Creativity has often been thought of the domain of the artists and the musicians of this world. What Daniel Pink has to tell us though in his book "A Whole New Mind", is that creativity is about to affect all of us.
Mr. Pink talks about the scary phenomenon of outsourcing that has been taking away lots of jobs from us here in the States and that's where the whole new mind comes in. The old mind "the left brain" will not service us as well as it did for so many years.
All of our leaders up until now have been knowledge workers as Peter Drucker famous management guru says they have "The ability to acquire and to apply theoretical and analytic knowledge".
In our society test takers have always been rewarded. You need an SAT to get into college, a LSAT for Law school and GMAT for medical school. Of course the higher you score, the more likely you are to get accepted.
However, it's not enough anymore, outsourcing has ruined it for our society of left brainers. A salary of $75,000 can now be outsourced for a fraction of the cost, $15,000. To overseas workers that are overjoyed to get the work.
As a result our society now needs a new set of aptitudes and they have been turning to right brain activities to define those aptitudes.
There is new an emphasis on relationships, problem solving and yes, creativity.
As Tom Peters says "Any job that depends on routines, that can be reduced to a set of rules or broken down into a set of repeatable skill, is at risk"
As Mr Pink says 'We've moved from an economy built on peoples backs to an economy built on peoples left brains to what is emerging today as am economy and society built more on peoples right brains"
To prove this point Yale school of Medicine has been sending their students to an art museum to hone their powers of observation. They claim that students who study paintings, will notice more subtle differences and details in a patients condition.
Even those dyed in the wool left brainers, the Japanese, are remaking their educational system to include greater creativity, artistry and play.
As an educator, I feel that this has tremendous ramifications for young children. As my expertise is in art for young children , I have been launching a crusade against the traditional crafts for kids that is done is so many preschool classrooms and art programs.
If we are to listen to the voice of Mr. Pink don't you think we would be better served if we started giving our children real educational arts and crafts that really brings out the child's creativity as opposed to having them copy our copycat models.
If we start the children's creativity young, we will have a lot less to worry about when they face the big world out there as they grow into adulthood.
Faige Kobre a former preschool teacher and director for many years is a graduate of Bank Street College Of Education probably the foremost graduate school in the area of progressive education. Aside from her teaching and directing experience she also runs workshops for teachers specializing in non crafts art for the preschool classroom. She is also the creator of Creative Art Solutions for kids, teaching parents and teachers how to empower their children through art . (She is also the proud mother of 6 and grandmother of 1) To download FREE report on a wonderful non crafts art activity called "Tray Painting" go to http://www.educationalartsandcrafts.com she also has a blog specifically for preschool teachers at http://www.preschoolmusings.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Faige_Kobre
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