8749 #5 (plus a little 4)

6/7

Pink:

First off, I love Pink’s writing style, his analogies and metaphors are easy to understand.

   I grew up with Betty Edwards “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” as my art bible.  It made sense to me.  It wasn’t about drawing, it was about seeing.  When I think back to the one thing that had the most impact on my life as an artist, it was realizing that idea.  Not just knowing it, but bodily realizing it.

   Seeing, living, everything, requires that BOTH hemispheres work together.  What if we created whole brain lessons that made sure to consciously address the modes of both hemispheres, I mean, I think you cant help it, but as artists we get so bent on the right/creative side we sometimes forget how enriching and supportive the whole-brain working together can be and is.  

Knowledge workers.... Whoa. This term is spot on and it stuns me how education (most of it) cranks out this sort of thinker on a daily basis.

Abundance.  This section sickened me.  I am not sure I like or even agree with Pinks rational that the L-Directed prosperity and abundance has provided an open door to R-directed thinkers to design more visually appealing type objects.  Feels like the L-directed  thinkers are pimping the R-directed thinkers for the sake of a product so people can buy it, amass more “stuff” (that wont make them happier)... None of this has anything to do with heart, or relationship, or real living, authentic living.  Really, This abundance is a distraction.  Yes, we have comforts and resources and things at our fingertips, but so much so, we don’t even have to imagine.

What I do agree with is that L-Directed outsourcing to Asia is a motivating factor in getting the USA off its ass and shifting the emphasis to a more whole thinking direction. One that is more holistic and address layers of needs and ideas rather that the satisfaction of “stuff”.

“If a picture is worth a thousand words than a metaphor is worth a thousand pictures” (Pink, pg.50) With out putting this in the context of the book this gives me a fun idea that maybe could relate to VTS (somehow... Have to ponder more).   What if we give students a metaphor and asked them to draw the meaning.  How interesting would it be to then group them and compare and contrast and further link those differences to experiences in our (their) lives which might account for the differences, to help explain WHY this happens, to deepen students awareness of each other and what influences perception..  Develop some empathy for difference.

So, the conceptual age, a whole new mind.....  Is it a new mind, or literally “THE WHOLE MIND”,,, better yet, WHOLE PERSON.  Are we finally at a place in human evolutionary cycle where we need to quit putting everything in a box for the sake of stability and (as I like to say with my kids) blow up the box and expand out into space in a massive spherical expansion?  That said, while global economy and production are expanding, I think we need to pull back in and look at what we have to offer on a community level.  Whole mind with in the intimacy of a community, make ties, create bonds, relationships there, THEN, like a stone tossed into a still pond, the ripple effect will expand into the larger global community one layer at a time, every thing interconnected, everything originating from a solid core. Imagine a thousand small stones tossed into a quiet lake, all the ripples that interconnect as they expand out in a circular rhythmic progression.   This idea of”high concept” and “high touch” is right there.

Education needs to address the whole person, to enable them with the skill’s and flexibility which allows students to respond to the unknown with curiosity and intelligent consideration.  It takes the whole mind, and further, others around to embrace, challenge, nudge, push and explore.  Educators need to step out of the white collar mentality as being the disseminator of knowledge. That mentality creates “knowledge workers”  Teacher have their own version.  The experts.  We are not.  We may have more experience, but it does not mean it is better experience.  

PLAY :

OK.. I wanna be a guru of giggles. (What a great assignment.. Design your own guru of giggles....  BHAA!!! Hahahahaaaa.  SO doin that)  OK.  Seriously.   Why do people willingly do things that are not fun?  Better yet, if they are stuck doing something not fun (flipping burgers, what ever, CREATE a way to make if fun, set up little internal challenges...mental games and so on. There are a million ways to make even the mundane an adventure.)  For instance... I often struggle with reading so I treat the blogging portion as a place to have a conversation with myself and unseen others, this makes it more fun interesting for me AND I retain more.  I give myself the freedom to playfully explore ideas rather that stick rigidly to some idea that because Im a grad student I have to write smart stuff.

Games. (again, can we go beyond just video please?)  Not devaluing here, but really, games are so much more than just that format. Hmmm.  “We believe games are the literature of the twenty-first century” (p. 195)  Will need to explore this idea though conversation please....

It seems that play and laughter and joy all go hand in hand (and really all the sense’s are interrelated. Google is a company that makes room for play, a happy employee will be more productive, a happy human will contribute positively to society, a  happy student will learn more and pursue ideas more deeply.

Freedman 5&6 Meaty chapters.... Ill spare everyone the long winded writing since Ive been on a roll.

1. A lot of the readings are running together for me at this point, in fact, I wonder to myself, if as I read, since certain things stood out for me in other books, my brain is looking for it in this... What stands out most for me in this chapter is the importance of arming students with the ability to read, interpret and respond to the barrage of images which assaults their senses in practically every moment. Information in going in, but I m fairly certain students are not aware of what happens with that information in regards to perceptions which form as  a result.  Students need to be able to read all media (text) and understand what the message is, who the audience is, what the creator values and so on.  AS educators, WE also need to be aware and take a look at this in ourselves.

6. Lets consider this statement.

“Curriculum  shapes what students know and how they come to know” (pg. 122)  There is a lot of power in this idea.  I think we need to be very careful about the idea of curriculum though. It is not a script, or a recipe for an end result. Rather it should be based on “concepts”, the concepts and project are the results of big conceptual ideas which are investigative in nature and open ended. The scope and sequence on page 116-117 is a good example of this, although I often frown upon sequencing by “level”. If as educators, we are presenting problems to be solved that employ these skills first and fore most, making space for integration of other disciplines, and making relevant connections to real life real time student lives (which holds meaning), then we are onto something.  We start to achieve some of this whole mind education that Pink is taking about.

Eisner 5&6

(my roomies are reminding me these need to be about 500 words....  Opps... HOW can I synthesize stuff that makes me think in so many directions in 500 words?)

Situated Learning: Builds a community of learners, provides multi-sensory learning experiences,  students learn how to deal with multiple tasks at once, and really it models a more real life situation (unless you are a computer programers sitting in a cubical) Eisner argues that this sort of learning makes the likely hood of real life application (transfer) possible).  A strong situational learning environment then makes it possible for students to work through “problems” presented by the teacher. Purpose must be present in the problem. The problem must  push them, but not exceed their abilities. “the good teacher knows when to intervene, how much guidance to provide and when to back off.” (pg. 96)

Kids need time to work through problems.  Inherent in this is process.  In fact, the real project is not the  result but the path getting there, The awareness of that path, the knowledge discovered, and the meaning it has for the student. The ability to reflect. With in the process is a conversation, between the material, the idea and the student.

    Eisner suggests that sensibility is the mother of consciousness. Not entirely sure I agree, however, his assertion that art education can hone the senses I do agree with. It would follow then, that someone with broader and refined senses is more conscience.  Certainly more aware, and perhaps even less ego centric which would facilitate greater empathy (Pink)

Eisner points out that Middle schoolers preoccupation with narrative and realism thwarts the prior spontaneity present in preschool and younger children's art.  I can not help but wonder if that is a result of the educational system and ridged curriculums.....RATHER than a development issue.  It is not an issue with my students.

1. Eisner begins this chapter suggesting that teachers, being the closest to their students, are best suited to making curricular choices in their own classrooms.  Rocket science right? DUH.  When will we empower teachers to make up their own curriculums based on the needs of the particular group they are working with, further, do most teacher feel equipped to do so?  After all, it is a huge undertaking and tremendous undertaking.  Using a pre existing curriculum does indeed provide the frame work and then choices a teacher makes (like the compare and contrast vs. Describe) only impact the students thought process’s.  I love what Eisner says on page 150 “The core phenomena in curriculum are the curriculum activities that teachers AND students design.”

Teaching is truly like conducting a symphony on an esoteric level. We are watching exchanges, listening for conversations where deeper meaning is explored, linking, connecting, participating, guiding where necessary and pushing when needed. Nothing happens in a vacuum, and again, everything is connected.  Like the stones tossed in the lake, what we decide to teach also has a ripple effect.  We cant design a curriculum (even when responding to a group in the moment) and fully know what the outcome will be... It ripples at different paces for each student.

Standards/benchmarks... To keep it PC, are at best a minimal guideline, but often far under estimate potential. Eisner’s thoughts behind them are good, but most standards are indeed rigid. Will get too long if I continue here... Will discuss.