Collier [email protected]
Philosophy and Ethics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041 South Africa
T: +27 (31) 260 3248 / 260 2292 F: +27 (31) 260 3031
Http://web.ncf.ca/collier
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