There are many misconceptions about Montessori. Some people think it’s a religion. Other people think it lacks structure, while still others think it’s too rigid. And those who think it too rigid often believe it stifles creativity.
This latter misconception brings up a very interesting question: How does one learn to be creative?
According to Sir Ken Robinson, the author of Out of Our Minds, Learning to Be Creative and the recently released The Element, there are three common misconceptions about creativity:
1) creativity is not learned, as ‘creative’ people are unique and set apart from the majority of people who are not creative, 2) creativity only occurs in specialized areas, such as the arts, and 3) creativity is about spontaneous free expression not involving any skill base.
Generally, people I encounter who think Montessori stifles a child’s creativity tend to have the third misconception of creativity.
Robinson explains in Out of Our Minds, however, that “creative achievement is related to control of the medium” and that medium can be anything from algebra to the piano. Additionally, even if you were to think of creativity in terms of the arts only, Robinson clarifies that “a good deal of what [artists] do is not creative at all in any strict sense. It involves a huge amount of practical routine, including refining the control of materials and techniques.” In other words, “Children and adults need the skills to be creative.”
When I was an art student at Otis College of Art and Design, one of the instructors would often say (when one of us complained about having to follow the parameters of an assignment rather being allowed to freely express ourselves as we wished), "To be a truly good and creative artist you have to learn the basics first." Then she would point to a series of drawings by Picasso. "In order to create a new form of art, Cubism, Picasso first had to learn and spend years practicing drawing and painting realistically. Only after that was he able to deconstruct his work and create something totally new." Art school, we soon learned, was NOT about free expression -- at least not until you had gained certain knowledge and skills.
A Montessori classroom is a prepared environment that provides children with fundamental knowledge and skills. Very young children learn how to control their pincer grasp so they can later hold a pencil properly and write words. They learn words and syntax so they can later write stories. They learn to mix colors, handle a paintbrush, and how to create a gesture drawing so they can later make something unique and beautiful. They learn to distinguish the pitch of musical notes and the symbols of those notes so they can later learn to write their own music. They learn the concepts behind mathematical operations so they can later build something using those operations. A Montessori classroom is a very special place where children learn skills, without pressure, so they can be creative.
Children have plenty of time for free expression at home or on the playground. But those few hours they get each day in a Montessori classroom are precious, as they provide knowledge and skills that enhance the child’s free expression.