by Beverly Beech

Created on: July 30, 2008

As a teacher of the gifted, I have been trying for years to teach children how to teach themselves. With a master's degree in administration and counseling, I have not only been involved in the day to day operation of teaching children but also the academic enhancement of my field. Leaders of large institutions lament daily about the lack of creativity in today's youth. This will be the downfall of our country. But, why is it so difficult to stimulate the creative minds of our children?

First of all, they have immersed themselves in the creative vacuum of commercialism. Rather than creating for themselves, it is being created for them, packaged, and marketed for monetary comsumption by big business. When I ask them to create something of their own I usually get something that resembles the latest craze whether it comes from the movies they watch or television that drones constantly in the background of most homes. In other words, they have not learned how to create for themselves.

In the gifted population, 60% of our children come from the concrete sequestial, organized, perfect child or student category. Every teacher loves to teach them and most schools welcome them with open arms and permits. They bring up test scores. If the gifted program is based on the curriculum only, they are the ones who are successful. But, there is one problem, they learn how to master multiple choice questions only. When you ask them to fill an empty page with something of their own, they freeze and so do their parents. The anxiety that comes from moving away from their comfort zone into the unknown is alarming. I can't tell you how many times I have had to counsel a crying child just because I asked him or her to complete something that is new for them. Now, the slogan in my classroom is, "If we're making mistakes we are learning", because of the anxiety level experienced by these children. Sometimes I think they would be better off in the regular classroom at a higher level. If they are determined and not easily distracted, they might become a doctor but not a very good one. They will not have learned how to analyze and synthesize the information and then come up with a solution that is unique for each person. In other words, they have not learned how to create for themselves.

I will never forget a gifted student I taught at one school. He had already given up on the system by the second grade. His teacher moved him to the side or the rooom so he wouldn't bother the other students

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