The Arts and the Creation of Mind

Author(s): Elliot W. Eisner

Source: Language Arts, Vol. 80, No. 5, Imagination and the Arts (May 2003), pp. 340-344
Published by: National Council of Teachers of English
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 The Arts and the Creation

of Mind

The arts afford opportunities

-i to transform brains into minds

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a challengingcurriculum and the
з" absenceof rigorousstandards.Sec-
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ondaryschoolsin particular have
been likenedto "shoppingmalls,"
places wherestudentswanderand
pickwilly-nilly thecoursesin which
theyhave an interest(Powell,Farrar,
8tCohen,1985). Such patternsof
courseselectionare believedto be
due to a lack of adequateguidance.
In additionto suchshortfalls, we are
toldthatour childrencannotreadas
well as theyshould,thatourstan-
dardsare eithernonexistent or too
low,and thatwe will notbe able to
competewell in a globaleconomy
unlessourschoolsdo a lot better
thantheyare doingat present.
To some,thesolutionseemsclear
enough.It is, in brief,to createa compareschoolsacrossthenation. surprises,thankyou. We seemto be
structured federalsystemthatwill We seek desperately to tidyup an embracingsimilarvalues. In the
makeit possibleto manage,moni- unkemptsystem.Standardization process,surprise,theoffshoot of
tor,and measureeducational has its appeals. genuinelearning,gets lost.
progress.Thiswill requirenot only The conceptsof orderand tidiness, The artsand artisticallytreatedprac-
theformulation of measurablestan- of uniformity and standardization, ticedo notfarewell in sucha cli-
dards,but also a highdegreeof have theirhistoricalrootsin theEn- mate.The reasonsseemclear.The
standardization. Homogeneity in lightenment (Toulmin,2001) and allocationof timeand theestablish-
aims,content, and evaluation prac- wereplayedout mostvividlyin the mentof priorities in ourschools
ticeswill providea bodyof data factoryproceduresused duringthe largelyfollowratherthanprecede
thatnot onlydisplaystheperfor- IndustrialRevolution.The aim was theways in whichwe demonstrate
manceof studentsand,hence,of an efficientsystemthat,once in- ouraccountability. We demonstrate
schools,but makesit possibleto stalled,wouldbe uneventful. No accountability on thebasis of our

Language Arts, Vol.80 No.5, May2003

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students'testscores,and whatstu-
dentsare testedon is whatis em-
phasizedin our schools.The artsand
theabilityto thinkimaginatively are
nottested.I do notsuggestthey
shouldbe, giventhequalityof our
testsand theirside effectsin the
classroom.Buttheirabsencein our
testingprogramscontributes to their
marginalization.Ofcourseat a gen-
erallevel,we do acknowledgethe
importance ofboth,butI fearour
schoolsgive morelip serviceto the
artsand to imaginationthantime
and attention.
Perhapsthenewesttermto define
whatwe believeimportant to teach
is theword"core,"as in core sub-
jects. Once havingidentified core
subjects,whatis not core is either
marginalizedor absentfromour
programs.Thus,we legitimizeinat-
tentionto theartsand imagination
by puttingthemon therimof edu-
cationratherthanat its core.In
of
manyways,themarginalization
the artsis consistentwithwhatwe
used to call "thebasics,"as in "back
to thebasics."Thereis something
quiteappropriateaboutthephrase
"backto thebasics."It is a matterof
goingback ratherthanforward.
But how does onejustifythe arts
whenotheraims seemso pressing?
Does theimaginativepotentialthat
we possesshave a rolein deter-
miningwhaťs important in our
schools?Whatdo theartshave to
do withliteracy, thatis, withour
standard, conceptionsof readingand
writing?My aim in thisbriefarticle
is to elucidatethosefunctions.
Transforming Brains
to Minds
I startwitha premisethatmayseem
counterintuitive and overstated,
but
I presentit to you to makea point
aboutthenatureof humannature.
Thatpremiseis thathumansdo not
come intotheworldwithminds;
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theycome intotheworldwith
brains.Mindsare formsof cultural
achievement. Brainsare biological
resources.The taskof education,so-
cialization,and acculturation is to
transform brainsintominds.Minds
come intoexistenceas individuals
securevariedformsof experiencein
thecourseof theirlives and,
throughthoseformsof experience,
learnto think.In schools,thatexpe-
rienceis shapedby manyfactors;
two of themostimportant are cur-
riculumand teachingpractices.
Curriculum and teachingare at the
heartof theprocessof creating
minds,and it is in thissense that
thecurriculum and theteaching
thatmediatesit are mind-altering
devices(Eisner,1994). Whatwe
decideto includein our curricular
agenda and how we choose to teach
There is something
about the phrase "back to the basics."
of going back rather than forward.
it have a profoundeffecton how
studentslearnto thinkand what
theyare able to thinkabout.
The developmentof mindinitiates
withtheactivationof our senses,
fortheyare,as SusanneLanger
(1937) once said, outpostsof the
mind:thereis nothingin thehead
thatwas not firstin thehand.Thus,
how sensibilitiesare employed,the
qualitiesto whichtheyare directed,
and therefinement and differentia-
tion perceptionpromotedby their
of
use help shape theways in which
we thinkand ultimately influence
thecharacterof our experience.
Whatwe experienceand themean-
ing thatit has forus is at base a
productof theinteraction between
thesentientorganismand thequali-
tativeworldthatorganisminhabits.
Educationuses experienceas itspri-
marymedium(Dewey,1938). It does
so by definingtheconditionsstu-
dentswill encounterin school.Ex-
perience,in turn,is relatedto the
ways in whichour sensibilitiesare
employedin thecourseof our life.
We learnthroughinteraction how to
use our mind.
AlthoughI have emphasizedthere-
lationshipbetweenoursensibilities
and theworldwe inhabit,oursensi-
bilitiesare also employedin the -i
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thatis, theyare employedin what Л
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our "mind'sear,"in a visionthrough
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whichwe recallthelook of a street з"
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once experienced, in thefeelof
quite appropriate
It is a matter
someone'sskinwho is now long
gone.Recallaffords us opportunities
to re-member, ratherthandismem-
berourexperiences.
Butremembered experiencesas such
have littlesocial utilityexceptto
thosehavingtheexperiences. Recol-
lectionis, afterall, private.Forsocial
value to occur,twoprocessesare
needed.First,therecalledmaterial
needsto be treatedimaginatively.
Thatis, it needsto be morethana
recollection; it needsto be something
of an invention. Put anotherway,the
materialneedsto takeon a valued
countenanceit did notpossessin its
originalstate.To infuseourideas
and visionswithimagination re-
quires more than recall.
Butevenwhentreatedimaginatively,
thesocialvalue of an imageor idea
does notsecureimportance unless
something happens-thesecond
else
 process,thetransformation ofwhat
has been imaginedintosomepublic
form.In short,thecontentsof con-
sciousnessneedto be madepublic;
theyneedto be represented.
Languageis a primary means
throughwhichimagesrecollected are
a
given public countenance. How
languageis used to do thisis crucial.
Ideas can be madepublicin ways
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n> madepublicthroughmeansthatare
> ofthequalitativedifferences
t/i literary,
poetic,metaphorical. The
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о possessesfeatures thatengenderex-
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pressive meaning,
fi
з'
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an artform.Poemscometo mean
becauseofthewaysin whichlan-
guagewas shapedin creatingthem.
The refinement of thesensesis par-
ticularlyimportant forthosecon-
cernedwithwritingand reading.
Unlessan individualis in touch
withtheenvironment in ways that
are complex,subtle,and incisive,
therewill be littleof importance to
say.The writerstartswithvision
and endswithwords.The reader
startswiththewordsof thewriter
and endswithvision.The senses
feedimagination,and imagination
providesthecontentforrepresenta-
tion.We experiencetherepresenta-
tionand throughit acquirethe
vision.The arts,whenwell taught,
are fundamental in refining sensi-
bilityand cultivatingthecapacityto
thinkimaginatively (Eisner,2002).
In muchlanguageteaching,peda-
gogyis directedin waysthatare
highlyrule-abiding. Spellingand
othertreatments of languageare
oftentaughtin waysthatimplysin-
gularversionsof correctness. For
manythings,thisis appropriate, but
notforeverything. Considerhow a
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childmightlearnto readtheword
"tree."The word"tree"is a surrogate
forobjectsthatgrowin fieldsand
backyards.Languagecan be used to
Literacy itself can be thought of not
as limited to what the tongue
but what the mind can grasp.
promoteor impedetheexploration
among
treesas it can thedifferences among
anything. It dependson how trees
are described.Oftenchildrencome
to learnthattreeshave greenleaves
and browntrunks.Theirbookstell
themso. Wordscan reinforce such
stereotypes or theycan inviteexplo-
rationofthetree'squalities.Words
can place in theirconsciousnessa
canonicalimagethatthwartstheir
perceptionof thedistinctive qualities
ofparticular trees.The word"tree"
can be treatedmerelyas an instance
of a largerabstractedclass. In such
cases,perceptionis abortedand put
in theserviceof recognition. The
is
image given a label and the stu-
dentmoveson. The arts,on thecon-
trary, inviteperceptualexploration.
They invite theexplorationofthe
qualitative character of an individ-
ual tree."Greenish" is closerto an
artisticrealizationthan"green."We
needto encourage"greenish."
Butwe also need to promotethe
student'srecognition thatlanguage
has a melody,thatcadencescount,
thattropesmatter, thatmetaphors
mean.We need to invitechildren
and adolescentsto hearthemelody
in thelanguagetheyencounter. In
theend,we hope thattheywill be
able to becomecomposersthem-
selves,thattheywill developan ear
forthemelodiesof thelanguage
theyuse and thatwhattheyhear
will guidetheirreadingand writing.
The importance ofdevelopingan ear
in writingcannotbe overestimated.
It is too rarelyattendedto in schools.
We are oftenso concernedwith
teachingrule-abiding practicesthat
we neglectusingstructure-seeking
can articulate
. Helpingyoungsters
activities learn
howto organizelanguageso thatits
formbecomesa sourceof meaningis
a primary typeofstructure-seeking
When
activity. thisstructure
affords
itsreaderaestheticformsof experi-
ence,languageuse becomesan art.
Thusfar,I have been talkingabout
languagein termsof ourconven-
tionalsenseoftheterm-theuse of
wordsin sentenceshavingnouns
and predicates.Indeed,learninghow
to use languagein thatsenseis ex-
traordinarilyimportant.ButI have
also indicatedthattheliteraluse of
suchlanguageis onlyone way in
whichmeaningis carriedby words.
The meaningof languagecan
exceedby fartheboundariesof the
literaland eventhemetaphorical
uses of language.Theterm"lan-
guage"can be conceptualized to
referto theuse of any formof repre-
sentationin whichmeaningis con-
veyedor construed(Eisner,1994).
Literacyitselfcan be thoughtof not
as limitedto whatthetonguecan
articulatebutwhatthemindcan
grasp.Thus,in thissense,dance,
music,and thevisual artsare lan-
guagesthroughwhichbothmeaning
and mindare promoted.
Theuse ofvariedformsofrepresen-
tationis notnew.Humanshave,
throughout thecourseoftheirlives
on thisplanet,employedthearts
as meansthrough whichmeaning
can be madeand shared.Thedraw-
ingson thewallsoftheLascaux
Cavesportray and communicate what
was important to thosewho lived
17,000yearsago. The rhythms that
wereemployedin musicand dance
as earlyhumansgatheredin commu-
nitieswerewaysofconveyingemo-
tionsand imagesthatwouldnottake
theimpressofliterallanguage.Later
theybecamea partof ourhistory;
theywere"handeddown."
Thus,it has been and will alwaysbe
thefunctionof theartsto make
threecontributions to our lives.The
firstis thattheartsprovidea means
throughwhichmeaningsthatare
ineffablecan be expressed.The
altarsthatwerebuiltto honorthe
heroesof 9-11 represent theneed to
finda way to say whatcannotbe
said in literalterms.Humans,as
Polanyi(1966) remindsus, know
morethantheycan tell.
Second,theartsaffordopportunities
forindividualsto use and develop
theirmindsin distinctive
ways
throughlearningto thinkwithina
mediumwhose unique and special
messagesare conveyedin sound,
sight,or movement(Arnheim,
1954).To createor perceivewith
thesematerialsrequiresone to think
withina specificmedium.The arts
providethesemedia(Eisner,2002).
Third,theartsmakepossiblea cer-
tain qualityof experiencewe call
aesthetic.Aestheticformsof experi-
ence are memorable.We travellong
distancesto have themand pay
muchfortheopportunity to un-
dergotheirmagic.The artshelpus
secureexperiencethatis valued in-
trinsically.We see thiswithyoung
childrenin thecontextof theirplay.
Sand castlesare thechild'sart.
Thinking Artistically
For themostpart,I have been talk-
ing abouttheartsas iftheywerean
independentset of subjectmatters
or processes.In some sense,they
are. Music,afterall, is not mathe-
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Thefollowing
Websitesprovideinformationonthearts,grantinformation to
helpkeeptheartsinschools,and current thataffectsthearts.
legislation
• htto://artsedae.kennedy-center.ora
Thisexcellentsiteis one oftheMarco
Polopartners subjectarea information
thatprovidehigh-quality and
lessonplans,as wellas newsreports,
newslinks,andfunding informa-
tion.AdvocacyresourcesandotherWeb sitesare also linked. -!
ZГ
• http://www.aaae.ora/
ThisWebsitefortheAssociationfortheAdvance- гь
>-*
mentofArtsEducationprovidesinformation
on programs forteachers r-t-
1/1
and researchon artsand communication. cu
3
Q_
• http://www.artsusa.ora/issues/advocacv/index.aso
Thisgroupis dedi- r-h
=T
m
catedto providing
information so thattheartscan be availableforevery- О-г
со
one. Oneimportantserviceis an indexofadvocacyideas and Cú
H-
o'
organizations. 3
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• http://www.artsednet.oetty.edu/
The Getty
Museumoffers to
support S
teachersandothersincorporating
theartsintoclassrooms. з"
Cl
• http://www.americanartsalliance.oro
ThisWeb siteprovidesinformation
on newsand alerts,federalartsissues,andvotingrecords.Thereis also
a grassrootsadvocacykit.
matics.Social studiesis notthe We haven'tthoughtmuchabout
visual arts.At thesame time,we thesefieldsas beingconcernedwith
can thinkaboutwhatwe teachin butwe should.Afterall,
artistry,
termsof artistry; thatis, we can one of thehighestcompliments one
thinkaboutwhatwe teachin any can pay is to call someonean artist
area of thecurriculum as providing withintheirown field,whetherit's
opportunities for students and languagearts,mathematics, science,
teachersto thinkartistically about history, or the social studies.Given
whattheydo. Whatdoes it mean thevalue we accordartistry in our
forscienceto be taughtand learned work,we mighteven say thatthe
as a processin whichartistry is at majorgoal of educationis the
work?Whatkindof aestheticsatis- preparationof artists,peoplewho
factionsare possiblein science can thinkartistically aboutwhat
(Eisner,2002)? Whatkindsofjudg- they do, who can use theirimagina-
mentsand processesmightscientifi- tion,who can experiencetheirwork
callymindedpeople makein order as it unfolds,who can exploitthe
to get on withtheirscientific work? unexpected,and who can make
And how can such processesand judgmentsabout itsdirectionon the
experiencebe promotedin schools? basis of feelingas well as rule.That
The same arrayof questionsapply would notbe an outrageousgoal for
to social studiesand mathematics. education.It would be ambitious,
 perhaps,but aspirationsshould Dewey,J.(1938).Experienceandeducation. Winners andlosersintheeducational
exceed our abilityto reachthem.At NewYork: Macmillan. marketplace. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
a timewhenstandardization is E.(1994).Cognition
Eisner, andcurriculum Toulmin,S. E.(2001).Return
toreason.
Cam-
bleeding our schools and classrooms reconsidered.
NewYork: Teachers
College MA:Harvard
bridge, Press.
University
of theirdistinctivevitalities,the Press.
need fortheartsand forartistry in E.(2002).Theartsandthecreation
Eisner,
whatwe do has neverbeen more ofmind. NewHaven: YaleUniversity
Press.
important. Maybeit's timeto em-
the artin languagearts. S. (1937).Problems
Langer, ofart.NewYork:
phasize ElliotEisner istheLeeJacks of
Professor
Scribners.
Education andprofessorofartatStanford
M.(1966).Thetacit
Polanyi, dimension. Heistheauthor
University. oflheArts
-i
zг References Garden NY:
п> City, Doubleday. andtheCreation ofMind, YaleUniversity
> R.(1954).
Arnheim, Artandvisual A.G.,Farrar,
perception. Powell, E.,EtCohen,D.K. Press
, 2002.
r-ť
to CA:University
ofCalifornia
Press.
CD Berkeley, (1985).Theshopping mallhighschool:
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=з" NCTEis seekinga neweditorof VoicesfromtheMiddle. in February
Q_ pointedbytheNCTEExecutive Committee
In May2005,thetermofthepresenteditor,Kylene 2004 willeffecta transition, forhisor herfirst
preparing
Beers,willend.Interested personsshouldsenda letterof issueinSeptember 2005. Theappointment is forfive
applicationto be receivedno laterthanSeptember30, years.Applicationsshouldbe addressedto Margaret
2003. Letters shouldincludetheapplicant'svisionfor Chambers, VoicesfromtheMiddleSearchCommittee,
thejournal,and be accompaniedbytheapplicant'svita NCTE,1111W.Kenyon Road,Urbana,IL61801-1096.
and one sampleof published writing.Do notsendbooks, Questionsregarding anyaspectoftheeditorship should
monographs, or other materialswhich cannotbe easily be directedto MargaretChambers, Division Director
copiedfor the Search Committee. Classroomteachersare forPublications:
mchambers@ncte.org; (800) 369-6283,
botheligibleand encouragedto apply.Theapplicantap- extension3623.

Search for New Editor of English Education

TheConference on EnglishEducationis seekinga new Applicantsareurgedto consultwithadministratorsonthe
editorforEnglishEducation.InJuly2005,thetermofthe of
question time,resources, andotherinstitutional
support
presenteditors,CathyFleischerand Dana Fox,willend. thatmaybe required fortheeditorshipofthisjournal.NCTE
Personsinterestedinapplying fortheeditorship should staffisavailable
to provide
adviceandassistanceto potential
senda letterofapplicationto be receivedno laterthan applicantsinapproachingadministrators.
Informationcanbe
September30, 2003. Letters shouldbe accompanied by obtained bycallingorwritingMargaretChambers, Division
theapplicant'svita,one sampleofpublished a
writing, DirectorforPublications
at NCTE(800/369-6283, extension
one-pagestatement oftheapplicant'svisionforthe 3623).Theapplicant appointedbythe CEE ExecutiveCorn-
futureofthejournal,andtwolettersofgeneralsupport mittee willeffect
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preparingforhisorherfirst
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inOctober 2005.Theappointment is
tution.Pleasedo notsendbooks,monographs, or forfiveyears,nonrenewable. shouldbe sentto
Applications
othermaterialsthatcannotbe easilycopiedforthe Margaret Chambers, EnglishEducation
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SearchCommittee. NCTE, 1111W.Kenyon Road,Urbana,Illinois
61801-1096.

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