Successful Senses

Successful Senses in the 21st Century Art Curriculum

Lori Korschgen
University of Missouri, Columbia. LTC 8740

Successful Senses

WithinDanielPinksinspiringbook,AWholeNewMindheintroducessixnewsenses
thatarebecomingcrucialforsuccessinanyfieldthroughoutthe21stcentury.Thesesenseshad
traditionallybeenlabeledforthosethatusetherightpartoftheirbrainwhereholistic,creative
processingoccurs.Pinkassertivelysuggeststhatthesequalitiesareinfactfromthecreative
mind,butcanbeextremelyhelpfulinanytaskonecouldbeaskedtoperforminaworldof
abundanceandtechnology.
Inthe21stcentury,societyisfilledwithexcessmaterials,information,andobjectives.
Thereisauniversalsearchformeaning,sothatsocietycanlivehappilywithasenseofpurpose.
Thissearchisoneforaconnectiontosomethinglarger,forjoy,andvalueinboththenaturaland
materialworld.Toengagestudentsintheactofmaking,thelessonmustbemeaningfultothe
students.Throughoutlife,peopleengageinaprocessofcontinuouslearningaboutthingsin
whichtheyhavepersonalinvestment.Learningthatoccursoutsideofschoolsortheworkplace
throughhobbies,readingthemediaandsoonisalmostalwaystiedtotheirpassions.Yet
althoughtheyareconstantlylearningaboutthethingsthatreallyinterestthem,thosethingsare
rarelyacknowledgedineducationalenvironments.(Thomas,2011)Otherwise,students
recognizeitslackofmeaning,andwillbelesslikelytolearnorbeengagedwiththelesson.
Inaworldwhereaccessandmaterialsfeeleasilyacquired,Pinkremindsustogobackto
theactofcreationthroughtheideaofdesign.Lookupfromthispageandcastyoureyesaround
theroomyourein.Everythinginyourmidsthasbeendesigned.(Pink,2006)Anything,
whetheritspurposewaspurelyaesthetic,functional,orboth,hashadtohavebeendesignedby
apersonatonepoint.Fromthere,manypeoplehavealtered,redesigned,orrecreatedobjectsin

Successful Senses

anexponentialactofproduction.Thisisanimportantfacttorecognizethathumansarenatural
creators,lookingforanswersandsolutionstoproblemsandneeds.
Withacallfornewideationandinnovation,Pinkremindsusoftheimportancetoplay.
Theactofcarefreeplayingisonethattendstofadewithage.Thosethatcanremembertoplay,
aremorelikelytousetheirimaginationtocomeupwithuniqueperspectives,explore,and
discoverpossibilitiesthatwouldotherwisenothavebeenconceived.
Whenutilizingdesignandplaytocomeupwithtangibleproducts,Pinkrealizesthe
abundancethatthiscanproduce,thusrequiringthesenseofsymphony.Thosethatare
symphonicthinkershavetheabilitytoseethewholepicture,ofpast,presentandfuture.
Furthermore,whileseeingthiswholepicture,theycaneasilyflowbetweenseparatepartsofit.
Thismeanstohaveasenseofsymphonyallowsyoutoeasilycrossoverborders,allwhile
multitasking.Whenseeingallpartsthatareavailable,symphonicthinkerscanrecognizepatterns
andtrends.
Additionally,tobeabletoeasilycrossbordersandunderstandwhatlifeislikefor
humansthroughouttimeandacrosscultures,onewillneedtohaveempathy.Differentfrom
sympathy,empathyisnottofeelsorryforothers,buttosimplytryandunderstandwhatlifeis
likeforthem.Therefore,onewouldplaceoneselfintoanotherslife,tryingtovaluethe
individualneeds,wants,environments,restrictions,andexperiencesofothers.Oncethereisa
better,largerunderstandingofwhatlifeislikeforhumansonaglobalscale,alargerfoundation
canbebuiltuponfordevelopingwiderchange.
Toempatheticallyunderstandthelivesofothers,thereisnobetterwaytolearnabout
someonethanthroughtheirstories.Specifically,Historically,storiesweretheonlysourceof

Successful Senses

communicatingandsharinginformation.Throughouttimeandthedevelopmentofimages,the
writtenlanguage,andtechnologystoriesbecomemoreeasilyaccessible.Factsareeasilyfound
inthe21stcentury,butwithgreaterquantitycomeslessqualityinwhatpeoplerememberorhold
deer.Pinkexplains,Whenfactsbecomesowidelyavailableandinstantlyaccessible,eachone
becomeslessvaluable.Whatbeginstomattermoreistheabilitytoplacethesefactsincontext
andtodeliverthemwithemotionalimpact.(Pink,2006)Whilecommercialcompanieshave
learnedtousestorieswithacertaincontextandemotiontomovetheirproduct,storiesstaywith
usbetterthanmundanefactsforthesamereasons.Thisplacesacrucialimportanceonstoriesin
howpeoplelearn.Specifically,Inthenewcultureoflearning,peoplelearnthroughtheir
interactionandparticipationwithoneanotherinfluidrelationshipsthataretheresultofshared
interestsandopportunity.(Thomas,2011)

Focusingontheuseofstory,Ibelieveitwouldbemyjobtoredefinethedefinitionof
texttohelpmystudentsunderstandhowstoriesarebeingtoldtothemallthetime,beyond
words.Peoplecannotonlyspeakfreely;theycanvisuallyaccess,displayanduplicate,
computermanipulate,andgloballytelevise.Visualcultureimagesandobjectsarecontinuously
seenandinstantaneouslyinterpreted,formingnewknowledgeandnewimagesofidentityand
environment.(Freedman,2003)Studentsshouldfirstrecognizethatimages,movingorstill,are
tellingastory.Whenanimageinteractswithtext,ithasmoresupportforitsnarrative.Aneasy
yetessentialwaytohelpstudentsunderstandthatimagestellstoriesaretoimplementVisual
ThinkingStrategies.Askingstudentstolookcloselyandprovideevidencefortheir
interpretationshelpsformthedirectlinkbetweenwhattheyareseeing,andwhatstorythey

Successful Senses

believetheyarebeingtold.Thisallowskidstobecomeselfcognizant,askingindependently,
WhatamIseeingthatmakesmesaythat?
Gudestatesthat,Ifwearetoevolvearteducationcurricularpracticesthathave
relevancetothelivesofstudentsandtheircommunities,wemustimagineanarteducationthatis
groundedintherealitiesofcontemporaryculturallifeaswellasintherealitiesofcurrentschool
settings.AgreeingwiththesearchformeaningasmentionedpreviouslybyPink,Gudeexplains
theimportanceofhavinglessonsthatarebasedoncurrent,relevant,accessibletopicsfor
students.Primarily,thereisnogreaterrelevancytostudentsthantellingtheirownstories.This
canbedonethroughanintroductionoflessonsthatstemfromabigideathatisbroadenoughfor
allstudentstohavetheirownuniqueexperiencesomehowrelatingtoit.Creatingartbasedoffof
thosepreviousexperiencesandbackgroundknowledgeempowersstudentstovisuallycreate
theirownautobiography.
Studentsdonothavetocreateastoryoftheirownfromscratch,butalsohavetheoptions
toedit,rework,andrevisestoriesthathavealreadybeentold.Byalteringacharacter,plotline,
orendingstudentscantakecontrolanddevelopastorythatfeelsmorerelatabletothem.
WhenutilizingVisualThinkingStrategiesintheclassroom,studentsshouldbe
discussingrelevantimages.Imagesthatarepopular,intriguing,andenticingwithintheirown
community.Thiscouldrangefromadvertisements,albumcovers,videogamecovers,school
banners,posters,andsoon.SooftenIthinktheimagesthatareeasilyrecognizableoradmired
areoftenaccompaniedwithanoverlookednarrative.
Thisprocesswouldintrinsicallyhelpstudentstorealizetherelationshipbetweencreator
andaudience,andhowfrequentlytheyareineitherrole.Notonlywouldtheygettotelltheir

Successful Senses

ownstories,theywouldlearnfromothers,buildacollectiveknowledge,andgainempathyfor
theirowncommunity.

References
Freedman,K.(2003).TheProfessionalField:TheorizingVisualCultureinEducation.In
TeachingVisualCulture:Curriculum,aesthetics,andthesociallifeofart.NewYork,NY:
TeachersCollegePress.
Gude,O.(2013).NewSchoolArtStyles:TheProjectofArtEducation.TheJournalofNational
ArtEducationAssociation,615.
Pink,D.(2006).AWholeNewMind:WhyRightBrainersWillRuleTheFuture.NewYork,NY:
PenguinGroup.
Thomas,D.,&Brown,J.(2011).ANewCultureofLearning:CultivatingtheImaginationfora
WorldofConstantChange.