Why THIS is Important: Part 1

There are 2 reasons why "this" is so important, why it's important NOW and why there is a favorable opportunity.
        1) Fashion
        2) Excelling in this new economy

I'll write about 'Fashion' in another post. In this post I'll explain what the "this" is, and how it applies to excelling in this new economy.

Surely we can all agree that in today's world, students must learn to be computer literate. Not just for the sake of learning how to use a computer, but because they need to learn how to evaluate their sources on the internet when doing research, learn how to use word processors for writing papers, learn how to use spreadsheets and databases for science, learn how to graph and calculate complex problems in math, learn how to manage their data for all their academic classes, learn about privacy and networks, learn how to manipulate digital images and video for their papers and slideshows, learn how to communicate with other students and teachers on the web, etc. Computers have become an integral part of every subject.

What is less apparent, but is obvious when one thinks about it, is that DESIGN, NARRATIVE, SYNTHESIS, EMPATHY, PLAY/WONDERMENT and MEANING are also integral parts of every academic subject. I'm sure that some of these ARE integrated into some of our curriculum, but if some of it is not, then it needs to be - and it should be at an institutional level. These are the right-brain dominated "senses" that Daniel H. Pink writes about in his book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. These 6 senses are the "this" that I refer to in the title of this post. And when I say important, I mean that  it's important that the creative arts and skills be more integral to our education sytem.

Dan Pink's book was suggested to teachers by the former Superintendent/Principal of Lincoln-Sudbury, John Ritchie at a beginning-of-the-year staff/faculty meeting many years ago. It was not until this summer that I've picked it up. To my pleasure, Dan Pink articulates concepts that resonates with me and has validated my similar ideas that I have been thinking about for years. His premise is that to excel in this current economy, being versed in the things that were the staple of the 'information age' (left-brain thinking) is no longer sufficient. We are now well into what Dan Pink calls the "Conceptual Age," where the addition and dominance of right-brain thinking is key. The staple of work from the information age, like accounting and IT, is now either being replaced by computer software, or being shipped overseas. My step son took a career workshop at UMASS Amherst during his senior year. He was taught that many corporations are now recruiting from the Humanities departments of Universities. The companies are now looking to either train in-house or are looking for people to "synthesize," conceptualize, manage the big picture, and/or innovate.

Institutionally, much of our schools view Art and Music as an afterthought, an extra curricular activity, a little "bonus" to give a chance for students to relax, and in worse cases a luxury that gets cut out of the curriculum altogether. So much is dictated by budget cuts and standardized exams that curriculum becomes compartmentalized and internally competitive. The side effect of "fighting for survival" is a weakening of progressive thinking and interdepartmental, inter-disciplinary development. As schools are struggling to provide services, the energy and inertia for inspiration, wonderment and passion gets dissipated. Yes, for some, these "traditional" electives can be more relaxing and enjoyable, but these "electives" would be significantly more effective if they were institutionally and culturally valued as something integral and vital, with transferable skills to all academics.

The MFA is the new MBA
Daniel Pink says "The MFA is the new MBA." When you Google this phrase, you will see that many of the largest business publications are taking Dan Pink seriously - Forbes, New York Times, Fast Company, Washington Post, and the Harvard Business Review.

I just discovered from the Wall Street Journal that NYU has a combination MBA/MFA program. http://mba-mfa.nyu.edu/

A Favorable Opportunity

We all know that the job market is not too good, but did you know that this not the case with math, science and IT? Even though there is a great drove of IT work being outsourced to India, the current job market is still pretty good for skilled programmers. As my good friend and our old colleague Dan Damelin tells me, there is a dearth of "talented" programmers. Dan Damelin works at the Concord Consortium where he is in the position of often looking to hire programmers (in 2011 the Concord Consortium received a 2.5 million dollar grant from Google for creating digital curricula). Dan says it is a programmers market. Companies like Google, Amazon and Facebook are driving up the ante with more lucrative offers and bonuses to talented computer programmers.

http://www.wgbh.org/articles/Too-Many-Workers-in-Math-and-Science-6771

On WGBH's Innovation Hub there has been an ongoing debate about this issue. On one side, companies are saying there is a lack of math and science workers, and on the other side math and science graduates and job seekers are saying they can't find a job. What explains this gap? I have a theory. The gap is between the "skilled" high tech worker, and the "talented" high tech worker. The "talented" worker is the one who, as well as having the skills, also has the right-brain abilities - the 6 "senses" outlined by Dan Pink that I described a few paragraphs above.

This is the gap we as educators need to fill. This is why there is both the need and the opportunity to do so. STEM misses the boat and just isn't adequate. As an institution, we need to formally integrate these right-brain oriented thinking skills into our curriculum to provide students with a more complete and cohesive education. I realize it cannot be done all at once, but in can be done in increments. This is part of my inspiration for bringing together Math, Science, Computer and Art teachers to explore some of these ideas and witness some of these trends.

READ PART 2