ABSTRACT
The most important element for encouraging or killing creativity in the classroom is the teacher. Creators are the stub-born survivors of a social and educational system that labeled them as nerds or geeks. Creativity is what teachers get when they allow ambiguity. Standardization is the antithesis of creativity. Standardized education and its tests are killing creativity.Programs for gifted and talented (G/T) students have increasingly embraced acceleration or enrichment, and of the two, acceleration appears to be the more predominant model. The single most important factor in the creative classroom is the teacher who has certain personal traits that foster creativity. The teacher establishes a class environment where students know that in order to stay in the program they must produce both in the regular classroom and in the G/T classroom. Along with establishing the environment, the teacher sets the curriculum. Individuals who lack a strong background in talent development education should never set the curriculum of a G/T classroom.
