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....