This conversation- A debate about arts education

This Conversation

By Douglas McLennan

For decades, as teaching of the arts has been cut back in our public schools, alarms have been raised about the dire consequences for American culture. Artists and arts organizations stepped in to try to... take up some of the slack. Foundations funded programs to take art into the schools. But producers of art aren't primarily in the education business. Schools increasingly focused on meeting basic skills benchmarks have less and less time to make room for study of the arts. And technology has spawned a vast, crowded, and alluring marketplace of creativity competing for attention. New research Cultivating Demand for the Arts: Arts Learning, Arts Engagement, and State Arts Policy by RAND and sponsored by The Wallace Foundation suggests that a generation of Americans has not developed the knowledge or skills to engage with our cultural heritage. Without that engagement, the arts as we know them are unsustainable over the long run. Can anything be done?

This Arts Journal blog brought in some key thinkers in the arts to debate about arts education.

http://www.artsjournal.com/artsed/2008/11/this-blog.html

Seven skills students desperately need

Today's students could fail at life, says Harvard's Tony Wagner, because their schools are too busy teaching to the test

By Meris Stansbury, Assistant Editor

1. Problem-solving and critical thinking;
2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence;
3. Agility and adaptability;
4. Initiative and entrepreneurship;
5. Effective written and oral communication;
6. Accessing and analyzing information; and
7. Curiosity and imagination.

For more by Tony Wagner, go to: http://www.schoolchange.org/

Tony Wagner has served as Co-Director of the Change Leadership Group (CLG) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education since its inception in 2000. An initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CLG is an "R & D" center that helps teams to be effective change leaders in schools and districts. He is also on the faculty of the Executive Leadership Program for Educators, a joint initiative of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, Business School, and Kennedy School of Government. Tony consults widely to public and independent schools, districts, and foundations around the country and internationally and has been Senior Advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the past eight years.

Tony has worked for more than thirty-five years in the field of school improvement, and he is a frequent keynote speaker and widely published author on education and society. Prior to assuming his current position at Harvard, Tony was a high school teacher for twelve years; a school principal; a university professor in teacher education; co-founder and first executive director of Educators for Social Responsibility; project director for the Public Agenda Foundation in New York; and President and CEO of the Institute for Responsive Education. He earned his a Masters of Arts in Teaching and Doctorate in Education at Harvard University.

Tony’s publications include numerous articles in both education journals and national magazines and four books. Tony's latest book, The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach The New Survival Skills Our Children Need—And What We Can do About It has just published by Basic Books. Change Leadership: A Practical Guide to Transforming Our Schools, written in collaboration with Robert Kegan and colleagues of the Change Leadership Group, was published by Jossey-Bass last year. Routledge publishes Tony’s two other books: the highly acclaimed Making the Grade: Reinventing America’s Schools and How Schools Change: Lessons from Three Communities Revisited.

What is art for?

This NYTimes article on the work of Lewis Hyde introduces us to a great thinker in the arts who should be considered in conversations related to the creative economy, the development of 'genius', and issues related to cultural commons vs copyright.

“It takes a capacious mind to play host to … others and to find new ways to combine what they have to offer,” Hyde writes, “but not a mind for whom there are no masters, not a ‘unique.’ Quite the opposite — this is a mind willing to be taught, willing to be inhabited, willing to labor in the cultural commons.”

"... the predicament of all artists living “in an age whose values are market values and whose commerce consists almost exclusively in the purchase and sale of commodities.” For centuries people have been speaking of talent and inspiration as gifts; Hyde’s basic argument was that this language must extend to the products of talent and inspiration too. Unlike a commodity, whose value begins to decline the moment it changes hands, an artwork gains in value from the act of being circulated—published, shown, written about, passed from generation to generation — from being, at its core, an offering."

What Has Driven Women Out of Computer Science?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/business/16digi.html?em#

There is a widening gap between males and females in the computer science field. After advances 25 years ago, girls are no longer enrolling in computer science at previous rates. The authors point to the rise in action gaming along with the 'nerdy' perception of the field as two factors driving girls away from computer science.

Innovative Michigan Product for Classrooms

November 13, 2008

Innovative product for classrooms could make teachers’ work a bit easier

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Holland-based LS Mold, a plastic injection mold manufacturer, has come up with an innovative product to diversify its business and help make teachers’ work a little easier. The product, Clipsters, gives teachers a convenient way to hang posters and projects from suspended ceilings without their feet ever touching a ladder or stepstool.

Clipsters are ceiling hooks or loops with a magnetic end that attaches to the metal strip of a suspended ceiling. A teacher clips the hook/loop to the end of a positioning pole, and can attach, remove, or reposition the hook on the ceiling strip while standing flat on the floor.

“We bought another business in 2000 and ceiling hooks were an existing product line,” says Larry Koning, president. “We took the concept and redesigned it.”

A Clipsters display system includes a horizontal holding rail, similar to the top rail of a picture frame. The rail clips over the top edge of artwork and keeps it from sagging in the middle when hung. Using the positioning pole, a teacher can hang the rail from the magnetic hooks to display the art, or take down the rail so the art can be changed.

“This product idea was a very fun find,” says Bill Small of InnovationWORKS. When Small toured LS Mold earlier this year, Koning asked if InnovationWORKS could help market Clipsters.

“InnovationWORKS is trying to help manufacturers with market diversification,” Small says. “I’m researching where teachers go to get their props and teaching aids, and we’re working on the business and distribution side for Clipsters.”

Small says he’ll also list Clipsters on InnovationWORKS’ Idea Portal with the intention of generating interest from investors or businesses looking for a new product.

“This could be a perfect product for bars, hospitals, party stores, restaurants, and department stores,” says Koning. “There are millions of miles of suspended ceilings.”

Source: Larry Koning, LS Mold; Bill Small, InnovationWORKS

As published in www.rapidgrowthmedia.com

How to Find Time for Social Media...

Keeping up with social media is a daunting task. The No. 1 question I'm asked when I speak at corporate seminars and mention that I recently wrote my 7,000th Twitter entry is "How in the world do you have the time for social media?" The answer: I don't. I make time. 

Here's the secret: Pick a couple of social networks -- mine are Twitter and LinkedIn -- and concentrate on those. You can't be everywhere and you don't need to be everywhere, unless you want to be like this dog chasing its tail. 

Because social media is my business, I try every new platform that comes along, opening an account in each one so I can see how they work, who's using them and what kind of usefulness they could have to me or my clients. But I don't go back to most social networks unless buzz on them picks up suddenly. And I know when that happens because Twitter's open on my desktop all day. I also check my RSS feeds and Google Alerts regularly. 

E-mail comes last. I hate e-mail. It's out of control. Anyone who is likely to get a quick response from me knows better ways to reach me than e-mail. Like the phone. I know: phone calls! What a concept! 

Yes, there are people (like Robert Scoble, who follows 21,000 people on Twitter and has 38,000 followers there) who manage to be superstars in every known social network. 

For us mere humans, the key to effective social networking is to be selective. Then listen, link, respond and give more than we take. And, hey, Rule One is still that social networking is fun. 

B.L. Ochman

Available at:

http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=132361

Visual imaging and medicine

From an advertisement in the NYTimes for Weill Cornell Physicians

"Einstein came up with a technique of thinking known as visual imaging.

He would visualize himself in a vessel moving faster and faster, and he would see mathematical formulas changing as the speed went up.

I am quite impressed with that kind of thing. 

I am always trying to visualize things in a different way. 

Love trekking, hiking. I travel a lot. On long flights, and long treks, I write down ideas. 

This is how I modify things.

My mentor was interested in the possibilities of robotic surgery. Together, we were involved in one of the first robotic prostate cancer procedures in the U.S. Now, I work on redefining this technique again and again.

For science, the next five years will be unparalleled to past decades or even centuries. But we have to continue to be human. All the technology is a means to an end, and the end hasn't changed. This is all for one individual who is suffering with something."

Dr. Ashutosh Tewari

Director, Robotic Prostatectomy

www.weillcornell.org

Idea man feels need to re-invent himself

Bob Isherwood has quit his role as worldwide creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi, citing a need to have "more than one life in my lifetime." 

Mr. Isherwood has been at Saatchi since 1986, when he joined the Publicis Groupe agency's Sydney office. He became a creative director in 1988, and has been worldwide creative director and a member of the network's executive board since 1996. His departure from the agency, which is led by Worldwide CEO Kevin Roberts, breaks up one of the longest-standing leadership teams in the agency business. Isherwood originally brought Roberts to the agency having worked with him as a client, and their friendship extended beyond business -- Roberts was best man at Isherwood's wedding. 

Alongside Roberts, Isherwood tried to push the idea that Saatchi & Saatchi is an ideas agency, not an ad agency. (In 1992 they removed the word "advertising" from the agency's nameplates around the world.) Isherwood is respected for his ability to find and marshal talent, and he has overseen the creative output through a major expansion in the agency's revenue and thousands of awards victories. 

But people close to Isherwood said that for some time now he has been antsy and niggled by a feeling that he needed to do something new. "For the past 12 years I've been focused on the reinvention of Saatchi & Saatchi," he told Ad Age from his home in Miami. "Now I've reached a point where I feel a need to reinvent myself." 

Roberts said he'd known it was coming. "This has been brewing for a year," he said. "Bob's a restless creative guy. We've been privileged to have him for the best part of 20 years. Over the last two months he took some time off to think about it, and we supported and understood that decision. But he has lots of juice left, he's not just going to wonder into the darkness, and he felt he needed to explore that. He's the only one I've ever worked with, and while I'm really excited for him, I'm devastated too." 

Mr. Isherwood, who numbers the creation of the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors' Showcase and the Award for World Changing Ideas among his achievements, said he does not know exactly what the next chapter will be. "I have an idea for something for President-elect Obama, plus there are lots of opportunities I can see on the client side of our business where creativity can play a key role, particularly in this current economic climate," he said. 

He added that he felt he had to make the break from Saatchi before pursuing a new role, noting that people didn't tend to think of him for other opportunities given his longtime association with the agency. "Now I'm putting a sign on my door, 'Open for business.'" 

Roberts said he wouldn't replace Isherwood right away. "For me this is personal," he said. "When you've had a relationship like this one, you don't want to jump into something new on the rebound. I'm going to let a little time pass, see in the new year, and then focus on what we should do next." 

You can read more about Isherwood's ideas and achievements at his website.

From: Creativity, Nov. 10, 2008

Philip Rosedale, Second Life

Living a Second Life as an Avatar

Philip Rosedale, CEO of LInden Lab and creator of Second Life, a public virtual-reality space where people live a parallel existence as avatars, said his users enjoy "this tremendous sense that they are collectively building a new world. When you do something like a charity event in Second Life, people are really engaged...charitable organizations are realizing a higher dollars per return on their event than in the real world."

View Rosedale's video from the IDEA conference:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1370868150/bctid1726720187

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Creativity, fulfillment and flow

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Positive psychologist

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has contributed pioneering work to our understanding of happiness, creativity, human fulfillment and the notion of "flow" -- a state of heightened focus and immersion in activities such as art, play and work.

This TED Talk focuses on Creativity, fulfillment, and flow.

Why you should listen to him:

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives. A leading researcher in positive psychology, he has devoted his life to studying what makes people truly happy: "When we are involved in [creativity], we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of life." He is the architect of the notion of "flow" -- the creative moment when a person is completely involved in an activity for its own sake.

Csikszentmihalyi teaches psychology and management at Claremont Graduate University, focusing on human strengths such as optimism, motivation and responsibility. He's the director the the Quality of Life Research Center there. He has written numerous books and papers about the search for joy and fulfillment.

"A man obsessed by happiness."

Richard Flaste, New York Times

What do Michigan millenials want?

For years, Lansing-area leaders have tried to figure out how to hold onto our college graduates, to stem their outflow to big cities. But maybe it’s time to let them go.

Every year, public and private sector leaders try to figure out how to keep college graduates—who are prone to flock to big cities like Chicago—here in the Lansing area.
During an event at Michigan State University (MSU) this past August, Capitol Gains conducted an extremely informal survey of millenials —trapping students as they left the fair and begging them to tell us what would keep them here after graduation.

Click here to read what they learned

Spore's User Generated Universe

This "Creativity" article explores how Electronic Arts' new game "Spore" puts creativity in the hands of gamers.

"Spore is essentially a series of editors, the first of which, Creature Creator, was released in June on the Spore website. With these editors, gamers can create organisms and direct their evolution from single cell to full-on creatures. But that's just the beginning. Once a species has been born, players can help them evolve from primitive beginnings, all the way to space explorers. If someone wants to dominate the universe, he can build a space armada and blow up planets. But peaceful exploration is also possible. Gamers can also just spend all of their time making creatures, which are then uploaded into the Spore universe. Players can use their creations, or ready-made designs that ship with the game, or browse the myriad community-created entities in an online database, Sporepedia."

To read the entire article which includes an interview with Spore's creator, Will Wright, who also developed the popular Sims, go to Creativity Online by clicking below:

http://creativity-online.com/?action=news:article&newsId=131036

2008 MacArthur "Genius Award" Fellows

Read and meet the 25 researchers, artists and doctors honored for exceptional creativity with 

MacArthur Genius" Award for 2008. 

Chimamanda Adichie is one of this year's winners.

Fiction Writer exploring the circumstances that lead to ethnic conflict in richly imagined novels and stories inspired by events in her native Nigeria.

To read about all of the award winners, go to:

http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.4536877/

To meet the winners through video, go to:

http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.4513915/apps/nl/newsletter3.asp

Creativity is the US edge and it comes from a burning desire to be engaged

"...we have to find our niche, what are our niches, what our students can do, and the US has traditionally been excelling in creativity that means if you look at today's economy, the information age, a lot of our new technology were actually, in fact invented in the US, and we have more patents than any other countries so far, and that comes from a level of creativity, which many other countries, even like countries we admire in terms of the test score, Singapore, Japan, Korea and China, they all want creativity. They are actually reforming their schools in an opposite direction. They want to relax; they want more flexibility for students, for schools and they want to expand the definition of success to include the ability in other areas as music, as arts...

Creativity comes from really a strong interest, a burning desire to be engaged in something and through those engagements you will learn, you will find out...

So, I am hoping that the fact of the local control of scoring the tradition in the US gives more diversity in how we treat different talents, how we value different talents in different communities."

Interview with Dr. Yong Zhao, Michigan State University
University Distinguished Professor of the College of Education
Director of the Center of Technology and Teaching
Director of the US-China for Research on Educational Excellence
Executive Director of the Confucius Institute

Thomas L. Friedman on Michigan and Innovation

I was just in Michigan to give a talk on energy. I can’t tell you how many business cards I collected from innovators who had either started renewable-energy companies or were working for big firms, like the Dow Chemical Company, on clean energy solutions.

It just reminded me how much innovative prowess and entrepreneurial energy is exploding from below in this country.

Thomas L. Friedman, No Laughing Matter, NY Times, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008

Thomas L. Friedman, NYTimes, Sept. 7, 2008

As Chuck Vest, the former president of M.I.T., said to me: 

"...innovation is the only mechanism that can actually change things in substantive ways. Innovation is where creative thinking and practical know-how meet to do new things in new ways, and old things in new ways.

"The irony of ignoring innovation as a theme for our times is that the U.S. is still the most innovative nation on the planet," Vest added. "But we can only maintain that lead if we invest in the people, the research that enable it and produce a policy environment in which it can thrive rather than being squelched. Our strong science and technology base built by past investments, our free market economy built on a base of democracy and a diverse population are unmatched to date; but we are taking it for granted."

A developed country's competitiveness now comes primarily from its capacity to innovate — the ability to create the new products and services that people want, adds Curtis Carlson, chief executive of SRI International, a Silicon Valley research company. As such, "innovation is now the only path to growth, prosperity, environmental sustainability and national security for America. But it is also an incredibly competitive world. Many information industries require that products be improved by 100 percent every 12 to 36 months, just for the company to stay in business."

Our competitiveness, though, he added, is based on having a broadly educated work force, superb research universities, innovation-supportive taxes, immigration and regulatory policies, a productive physical and virtual infrastructure, and a culture that embraces hard work and the creation of new opportunities.

"America is still the best place for innovation," said Carlson. However, we are falling behind in K-12 education, infrastructure and in tax, regulatory and immigration policies that no longer welcome the world's most talented minds. "These issues must be at the top of the national agenda because they determine our ability to provide health care, clean energy and economic opportunity for our citizens."

(For a good plan, read the new "Closing the Innovation Gap" by the technologist Judy Estrin.)