For the second time in my teaching career I had the opportunity to hear Howard Gardner speak on issues relevant to Education. The first time was in 1995 when he was explaining Multiple Intelligence Theory-his revolutionary idea that people are smart in multiple ways (at least 8, now maybe 9). MI Theory is now widely accepted and curricula have been devised around it. This time the talk was on Education in An Era of Globalization (at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, MA as part of the Legacy Bank Education Lecture Series).
Having read several books lately on Globalization (A Whole New Mind, The World is Flat), I was excited to hear what Dr. Gardner had to say on the topic. Turned out that the one hour talk was simply an overview of his book Five Minds for the Future which I also just finished reading. Five Minds for the Future outlines the specific cognitive abilities that will be sought and cultivated by leaders in the years ahead (according to Gardner). In many ways, it is a distillation of points made in Pink and Friedman's books. I had the thought while reading the book and again while listening to Gardner talk that the points he makes also echo-to me- Confucian Ideals (The Analects).
The 5 Minds include:
* The Disciplinary Mind: the mastery of major schools of thought, including science, mathematics, and history, and of
at least one professional craft.
* The Synthesizing Mind: the ability to integrate ideas from different disciplines or spheres into a coherent whole and to
communicate that integration to others.
* The Creating Mind: the capacity to uncover and clarify new problems,
questions and phenomena.
* The Respectful Mind: awareness of and appreciation for differences among
human beings and human groups.
* The Ethical Mind: fulfillment of one's responsibilities as a worker and as a
citizen.
5 Minds Charter School anyone?
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