ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to define creativity, delineate why creativity is important in educational planning, and describe the tools needed to foster creativity in the classrooms. In the classroom, creativity is the act of making connections between what is known and a specific outcome. Some characteristics of creativity in pupils can be found within their personality and behaviour traits. Creative indicators, especially in young children, are visible in their kinaesthetic and auditory functioning. Creative Problem Solving (CPS) activities and training use divergent thinking, or solving problems with many possible solutions, and convergent thinking, which is solving problems with a single, correct answer. Teachers who wish to foster creativity in their classrooms must consider several common themes including characteristics of creative pupils, the classroom environment and barriers to creativity. Creative behaviour contains a degree of risk, and some creative ideas turn out to be product disappointments.
