BFTP: Revisiting Pink and "Conceptual Age" Skills

A Saturday Blue Skunk "feature" will be a revision of an old post. I'm calling this BFTP: Blast from the Past. The original post from October 4, 2005.

In my August 22, 2005 blog entry, I did a short review of Daniel Pink’s new book A Whole New Mind in which he lists six right brain “senses” he believes successful workers in a post-information age economy will need to have.

Pink’s “senses” (DESIGN, STORY, SYMPHONY, EMPATHY, PLAY, and MEANING) were on my mind this weekend when working on a “serious” paper for the National Library Board of Singapore conference I’ll be presenting at this November. (Yeah, I couldn’t believe they asked me either.) The topic is “The Knowledge Worker Redux” and it was a great chance to reflect on what skills our students need to successfully compete in a global economy.

First, I am going to be bold and add a seventh “sense” of my own to Mr. Pink’s list:

7. Not just knowledge, but also LEARNING. Unless a person develops both the ability and the desire to continue to learn new skills, to be open to new ideas, and to be ready to change practices in the face of new technologies, economic forces, and societal demands, he or she will not be able to successfully compete in a global economy.

In the age of educational accountability, we seem to be gearing all our instructional efforts to helping students master left-brain skills, since that is what tests usually measure. But to what extent do we and should we also be developing design sense, storytelling abilities, the ability to synthesis information, empathy, the use of humor, and the ability to detect the importance of the information learned? How do we create true “life-long learners?” What emphases, using Pink’s model, might schools and libraries wish to cultivate in the “conceptual age” worker?

1. DESIGN
• Offer art classes and activities
• Assess not just content, but appearance of student work
• Teach visual literacy

2. STORY
• Ask for student writing in the narrative voice.
• Teach speaking skills.
• Use storytelling as a part of teaching.

• Give students opportunities to both hear and tell stories.

Honor digital storytelling as an important means of communication

3. SYMPHONY
• Design classroom projects that cross disciplines.
• Ask for the application of skills and concepts to genuine problems.
• Use inductive learning strategies (learning by doing).

4. EMPATHY
• Emphasize reading literature about people from other cultures and socio-economic groups.
• Give students service learning and volunteer opportunities or requirements.
• Give students the opportunity to take part as an actor in theater productions.
• Design group projects.

5. PLAY
• Teach with games.
• Offer a variety of athletics and physical education classes.
• Offer participatory music classes.
• Teach through riddles and jokes, and encourage students to tell them.

6. MEANING
• Offer classes in comparative religion, myth and legend.
• Teach ethical behaviors as a part of every project.
• Asking for writings to include statements of personal values.

7. LEARNING
• Teach processes, not facts.
• Allow students to research areas of personal interest (and tolerate a diversity of interests).
• Give students the ability to learn in non-traditional ways (online, early enrollment in college, apprenticeships).
• Make available clubs and organizations for students to join in which students learn non-academic skills.
• Provide access to a wide range of information sources.