Liz Allen

Senses Paper
Conceptual Age & Meaning
MU8740
6/18/16

Liz Allen

Senses Paper
Conceptual Age: Meaning
MU8740
6/18/16

I read A Whole New Mind as an undergraduate student in which I had left behind highlighter marks. Rereading it as a graduate student I did not necessarily highlight the same phrases, or things that I wanted to remember.
I compared the old and the new highlighter marks and realized as an undergrad I was only highlighting the facts, the
statistics, and the research Daniel Pink had done. As a graduate student I was highlighting holistically- let me explain;
I was noticing the big picture that Pink was trying to make. I was seeing that we are living in a conceptual age and we
need to adjust our senses to these six newish ones, Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning, and Pink
has done the research on for us. As K-12 art teachers we need to incorporate at least one of these senses into our
curricula if not all. We need to help the development our students in this age of abundance, because our students
need to be one of a kind and do jobs that no one else can do better or that a machine could do. According to
Freedman we need to not be linear in our thinking or teaching. This is where Freedman sees a problem in our visual
culture, a time for change, This is problematic because the representation carries with it assumption that the past is
linear and atomistic, made up of actions and reactions, and as if peoples and ideas that are off the timeline do not
exist (Freedman, p.48). Pink then comes in to save the day; we need a mind shift, a growth mindset, a change.
These six senses work hand in hand with one another in your classroom, easy to implement informally or formally,
and this is where the change happens. In the next section I will show you areas and possibilities of where you may
find these six senses in your curriculum.
Incorporating Pinks six senses is a great way to not make your curriculum linear but to make it multidimensional. Our classroom needs to help create these right brain thinkers of students to develop their own ideas,
and be problem solvers of their own personal goals. These students need to be ready for the real world, and have the
opportunities provided to them to shine through this age of abundance. Most schools philosophies are to make our
students college ready, and real world experienced ready, so how can we help our students stand out; Pink puts it like
this, more R-Directed sensibilities- beauty, spirituality, emotion. For business, its no longer enough to create a
product thats reasonably priced and adequately functional. It must also be beautiful, unique, and meaningful, (Pink,
p.33). So how do you guide your students into this world of deep thinkers through curriculum? You teach to Big Ideas!
Thinking deeply about your art and the art of others: This first segment of a unit within your curriculum facilitates
creative thinking skills. It covers priority standards of Connecting and Responding. It is important that these exercises
lead the unit as you want to establish connections to the theme from the very beginning. This is essential in creating
an environment where students are deep thinkers, innovators and problem solvers. This segment focuses heavily on

Pinks three senses of Design, Empathy, and Meaning. Meaning will happen when you V.T.S., and explore the Big
Idea and come up with a working collaborative concept list. You will see students developing Empathy when you
V.T.S. and individually reflect on essential questions. Lastly the Design process is when time is allowed for exploring
the student's own definition of the Big Idea and make thumbnail sketches. Design thinking and Mind Mapping: This
sequence in the unit will help students learn to develop creativity by problem solving for their independent projects.
Based on the work students have completed participating in with the big idea, essential questions, and the creation of
a concept list, students use design thinking methods to narrow down what they want to create. Priority standards of
Presenting is in this segment of the unit within the curriculum. I feel that two of Pinks senses are in focus here,
Design, and Meaning. The students need to think when designing that there is something bigger than themselves and
design images or objects to be beautiful, one of a kind, and that the viewer will have something to take away from it.
But since we live in this age of creating beautiful objects we now pursue more significant desires, (Pink, p.67), such
as finding meaning and purpose within those objects. Workshops: The following sequence in your unit plan builds
technical skills while at the same time reinforces deep thinking about the theme and independent project. As you
progress through the workshops; ask students how they can use what they are learning to realize their concept for
their independent project. Have them respond by writing in their artist journals or sketchbooks. Make sure you are
providing opportunities for the students to collaborate by giving and receiving feedback as they progress through their
workshops. This sequence addresses priority standards of Create, Present, and Respond. This is where the essential
questions can be addressed through mind mapping and play with media. Number one for Pinks senses would be
Play, then Meaning and Empathy. Play will take place when you introduce those elements and principles through new
types of media, and give time to experiment with the use of that new media and compositions. Spend time here too to
revisit V.T.S., and see if the students find any different meaning or empathy in other artist's work or their own. The
last segment of your unit comes all together with Pinks Symphony sense when the students create an Independent
project and self-assess: Students complete an independent project based on their own concept that they developed
by responding to the big idea, essential questions, developing a concept list, mind mapping, and using skills and
knowledge learned from workshops. Students continue to collaborate, offering and receiving feedback. This
sequence addresses priority standards of Connecting, Creating, Responding, and Presenting. This is where all the
pieces come together as a whole. So here is a spark to take a break during your time of creating what you think is
going to be your final Independent Project. Ask your students this about their artwork, ask them to think about where
meaning is in their work, Is this story I tell confining me? Is it allowing me or my circle to live at our fullest potential? If
it is not, then a new mindset is in order. A remodel of your narrative, a reconstruction of that house of mind, (Liu &
Noppe-Brandon, p. 87).

Now, what is Meaning? What does it mean to illustrate or create Meaning in your artwork? This is Pinks last
sense in A Whole New Mind. We are swimming in this world of abundance and automation, as a human, we strive to
find meaning in each task, within each hour, day, week, year we live, it is in our daily pursuit to find meaning and
make sense of what we do. We question; why are we doing this, why am I here, why am I on this journey, what is the
purpose? We create our own why to give these things we do purpose. Pinks big picture is that we are living in a
conceptual age. We are in search of meaning and purpose in our lives; which includes but not limited to the things we
buy, the movies we watch, the jobs we choose, and the art we create. We are no longer in a time of automationwhen someone else can do the job without meaning. Our search in life is to do a job well done, not quickly, but with
thought. For example, designers are not making one type of paper towel, or mop anymore; they are creating paper
towels that are functional but have images on them that we would want to display in our house. The mop, the mops
are not just for function, but color and style has come into play; so again that mop we want to look nice leaning up
against our wall. Our purpose as humans is to go through life to find meaning in what we do. Artists find purpose and
meaning in images and objects. Artists think in the conceptual age and use the six senses to create beautiful and
functional items, so that consumers find meaning in our abundance of options and make choices based on meaning
and purpose. Incorporate these six senses into your curriculum so No Child is Left Behind.

Resources

Freedman, K. (2003). Teaching visual culture: Curriculum, aesthetics, and the

social life of art. New York: Teachers College Press.
Liu, E, and Noppe-Brandon, S. (2009). Imagination first: Unlocking the power of
possibility. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Pink, D.H. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New
York: Riverhead Books.