the Ethical Mind

Last but not least...Gardner has the Ethical Mind. He feels this is a higher level of abstraction than the Respectful Mind, as it is about "what do {you} do when it's not in {your} best interest?" It is about conceptualizing oneself as a (good) worker and a (good )citizen, and knowing what the responsibilities are of each. Gardner describes the ENA of 'good work' as being Excellent (being an expert, with work of high quality), Ethical (socially responsible, moral), and Engaging (knowing one's work is meaningful, and being intrinsically motivated because of that). In the digital age, it means 'how to become a (good) cyber citizen.'

the Respectful Mind

Continuing with Gardner...the Fourth Mind is known as the Respectful Mind and is part of how one deals with other human beings. It goes beyond mere tolerance ("I'll put up with you...", "I'll respect you only if and only if..."; which Gardner places in the '(close but) no cigar' category). It is part of a true need to understand others and make their causes part of one's own. It is based on the need to understand others -- their perspectives, motivations, emotions and intelligence. As part of this thinking, Gardner sees the 'corporate, top-down model' for schools as inappropriate, as it segments groups of people without the opportunity for them to understand each other (however messy the process may be, which may be why the top-down model seems safer, imho.) Gardner gave some 'promising' examples of the Respectful Mind as the Barenboim-Said Middle Eastern Orchestra, and Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, which are both composed of musicians from very diverse experiences and perspectives. Can there be Peace Through Art(s)? Is that why the arts in school are always a razor-slice away from losing their budgets in some districts? hmmmmm....

the Creating Mind

The third mind that Howard Gardner talks about is the Creating Mind. This is the mind that breaks new ground, ponders new solutions, and asks good questions and new questions. It is similar to the Disciplined Mind as it involves mastering one or more disciplines "every 10 years...but begin{s} the mastery when {you're} young." However, mastering a discipline becomes "the box {you} think outside of." As a result, people who have this kind of mind possess the ultimate judgment of 'the field.' This type of mind is also willing to take risks and doesn't mind failing; s/he asks what can be learned from something not working. Gardner maintains that "the secrets of creativity are open to everybody."

back to Howard Gardner

OK, where did we leave off...the Second Mind, also known as the Synthesizing Mind. This requires the skill of sorting through ALL the information out there, to determine what to pay attention to, what to ignore, how to put it together in a way that makes sense to the learner, and how to communicate this to others. After surviving 12 credits of graduate school this semester, I can tell you that it is important. I think it is also important to know when to scan, when to skim, when to read an article in its entirety, and when you just to have the time to read it at all (which requires an amount of prioritizing). I also think of the students with learning/reading disabilities out there who find this so difficult to do. Maybe there is funky new technology out there that helps someone find information with certain keywords, or something that synthesizes information for a learner (kind of like electronic Cliff Notes)...any feedback on this?

back again!

Hello everyone! The semester is almost over but all of my projects and papers are finished. I will have a little break from school from May 5th to May 16th, and then I will be taking one class during summer session I. It should be very interesting...a combination observation/seminar format on teaching English to students other than English. But in the meantime, I am looking forward to reading something other than a textbook!