Curriculum - Empathy & Meaning

Empathy:

Pink related several very interesting tidbits in this chapter. Since babies can't talk we have to read their emotions through their facial expressions. Therefore, most people naturally cradle babies on their left so that they can read their face with the right hemisphere of their brain. Another interesting piece of info, people with damage to their left brain are better at reading faces and detecting liars. Their left brain doesn't interfere with the intuitive emotion sensing nature of the right brain. Yet another, sometimes when you call a company and get an automated recording if you get irritated enough the machine senses it in your voice and transfers the call to a real person. It's somewhat embarrassing to admit, but I know this to be true from experience. Next time you get stuck in a endless loop of pushing buttons and holding release a few swear words, you might actually make some progress. 

Though many of these tidbits are interesting Pink's overall point is that empathy is an important skill for two main reasons. 1) It is impossible to outsource or automat empathy, so it will be an important skill in the future job market. 2) When we take the time to understand the emotions of others we can be more effective in our relationships, business or personal. 

I have in more recent years considered myself to be a fairly empathetic person. You had to pay for the EQ test that Pink suggests in the portfolio, so I found a free (and probably less reliable) one online. As I was taking the test I started to feel like maybe I am less empathetic than I thought, as I repeatedly responded that I avoid conflict in various situations. However, my results simply said that I have above average emotional intelligence. No number scales, or explanations, but I was pleased enough to be affirmed a little.

Early on in this chapter Pink quotes Oprah as saying, "Leadership is about empathy. It is about having the ability to relate and connect with people for the purposes of inspiring and empowering their lives." (160). I was struck by this quote because I thought you could very easily replace the word leadership with the word teaching. Wanting to connect with others and make a difference in their lives is a big part of the reason that  I decided to become a teacher. This will come up more in the meaning section. I think we need to show students through modeling that empathy is an important quality. I think that we can develop empathy in our students through our curriculum by showing the art of other cultures, showing art that deals with issues of social justice, and creating a supportive, constructive environment for critiques. 

Meaning:

Speaking of Empathy, Pink's introductory story about Viktor Frankl was very moving. In his book Man's Search for Meaning, Frankl says that man's fundamental drive is the pursuit of meaning. I think that this has become more clear to me in recent years. Before moving to Columbia to pursue a Masters in Education I had a good job that paid well enough. My job helped others. I made IV mixtures for premature babies. But I didn't feel connected to others. I worked in a glass box and rarely saw those I helped. Pink says that a sense of calling, that is work done for its own sake, is poised to overtake material rewards as the number one reason for working. The highest form of happiness, he says, is not just a calling, but finding meaning. I knew that I wanted to love my job and I thought that having a influential connection to children was what I would love. The search for meaning in our career is certainly important in our line of work and will affect the type of teachers that we are. 

Meaning is also important in our students lives. One of the ways that students develop a sense of self is through finding personal meaning in their lives. We can help them uncover personal meaning in their lives by guiding them, through the exploration of big ideas (Ping, Eisner... and Unrath and Gude;). Though they certainly won't find the same level of deep personal meaning in every idea explored, those that stick with them will become a part of them and help them define the meaning in their lives. 

As Pink says at the end of the chapter, the purpose is the journey itself. This is important for us to remember, and though they will probably think it cliche, it is important to remind our studnets of this as well. They tend to be in a big hurry to grow up, but they would certainly be better served to enjoy the journey along the way. 

Curriculum - Story & Symphony

Story:

Pink starts out making the point that stories are how we have communicated since the beginning of man. Furthermore, he points out that stories are how we remember information. Many people see stories and facts as oppositional. However, since story is our way of remembering important information it is the glue that makes facts (and experiences) stick in our brains and therefore not oppositional to facts but rather a companion to facts. Often times we use mnemonic devices to remember facts, which are usually short stories.

I think that Pink expresses that value of story very well when he says that story is context enriched by emotion. That is why stories are so integral to our lives. Stories encapsulate context, information, and emotions. Thinking about stories as the intersection of context and emotion reminded me of today when Amy said that she can't watch certain movies because she gets too emotionally involved. As someone who was up most of the night last night after catching up on the last two weeks of Game of Thrones because it had sucked me in so deeply that even after several hours I had not emotionally or mentally calmed down. 

I think the idea of organizational story telling could be especially useful to school. The stories that our students would tell could likely explain a lot about the schools culture. Sometimes it is hard to see these things clearly when you are enmeshed in the organization.

Pink also explains that stories are used to differentiate goods and services in a crowded marketplace. He relates a story about buying a certain bottle of wine because of the story behind the company. This shows how story can create meaning, to the point that it controls our spending. This personal meaning that comes inherent in story is a strategy that we can use to help our students create meaning in their artwork. As Eisner says, "One of the most important pedagogical tasks is to help students formulate something to say that matters to them" (98). In the portfolio section of the story chapter Pink says "Listening is an act of love." I think this is important to remember when working with kids. Too often people dismiss kids stories (especially since sometimes they can be very long winded), however, I have found that when I take the time to listen to kids stories they respond very well. It's clear that sometimes they feel so important just for having an adult listen. 

Symphony:

"Symphony...is the ability to put together the pieces. It is the capacity to synthesize rather than analyze; to see relationships between seemingly unrelated fields; to detect broad patterns rather than deliver specific answers; and to invent something new by combining elements nobody else thought to pair" (130). This quote makes it obvious why this sense is important for us as teachers and our students as artists. Strength in the symphony sense can lead to students that are able to think holistically and see the big picture. They can see a whole that exceeds the sum of its parts. This is a skill that art is particularly well suited to develop in our students we should highlight this to administration, parents, and students. As Eisner says at the end of chapter six, art teachers can help the public see the importance of arts education by making the cognitive development that takes place in our classrooms evident. 

Pink writes about a drawing class that he enrolled in to improve his symphony skills. Many of the stories that he relates are familiar from my drawing classes. These exercises are developed to help keep the left-brain from taking over while the right-brain tries to represent what it actually sees. 

"Boundary Crossers" is the name that Pink gives to people who have a variety of experiences of backgrounds that they bring together. He refers to these people as living a "multi-life." Though not completely intentionally, I think I fall into this category. I have lived in several places and worked in several careers. Hopefully, these experiences will help me to be a better teacher in the future. 

Curriculum - Design

Design:

I find the design chapter to be very interesting, especially since a majority of our students who go into an artistic field will go into a design field. Pink writes, "We may not be Dali or Degas, but today we must all be designers." I think that this is an important aspect of the right brained world to represent to our students. Pink says that design is the activity of creating solutions, utility enhanced by significance. Design is about solving a specified problem in an artistic manner. It falls in perfectly with Imagination First  practice number 6, "Think inside the box." Even if our students don't go into a design field these types of inventive problem solving skills are transferable to all types of tasks.

I loved when Pink wrote about "cute-tensils." The variety of silly kitchen items I own is kind of crazy. Oven mitts that look like frogs, a lemon juicer that looks like a bird, a metal trivet that says "hot", bird salt and pepper shakers, a collapsable cupcake carrier. These items (all purchased for me as gifts) were purchased because of the cute factor more than their utility factor. As Pink says on page 78 these items were purchases "...less on functional or financial qualities and more on ineffable qualities such as whimsy, beauty, and meaning."

I also really responded to the section on building design. I am currently working part time in a neurologist office, where many of the patents have motility and/or memory and confusion problems. However the office is designed like a narrow maze with dozens of unmarked doors. I get confused about where I am going in there. It seems like a terrible design, especially for a neurologist office. On the flip side while I was working in Northwestern Hospital in Chicago they had just finished building a brand new Children's Hospital. All of the rooms have beautiful views of the lake. Everywhere you go there are amazing, playful, colorful areas to explore. It shows that the people who designed this building truly designed it as a place for children to heal and grow strong, rather than just receive treatment. Since reading this chapter I have found myself (as he suggests in the portfolio) mentally redesigning the things in my house that I find to be lacking, my dresser, my windows, my couch, etc.

Even if our students don't design hospitals, kitchen utensils, or billboards the capacity to consider different solutions than those that we have stuck by for so long in many fields will position them to truly innovate and find success no matter how the world may change. The same answers will get the same results. They have potential for so much more.

Curriculum - Part One and Play

A Whole New Mind, Part One:

Pink opens with a quote from Samuel Coleridge, "The truth is, a great mind must be androgynous." It seems a little silly that this is a point even worth making. However, many people seem to think that the left brain is more important, at least to intelligent people. But as most of us already know, and as Daniel Pink spends the rest of part one proving to any doubters, the right brain is equally important. 

According to a scientist name Roger Sperry the right hemisphere of our brains reasons holistically (in addition to several other things) (14). This holistic reasoning should then lead to greater transfer and application of new knowledge rather than just good test performance. Therefore, it seems very logical to me that all teachers would want to encourage the development of the right brain is their students. 

Pink goes on to say that the right side of the brain handles metaphors and synthesizes, which once again seems important to everyone, but we can certainly see why the right brain attributes seem so strong in most artists.  He says that L-directed thinking is characterized by the, "sequential, literal, functional, textual, and analytical" (26). While the R-directed mind thinks in terms of the, "simultaneous, metaphorical, aesthetic, contextual, and synthetic" (26). While I agree with him that both sides need to be strong in order to work in concert together I will say that our side of the pARTy certainly sounds like more fun. 

In chapter two Pink discusses abundance, Asia, and automation. To sum it up very quickly he says that because of availability of goods, cheap Asian outsourcing, and computers that can handle human tasks we have to step up to the plate and be able to innovate in order to compete with these factors. What we produce through ideas or actual products must be aesthetically pleasing, well-planned, and not something your computer can "think" of. He even explains how computers are taking the jobs of lawyers (46). 

In chapter three Pink discusses how we have gone from the agricultural age to the industrial age, to the information age, to the conceptual age. Or our society has progressed from farmers, to factory workers, to knowledge workers, and now to creators, empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers (50). "More Americans today work in arts, entertainment, and design than as lawyers, accountants, and auditors" (55). Even a GM executive said that they are in the art business (55). If Pink is right, it will soon be our time to shine. Furthermore, this made me think of the changes at MoMA. A museum that once held "fine art" created by the dead white dudes, is now showcasing cars and video games. 

Pink descirbes a new test called the Rainbow Project which is apparently twice as accurate at predicting college success and seems to eliminate racial bias. However, it is not trying to replace the SAT. My question, why not? It is funded by the College Board, so some part of them is acknowledging that the old system might not be so great. Pink says that these test are specifically better at measuring "high-touch" capabilities such as compassion, care, and uplift necessary for jobs in the "caring professions - counseling, nursing, and hand on health assistance" (59). I think that teaching should be included in that grouping. 

Play:

Pink shows us how laughter, fun, and games can strengthen the right brain. Though I don't think I will have my students participate in the yogic style forced laughing that he describes at the end of the chapter, but I think he brings up a good point that in the classroom we need to remember a spirit of joyfulness. I want my students to love the art room and see it as a place where they can explore these right brained expressions of their mind that are often neglected in school. Pink also discusses games, specifically video games. This created a clear ping with The New Culture of Learning and our disussion in class last week. I will say that, in my opinion, the army using war video games as a recruiting tool is probably more irresponsible and dangerous than it is a good idea, I know that wasn't his point. He says that video games are about connecting and manipulating. These are certainly abilities we want in our students. Furthermore, I think that game design is largely about imagining something so new and inventive that it can blow the minds of others. If you don't let yourself play with the unknown and the world of possibilities, instead of logical L-directed answers, then you won't ever be able to create the new and previously unimagined. As we get older it seems to get harder and harder to do this. I think that Pink is right that this spirit of play is something we need to keep sparked within ourselves and within our students. 

Curriculum - Day 4

A New Culture of Learning:
Throughout this book I found myself creating an analogy in my head. I think the authors points can be illustrated as a swimming pool. Teachers are like parents  at the pool with their kids and the water is the world of art education. As teachers, we can't just tell them the water is wet and it makes you kid of float and you can move through it. If they have never felt what 'wet' feels like and never experienced swimming they will not benefit from a top-down explanation of it. So the teacher has to let them go and explore it and play in it on their won. The teacher's main role is just to make sure they don't drown. They can show them how to put their face in and blow bubbles and encourage them to try new things out. Of course, swimming is more fun with friends! From friends kids can learn to do handstands and race and dive in the water. They learn the most from one another. The kid might discover that they are very fast or full of grace when they dive. Then it is the teacher's job to stand back and cheer them on as they realize what they are capable of. The authors call this type of knowledge that is learned through experience "tactic knowledge"(77).

On page 93 Thomas and Seely Brown made another point that really resonated with me. "In the new information economy, expertise is less about having a stockpile of information of facts at one's disposal and increasingly about knowing how to find and evaluate information on a given topic." Recently I was reading a Bill Bryson book and he was lamenting about how his personal survey of teenagers revealed that most didn't know who wrote the Canterbury Tales and how shameful that was. While maybe I should be a bit embarrassed, I didn't know who wrote the Canturbury Tales. So I looked it up online. The internet has made fact regurgitation obsolete, but a lot of education still relies on the fact memorization model.

Eisner:
I feel that the opening sentence to this chapter says a lot (and connects to A New Culture of Learning). "Children, of necessity, develop from both the inside out and the outside in" (93). To me this says a lot about how kids learn. It is not a linear, top-down progression. On page 94 Eisner goes on to discuss Dewey's emphasis on supportive learning communities. Eisner goes on to explain the significance of how "situated learning" leads to greater transfer. Students are more able to apply their new knowledge to new situations. Of course, it makes sense to me that being able to use knowledge should be an important focus of education.

Eisner says that students should be given substantial periods of time with one medium with multiple sequential opportunities, without switching back and forth between mediums. I would agree that students need to build up their skills. However, it seems like spending a long time in one medium could be discouraging to some students who might feel that material is just not for them. I think they should still have to try new things, but maybe more choice would be good. Eisner relates it to sports saying that a kid needs multiple experiences to be good at soccer, but at the same time you don't want to be that parent that keeps pushing their kid when they clearly hate it. Maybe its just a fine line.

I don't have enough experience to really be sure but I think that I might be interested in teaching middle school. During his extended explanation of children's drawing development Eisner says something that makes me wonder what our middle school teachers think about it. He says, "For Davis the bottom of the "U" represents the low level of aesthetic interest in middle childhood, while preschoolers and adolescents have a keen interest in aesthetic matters" (120). ???

Freedman:
"New contexts cause new meanings to be constructed" (87). How can education be expected to keep up with that?! A more flexible model.

"To teach visual culture requires interdisciplinary investigations of the underlying assumptions that can be revealed in the conceptual space between images and objects" (89).
The context of the creation and interpretation are important to the uncovered meaning as are the social circumstances which we might not usually consider. Barrett's article which asks teens to look at the Destiny's Child magazine cover is a good example of this. What does the image say about femininity and sex? What does it say about power?

"In one study, high school students did not tend to view visual and textual fictional sources  of stereotypes critically unless they were specifically taught how to do so...In this study, the students saw the visual fiction of advertising as reality and compared their lived reality unfavorably to the world the created out of visual culture" (93). TERRIFYING!!! This is a great reason why kids should be taught to look critically at the images that they are bombarded with on a daily basis.

Curriculum - Day 3

Freedman:Freedman begins this chapter by discussing the history of art history. He discusses how art history should be considered as more than old, pretty drawings, but also in their wider social contexts including political, economic, racial and gender concerns. This certainly makes sense to me as it gives students a stronger foundation for the importance of the artwork, which they can connect to their lives and personal concerns. Freedman then goes on to describe the variety of art historical discourses that affect the place of visual culture and art history within art education. He explains that the presentation of a linear chronology of events in art history, “…has limited an appreciation of the profound consequences of influence by certain social, gender, and cultural groups” (48). To put it plainly, it seems clear to me that old white dudes have had a strong influence on how art history is presented in education and this influence is something that must be considered when discerning the biases, accessibility, and relevance of what is present to students. Freedman then discusses the importance of contexts in art history. He specifies two types of contexts: production contexts and viewing contexts. In my opinion one of the most important points that Freedman makes about contexts is that, “Contexts provide the conceptual connections that make images worthy of study and is as much as part of a work of art as its form, function, or symbolic meaning” ( 51). In Freedman’s discussion of quality he says traditionally, “…the only art worth teaching is ‘good’ art and good art conveys ‘goodness’ (such as elevated values, conventional design qualities, craftsmanship” (53). It is baffling to me that somewhere along the line people thought that they could accurately select the good art that should be taught. Setting a definition for ‘good art’ might be even harder than our task in class today of defining art. Furthermore, as Freedman goes on to point out this is dangerous as the definition of good art likely serves the interests of particular classes, genders, races, etc (ie, old white dudes). I was also intrigued by what Freedman wrote about emotions in education. He says that emotions have traditionally been considered separate from learning. However, engagement and curiosity and triggered by emotions. Shouldn’t we want students to care about what they are learning on an emotional level? The social and emotional aspects of learning have increasingly become part of the educational curriculum debate. Post-formal thinking includes the importance of socially constructed knowledge, social and informational patterns, process and connections, and contextualization (81).  It is clear that learning is not a simple linear presentation of facts and skills. We must connect our curricular content to the factors that influence the lives of students. Man of Steel:I think that Serra’s work is certainly one that makes you acutely aware of your sense of place. Not in the way that someone like Pepon Orsario does, but in that his work compels you to move around it and interact with it causing the viewer to become aware of their body’s position in time and space. As explained in the article by the filmmaker and the holocaust writer people find connections to Serra’s work in their own lives. As Freedman has been discussing, it is innate for people to seek to find a personal meaning in art. Humans have a draw to connect to other humans through many forms of communication, obviously including art. As teachers we seek to help our students make these connections that they can feel the spark to learn and create. Transmediation as a metaphor for New Literacies in Multimedia Classrooms:This article discusses how students are called upon daily to traverse and make sense of many different sign systems. However, despite students already understanding the world outside of school in a transmedial manner, education continues to push for students that are “verbocentric.” It seems clear to me that in our rapidly changing world a focus on reading and writing will not be enough to prepare our students to be  informed and engaged members of society. Our systems of communication are changing and our educational models should change to reflect this. By allowing students to choose to respond and construct knowledge through transmediation we allow for a greater degree of understanding and meaning.  Verbocnetric students should not be the only type of student that the education system chooses to provide a platform for success for. 

Curriculum - Day 2

Barrett:
Principles for Interpreting:
In this article Barrett stresses the importance of interpretation over judgement. He (is Barrett a he?) outlines several principles to guide interpretation in art education. He uses the term "aboutness" to stress this idea that art is about something. He says that interpretations seek to lead others to the same understanding of the artwork. However, I think that the area that is possibly more interesting is where there are differences in our interpretations. According to Barrett interpretations imply a world view. We can not ever separate ourselves from this world view. In so many ways we are affected by it without out even knowing it.  For me this idea creates a *ping* with Freedman's writing, in which he stresses the importance of articulating these influences.

Another of Barrett's principles is that feelings are guides to interpretation. I think this seems to be one that is easily forgotten. How we feel about a piece of art is an important element of the interpretation. He also says that it is good to be familiar with other works by the artist. This knowledge can affect the interpretation. I was thinking about Andy Warhol's Car Crash. If this was the only piece of Warhol's work that you had ever seen you would probably have very different ideas of what this work is about. This idea leads to another principle, Art is a part of the world from which it emerged. For me this also connects to Eisner's ideas about how art can be used to make meaning in our students lives.

In the last paragraph Barrett expresses the importance of not always making students speak for themselves about their artwork. A lot can be learned by hearing how others see their artwork and what makes them say that. In the Studio Thinking class that I took last semester I would have been very interested to know what my peers saw in my work if they had not known my thinking. I

About Art Interpretation for Art Education:
In this article Barret presents three new principles for interpretation. One of his new principles is "Artworks attract multiple interpretations." It could be interesting to occasionally have students share their interpretations with one another. Maybe on a critique day you could have students put post-it notes next to each others pieces of art explaining their thoughts on it. You could require each interpretation to be different, just to see how many ideas one piece can spawn.

On page 7 Barrett says you should take notice of what you do when you view a piece of art. I love the idea of having students simply making  list of what they do as they look at a new piece of work. Do they step closer, walk around it, mutter something? By writing a list students are required to articulate parts of their viewing and interpreting process that they might not be aware of. 

Barrett also discusses the idea of personal verses communal interpretations. He says that sometimes the personal interpretation gets over looked, but stresses the need to find a balance between the two. In my Contemporary Art history class last semester we had weekly discussions in which the professor would seek our interpretations of artwork. However, we would usually read an article by a critic first. I think that students often felt that the discussions were just meant to check wether or not they read, so the critics ideas were just restated. However, I believe that the professor actually wanted our personal interpretations. I think that sometimes it can be surprisingly difficult to get students to give their personal interpretation. I feel that the most important element in producing honest feedback when viewing a professional work of art is to create a comfortable community and tell the students that you want to know what they think about it. 

I loved Barrett's ideas for having students write about artwork as a form of interpretation, particularly his activities with Mann's photos and Skoglund's images. I think these would be great elements for a lesson plan, on identity or fantasy/story, respectively. 

Freedman Ch. 2:

In this chapter Freedman discusses various theories on the role of aesthetics in art education. On page 23 he says that ,"education has not been instrumental enough in promoting learning that will help students make meaning." He goes on to say that students "found processes of connecting meaning to form particularly challenging. This should be a clear signal that what has been the model for art education in the past has not been effective at reaching students on a deeper thinking level. Futhermore, I think that this is a sign that students should be looking at and discussing images in all of their classes, not just are. Visual culture studies seems to have particularly strong implications for use in social studies. 

Freedman describes a string of theories from formalism to Modernism to more contemporary meaning making approaches. It is concerning that many art education programs still focus on formalist approaches to aesthetics that were developed in the late 19th century. I think that formalism has its place in art education, however other approaches should also be considered in curriculum. On page 39 Freedman addresses John Dewey's views saying, "Awareness of form attunes us to the psychobiological conditions of being human and our senses work together to promote aesthetic connections, enriching our experience of form." "He viewed art as the extreme expression of the relationship material, process, and idea." Though Dewey's ideas are also dated, they resonate more strongly with me. Dewey sees art and life and dependent upon one another. Memorizing elements and principles does not reflect the profound and ingrained place that art and visual culture has in our life. 

Curriculum - Day 1

First and foremost, I love Imagination First! I love the format. I love the ideas. I love the way it smells. I was inspired by all the awesome ways that everyone conceived of these sparks being used in the classroom.

I love the idea of practice number one. In one of my gym classes in high school we used to have relaxation days. We would lie on mats in the dark gym and our teacher would take us through guided relaxation. It was my not only one of my favorite parts of gym, but one of my favorite parts of high school. There is a lot of pressure on kids and their rapidly developing minds and emotions need a minute to rest. I think it would be good to have my students do a relaxation exercise and then maybe they could do a quick sketch of their thoughts, or write about it. Maybe even like every Friday for 10 or 15 minutes.

I also liked practice number two. To use this spark I would ask students to go to some type of event that they had never been to, a ballet, a football game, pokemon club, etc. I would ask them to journal about it afterwards. What stood out to them, what was unexpected. Then I would have them consider one positive new idea or feelings that they had gained from this experience and produce art around that idea. It could be neat to incorporate artifacts from the event: ticket stubs, candy wrappers, leaves. I could go on for a while about Imagination First, but I will move on.

Freedman:
Freedman introduces the possibilities in teaching using visual culture analysis. On page two he says, "Informal art education happens throughout our lives as we encounter visual culture and have thoughtful discussions or debates about it." This is one of the reasons why I love the idea of teaching visual culture. Some people think they don't know how to talk about art, but if you can talk about life then you can talk about art. Visual culture is such an accessible jumping off point for students.

Freedman also discusses how visual culture education can make students more aware of relationships and connections (pg. 3, pg. 5, pg. 14). This is made clear through the process of VTS. Students can look at a magazine image or a piece of fine art and make all kinds of connections. It helps them understand how images are constructed to create meaning whether it is on TV or in a museum. Freedman's discussion of "border crossing" (pg.15) also resonated with me. Not only can we make it a point to view images from different cultures in our classrooms, but we can also see how those from different backgrounds read the same image. The ways that our experiences shape how meaning is created is made transparent in visual culture studies.

On page 20 Freedman says, "We are on the edge of a new artistic renaissance. Images are becoming more pervasive than text." I would go on the say that the line between an image and text is becoming blurred. Not only do we analyze and read images, often without realizing it, text is often part of an image. How large the text is, what font and color is used is important in how we understand its relationship to images and under lying meanings. When we see something written in (God forbid) comic sans, it triggers a different association in our heads than a simple helvetica. Visual culture is part of everyone's lives. By uncovering our inner thinking we encourage students to explore their embedded meaning making strategies.

Eisner:
The first chapter of Eisner is so strongly connected to what Freedman writes about. Eisner says that the arts allows students to make connections, explore meaning, and extend ideas. On page two Eisner says, "It (art) is a way of creating our lives by expanding our consciousness, shaping our dispositions, satisfying our quest for meaning, establishing contact with others, and sharing a culture." I find it interesting that this sentence could just as easily be describing visual culture studies which Freedman writes about.

On page 13 Eisner says, "We design educational programs not merely to improve schools, but also to improve the ways in which students think." Our goal is not to teach kids how to put paint on paper, but rather how to teach kids how to learn. How to learn to experiment, how to learn to make meaning, how to learn to see new perspectives, and on and on. When students learn how to learn they know that the boundaries of that ability are endless and they can begin to grasp the power of their minds.

In Eisners second chapter he discusses the various versions of art education. Some focus on problem solving, some focus on practical application, some focus on cross curricular connections. Most of them have little pieces of others mixed in. It seems wise to me that all of the forms have benefits and we should aim to intermix a little of each throughout our curriculum. It gives all different kinds of students the opportunity to shine. As we saw in our chair activity today as much as we share many similarities, we also have a lot of differences. Students needs vary and by diversifying our curriculum approaches as much as possible we can more readily meet those varying needs.

Eisner speaks to the ability of art to capture this diversity on page 44 when he says, "The arts, however, march to a different drummer. In most of the arts we seek diversity of outcome. We are interested in the ways vision and meaning are personalized." YES! Not only is life a lot more interesting this way, but also we learn a heck of a lot more this way. That's why art rocks!