Motivation and Classroom Climate: Promoting Creativity in Gifted Children

Creativity does not come about in a vacuum. Empirical work carried out by investigators trained in psychology tells us that there is a direct link between the motivational orientation brought by a student to a task and the likelihood of her being creative at that task, and it is the environment that in large part shapes that motivational orientation. There are many important parallels between work being done in the field of gifted and talented education and the social psychology of creativity, yet the two research traditions have remained fairly separate. One commonality involves the empliasis placed by investigators representing both areas of inquiry on the interface between person and context. Taken together, these two research paths lead to the conclusion that close attention must be paid to school climate if gifted students’ motivation, creativity and special talents are to be developed. In fact, the influential effects of classroom environment on motivation and creativity of performance are staggering. The argument is made that an appreciation of classroom environmental effects is particularly important in the gifted and talented classroom or “pull-out” program in which the promotion of students’ interest and creativity of performance is a top priority. Research is reviewed which reveals that the typical American classroom is fraught with killers of intrinsic motivation and creativity, and suggestions for future research directions are offered.