A Whole New Mind (Part I)

A Whole New Mind (Part 1)

1. What is L-Directed and R-Directed Thinking? Does my subject require more of one than the other? How could I try and reach a balance?

L-Directed thinking                                 R-Directed thinking 

                     what is said                      NOT SEPARATE!       how things are said        

                  Sequential                                                                      Simultaneous

                 Text                                   VERY MUCH NEED              Context

              Analyzes details              EACH OTHER TO BE                Synthesizes the big

                                                                SUCCESSFUL!                                  picture

             Logical, analytical                                                                   Recognizes patterns,           

                                                          WORK AS ONE WITH              synthesizes information

                                                      DUAL STRENGTHS

In elementary school, I strongly believe (very much supported in this book) that both “ways” of thinking need to be promoted. Students need to be provided with opportunities to construct, develop, and practice both L-directed and R-directed thinking strategies (separate and in conjunction with one another).

2. How do Abundance, Asia, and Automation affect the dominance of L-Directed thinking in business and schools?

            Abundance, Asia, and Automation are reducing the necessity of dominant L-Directed thinking in business and schools. Abundance has created a necessity of creativity to stand apart from the competition- the analytical, simple engineering of a product that performs the desired task is not enough. It needs to perform the task while also setting itself apart from the incredible amount of alternate options that also perform the same task; requiring not only L-directed thinking to develop the product, but also R-directed thinking to creatively set it apart from the others.

Through education and training, Asia has produced a multitude of workers who excel at L-directed thinking. Companies are able to outsource their L-directed thinking (analytical and concrete tasks) to these countries for much less money. This has reduced the number of jobs available in this country requiring solely L-directed thinking.

Automation, or the use of computers, has extremely reduced the dominance of L-directed thinking. Computers can be programmed to exponentially outperform humans in many L-directed thinking tasks.  This has also reduced the need for dominant L-directed thinking.

3. What is High Concept and High Touch. What is the impact of this on my teaching?

According to Pink, “High concept involves the capacity to detect patterns and opportunities, to create artistic and emotional beauty, to craft a satisfying narrative, and to combine seemingly unrelated ideas into something new” (p. 2)

“High touch involves the ability to empathize with others, to understand the subtleties of human interaction, to find joy in one’s self and to elicit it in others, and to stretch beyond the quotidian in pursuit of purpose and meaning” (p. 3)

In essence, high concept is the ability think, act, and recognize creative and expressive actions involving objects or ideas. In relation to this, high touch connects to the emotional and relational actions and feelings involving oneself and others. These concepts connect and strongly support the need to foster a warm, caring and supportive environment within the classroom. In doing this, high touch will be attainable, supporting the ability for students to engage effectively in high concept.

4. What are the flaws of an education system that only values IQ? Is there also a role for EQ in education?

An education system that only values IQ is extremely flawed. For one, IQ is measured in an extremely L-directed thinking manner (as described by Pink). This not only excludes and disvalues people with extremely valuable talents and ideas, but also disregards the importance for all people to strive to have balance in both ways of thinking. Secondly, as argued by Pink, the demand in our society is moving away from L-directed thinking skills and toward more R-directed thinking skills. Therefore, why should we propel an education system that only tests and values the standard definition of IQ (extremely L-directed)? However, this does not mean that I do not support or value IQ. I believe that an educational system needs to strive to achieve a balance between valuing IQ and EQ. This will support a balance of L-directed and R-directed thinking, and instead of valuing one way as better than the other, we can instead value individuals for their true strengths.