Dan Pink - A Whole New Mind

ABE, WITH A COALITION OF CO-SPONSORS, STATE SENATE PRESIDENT JOAN FITZ-GERALD AND HOUSE SPEAKER ANDREW ROMANOFF, HOSTED DAN PINK, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF “A WHOLE NEW MIND”

On Friday, August 3, Advocates for a Balanced Education (ABE) and more than 15 other organizations and individuals who believe the arts and humanities are crucial to education, presented best-selling author Daniel Pink at the Gates Concert Hall at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts.

Policymakers from around the state as well as educators and supporters of the arts and humanities, attended this special event to learn more about the importance of right-brain thinking. Daniel Pink’s interest is focused on innovation, competition, and the changing world of work. A former speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore from 1995 to 1997, Pink is an author, contributing writer, and television business analyst. He received a BA, with honors in linguistics, from Northwestern University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and a JD from Yale Law School.

His latest book, A Whole New Mind, charts the rise of right-brain thinking in modern economies and explains the six abilities individuals and organizations must master in an outsourced and automated world. His lecture last Friday centered on these six key abilities.

Gerald Keefe, founding board member for ABE, said, “In a day and age where the provision of a balanced education is under constant attack, Daniel Pink poignantly reminds all of us of the need to value and nurture our creative spirit. After all it is that very spirit that may well lead us to success in the 21^{st century and beyond.”}

Mr. Pink addressed this private group of policymakers and supporters in Denver on the merits of right-brain thinking, and how nurturing our students’ creative spirits may well propel students to success in the 21st century.

In his book, A Whole New Mind, Pink explains why right brainers will rule the future.

“…a funny thing happened while we were pressing our noses to the grindstone: The world changed. The future no longer belongs to people who can reason with computer-like logic, speed and precision. It belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind…. Until recently, the abilities that led to success in school, work, and business were characteristic of the left hemisphere. They were the sorts of linear, logical, analytical talents measured by SATs and deployed by CPAs. Today, those capabilities are still necessary. But they’re no longer sufficient. In a world upended by outsourcing, deluged with data, and choked with choices, the abilities that matter most are now closer in spirit to the specialties of the right hemisphere – artistry, empathy, seeing the big picture and pursuing the transcendent.”

Mr. Pink’s speech to this private audience was especially important as members of Governor Ritter’s P-20 Education Council prepare to meet for the first time on August 6. The newly formed P-20 Council’s charge is to double the number of two and four-year post secondary certificates/degrees that are earned by Colorado students during the next decade and to reduce the drop-out rate by 50% as well. The Council’s work will address the education component and drop-out rate reduction as part of Governor Ritter’s “Colorado Promise.”

Comments by Colorado State Representative Michael Merrifield (D), founding board member of ABE, further reflected on the importance of Mr. Pink’s speech in Denver: “As teachers and practitioners of the Arts, we have known for years that learning through the Arts has enormous positive impact on other parts of the curriculum. Research over the past few years shows that we were right. Now, we have Dan Pink and his book providing even more evidence of the importance of the Arts in the coming century. Hopefully, this will help us move off the pathway of more and more by-rote, regimented learning, and onto the path of right-brained, arts-centered learning so we can be competitive in the 21st century.”

Advocates for a Balanced Education (ABE) is a non-profit organization of concerned educators, administrators, lawmakers and business leaders who have joined together to raise awareness about the importance of keeping the arts and humanities courses available in public schools in the state of Colorado. For further information, call Cherilyn Smith-Bidstrup, board chairman, at 303-459-2295 or visit ^{www.BalancedEducation.com.}

About ABE:  We are a Colorado non-profit organization concerned about the narrowing of the curriculum and the marginalization of arts and humanities as a result of high-stakes testing, snapshot accountability, and higher education requirements placing de facto mandates upon K-12 public education.

     Fifteen leaders from education, public service and business form the board of Advocates for a Balanced Education and share a desire to offer students-become-adults the balanced education which will provide them with the necessary skills  for economic self-sufficiency and participation in a self-governing society.

     For that purpose, our goal is to assist  educational policy makers at all levels of state and local government, as well as the citizenry of communities in supporting the inclusion of the arts and humanities as an essential part of Colorado’s K-12 public education system.