Parental Values

for Creativity
 Parents can be helped
to value children’s
creative development in
its broadest sense of
the term.
• Some parents consider
their children’s creative
development an important
goal; others focus more on
concerns about their
children’s pre academic
success.
• It is, therefore important to
share with parents the
school’s philosophy about
creativity, particularly in its
broad sense of encouraging
flexible, open thinking and
problem solving skills.
• On an ongoing basis, you
can let parents know which
activities are planned and
what you expect the
children to gain from them.
•Parents also enjoy seeing
tangible evidence that
their children are
involved and productive
at school.
• It is most often art products,
which children bring home in
great stacks, that provide them
with such confirmation. As the
teacher, you can help parents
appreciate their children’s art
in relation to the age-
appropriateness of the work.
• Appropriate handouts, an
article in the school’s
newsletter, an explanatory
bulletin board display, or
books on children’s art in the
parent library can all be good
vehicles for conveying such
information.
 Factors that
Decrease Creativity
• Creativity can be stifled
when stereotypes are
imposed, when children are
given few choices and
when they are always
shown what to do.
• A discussion about creative
development should include a few
words about the all-too-present
factors in our society that often blunt
children’s creative impulses. As we
have discussed, creativity depends on
flexible, open, divergent thinking
which is encouraged in children
through a flexible and open
environment.
•An atmosphere that
promotes racial, cultural
or sex stereotypes, for
instance, imposes a
narrow view of people,
which restricts
potential.
• An environment in which
the adult is always right and
children are expected to do
what they are told without
asking question is not
conducive to creativity.
• In addition, when children
are given coloring books or
dittoes so that each child has
an identical end product,
they will not develop
creativity.
• When children are always
shown how to do tasks, they
will not have the
opportunity to engage in
problem solving and creative
thinking.
•When adults laugh at a
child’s unique or
unusual response, that
child is discouraged
from expressing other
creative ideas.
Television and
Creativity
•Television viewing can
decrease creativity. Both
the content of television
programs and the amount
of time children spend
watching television can
have a negative impact.
 Huston, Watkins and
Kunkel (1989)
• One pervasive factor in
children’s lives that can affect
creativity is television. On the
average, children spend more
time watching television than
in any other activity except
sleep.
“What children see –
program content – as well
as how much time they
spend in front of set can
decrease creative
thinking.”
Liebert and Sprafkin (1988)
• Programs on this medium tend
to convey a very stereotyped
view of people, one in which
recognition and respect are
accorded primarily to those who
are white, male, young and
beautiful.
 Huesmann (1986)
“Aggressive habits seem to be
learned early in life and once
established, are resistant to
change and predictive of
serious adult antisocial
behavior.”
• The more a child’s sits
in front of the TV, the
less time is available for
active, self-directed play.
 Prosocial behaviors
Positive, commonly valued
social behaviors such as
sharing, empathy or
understanding.
There are certainly, worthwhile
children’s programs on television,
ones that model and teach children
positive, pro social behaviors,
especially children’s programs on
public channels, for instance, “Mr.
Roger’s Neighborhood” and “Sesame
Street”.
These programs provide high-
quality, age appropriate, sensitive
fare for young children. Other
programs, some of which are
appropriate for preschoolers, are
designed to promote appreciation
of nature, aesthetics and culture.
The End
THANK YOU!
Pastoral, Ann-Janel B.
BEED- III