"The future belongs to a very different kind of mind." Do we agree so far? Could it be the "Revenge of the Righ Brain"?
I like Pink's term for this new age, the "conceptual age", and his reference to the "six senses". Design~Story~Symphony~Empathy~Play~Meaning. I also read with interest "The Conceptual Age Orgainzation".
L-Directed Thinking vs. R-Directed Thinking
Now, R-Directed Thinking is suddenly grabbing the wheel, stepping on the gas, and determining where we're going and how we'll get there.This quote on page 27, drew an instant mental image of all social networking sites such as Blogs, Wikis, Flickr, Superglu, Del.icio.us, Wikipedia, Google Apps, MySpace, and the list goes on. R-Directed Thinking????
I also like the term he coined "SAT-ocracy" as he referred to the many tollbooths we had to pass through to reach the land of knowledge work.
What struck me most was the relevance of scarcity vs. abundance and how we have lost so much in this transition.
6 comments:
“L-Directed professionals [need] to develop aptitudes that computers can’t do better, faster, or cheaper.”
After reading the chapters from Pink’s book and the other readings, it has become clear that simply having aptitude in math, science, reading, or writing is no longer enough. We must possess the ability to reason and think—better than a computer, better than someone in India or China—in order to stay competitive. These are the skills we should focus on in our classrooms to prepare our students for the world where they will live. Being able to think outside the box and think globally about current issues and communicate with people around the world about these issues will give our students a view of the world that will be essential to their future success. What are we doing now in schools to present our students with a global view? What are we doing now to help them develop right-brain skills? What are some simple things we could do to get started?
Great questions Jill! I hope we have an opportunity to brainstorm some possible solutions. I refuse to believe there is no hope...
I find it interesting that as people read books such as "A Whole New Mind" or "The World is Flat", there is the belief that this is some new phenomenon that has crept up on the American education system overnight. People such as Alan November and Nicholas Negroponte have been talking of this failure of the education system for several years. I heard November comment at a conference 8 or 10 years ago that "Community colleges were the post-graduate schools of the future". His comments were meant to illustrate the fact that traditional learning of math, language arts, science, and social studies were not enough. People who were getting college degrees, including post-graduate degrees, are having to go back to learn a skill to find a job. The changes in the world are occurring at light-speed compared to the rate of change in schools. I don't know what it will take to open the eyes of policy-makers and educators. More testing is not the answer, but neither is an educator's apathy toward what is going on around us.
I liked some of what both Jill and Bob said, in that we need to figure out a way to become more successful in the way we teach our children, who will be the workers of tomorrow. It is interesting that education has for so long looked at Left brain processing as Pink has stated. If you could get the best grades you were the person that was best qualified for the job. I have always thought this to be false. Why would companies want to hire people who got nothing but straight A's? They do not know how to handle failure. Pink talks about all the testing we have done and are still doing in education, for what, to see if a student can retain and recall information for a short period of time. I feel there are a lot of educators that know we need a change but it seems our hands are tied, lets just give our students more tests to see what else we can make them recall. Our students do not get the opportunity to learn the things they need to know because we concentrate to much on how we need to look. It was interesting in Pinks book that companies are now starting to look at people with MFA's instead of MBA's we need people to not only solve problems but who can be creative in the process.
"Although Japanese students lead the world in math and science scores, many in Japan suspect that the nations's unrelenting focus on schoolbook academics might be an outdated approach."
Could somebody please show this to those who started NCLB
I agree with Bob, I don't think testing is the answer. I think it all comes down to what the author said in yesterday's forward from Karla from the Wichita Eagle. He said that once his kids get home, they are immersed in fast paced technology related activities while at school we are moving at very slow pace. Like Jill, I question, what are some simple things we can do to get started? It keeps coming back to me that kids need skills like getting along (Pink says forging relationships), problem-solving, gumption and self-direction to complete tasks, and being able to communicate in a variety of ways. I hope that as all this sinks in, I begin taking the time to let kids verbally communicate what they are learning and step back to allow them time to develop the relationship and problem-solving skills they need. I truly think our current education system doesn't allow us enough time to really let this occur. I am excited about all the can occur if we are willing to take the chances. I think kids will show us it's worth the risk.
Jill, I think that some of the things that promote this do happen. Some, however,need a little different "assignment". Center work requires students to work together(in term of space). Often the "assignment" does not require that they cooperate or communicate, or think outside of the box. There are some activities that give each person in the group a different part of the assignment or total. Again, the testing aspect has limited the time allowed for "center time" or other similar activities. It has been my experience that middle level students enjoy centers as much as primary students. You know they are social creatures at that age.
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