Creativity in the Classroom?

Do you think students' creativity is being squelched in the classroom?

I used to be a middle school English teacher before I became a stay-at-home mommy and writer and blogger.  The focus drilled into us teachers constantly by principals, vice principals, team meeting leaders, etc was the curriculum.  Teaching students what they needed for the next test and for those standardized tests that would prove to people that their children were not being left behind.

Now, I think it's awesome that we're making sure we're teaching our students what they need to know.  But I fear that in the process, we've taught students how to prepare for tests while putting their ability to think for themselves and to be creative on the back burner.  Not that critical thinking and creativity in the classroom don't exist, but they're not being encouraged as much as they should.

My last year of teaching, I decided to end our fiction unit by letting the students write a story of their own.  I was excited by the creativity that would follow.  I thought they would be excited too.  What I got instead were lots of questions.  "How is this being graded?"  "Why are we doing this, writing isn't on the test, right?"  "How long does it have to be?"  "What does it have to have in it?"

I got frustrated.  I wanted them to just write and be creative.  Without concern about their grade or page length.  Just to write.  And this very situation is what inspired the concept of my manuscript I began working on alongside those students.

Eventually they began to let go of their anxieties.  Those pencils started flowing.  Excitement filled the air.  Even though I told them they'd have plenty of time in class to work on their stories, many went home and worked on it.  I loved seeing them excited about their ideas and their writing.

So, I ask you, what do you think?  Do you think students' creativity is put on the back burner to focus on the curriculum and testing?  Does it depend on the teacher and whether they incorporate creative outlets in their lessons?  Or is creativity flourishing and thriving in schools?