ane Cooper says, “Art, to the child, is more than a matter of painting pictures or making objects. It is a means by which he expresses his individuality and communicates his ideas about himself and his world.” Aesthetically, art education provides great opportunities to children to express themselves while giving an emphasis to creativity.

Art activities, mostly, help children develop their cognitive skills, decision-making skills along with a general sense of enjoyment.

In our context, although art as a subject is being taught in schools for the last so many years there is still a need to think about why our students’ work is not as artistic and exclusive as it should be.

To understand this we have to go back to our school days and recall what we got in the name of art classes. Was the drawing of something on the black board by the teacher really a stimulus for creative work or just replication?

After meeting with more than 50 art teachers of various schools, I came to the conclusion that most were not qualified art teachers. Yes, some of them were aware of the techniques used in art or had done some art courses or degree but they didn’t really have any idea about the pedagogy or teaching of art. Their schools are also not bothered about it.

Observing their classes, I came to the conclusion that most art teachers were creativity killers as they were not even familiar with the art curriculum. The art syllabus developed by them consisted of 20 activities for the whole year with one period in a week. The assignments contained more craft work rather than challenging creative tasks.

The art books, which are available in the market, generally carry colouring and craft activities. Most of the drawing activities just encourage imitating other people’s work rather than enhancing creativity or imagination.

Our art series activities don’t allow students to think and draw by themselves. The students after doing these activities may get a sense of completion but what about fulfilling their requirement of cognitive or creative development?

None of the books here introduce our art history, the work of the masters, native art, etc. It is usual for students to learn from nature by observing and appreciating it through their own art work but these books do not allow any room for observation.

Pick up any textbook on art … it will have the leaves of a plant already drawn for you instead of allowing you to explore nature by yourself.

Besides this, it is common for art teachers to offer suggestions when students ask them for assistance for their artwork. Such teachers are far from creative thinking and teaching.

We have many private and community schools serving a massive number of students from the middleclass to different communities. Unfortunately, they are more commercial in their way of teaching and have their own perspective toward art education. These schools also face the problem of qualified art teachers. Therefore they don’t promote art and always discourage art teaching and related activities.

Most schools, private or government, don’t pay attention to the subject of art at the elementary level because they assume that the students at this level need to be get serious towards studies for their board exams rather than waste their time on fun-based art activities.

Another myth is that art is not for everyone. Those who are not good in their studies are the ones who get good marks in art and those who are good should not waste time with it as it will take them away from important studies. Also art materials can be quite expensive so no need to go that way.

Why can’t we allow our students to use their senses, let them explore different materials to experiment with them and let them be creative?

Moving a little further, do we even know that creativity is an inborn potential? The appropriate environment facilitates to nurture it and retain that ability till later years? President of Ford Foundation Susan V. Berresford also asserts that creativity is a core human capacity, which needs to be nurtured just like other talents.

I remember that when my drawing was very close to my teacher’s drawing or similar to the sketch given in our drawing series books, my work was always marked with an “excellent” comment from my teacher. And when it was not, there would be no praise from her.

Ellsworth and Andrew also describe that, “The real test of whether a child’s art is ‘good’ is not how much the tree he has drawn represents the natural appearance of a tree, but how fully the child, when working, has entered into a personal reaction of his own to the tree and its environment.”

A child’s mind is capable of creating innovative and powerful work. However, it is crucial for art teachers to let children enjoy the whole process of learning, allowing them to experiment on their own to make them confident and self-reliant.

Every art teacher should remember to encourage children to try out their own ideas, focus on the process, allow time for thinking, experimentation and playing with ideas. There is no need to impose ideas on children, at home or in the classroom.

Trying new methods of doing things should always be encouraged.

Finally, I leave you with the words of Pablo Picasso, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”