The Arts and the Creation of the Mind.
Elliot W. Eisner. Language Arts, Vol 80 No. 5. May 2003
Elliot W. Eisner. Language Arts, Vol 80 No. 5. May 2003
I graduated from a creative writing major three years ago, whereupon I entered into a world beyond literature appreciation, a world that did not care for adventuring through twisted metaphor, a world of people who think it odd to liken the world to something you can not touch. I am constantly reminded that few people appreciate poetry and creative writing while some are baffled as to how it is done. I am baffled by both. I write because I am here. I write because my mind does not let me do otherwise. Sometimes I fall back in horror at the suggestion that writing is just play, it’s easy. I am appalled but have to wonder all the same: do I write because it is easy? I do not have to deal with numbers, or confronting conversation wrestling with others’ fiery opinions. I avoid it all. Am I a cop-out, a wimp? Have I extracted myself from society because I have not the tools to contribute?
No.
Eliot Eisner’s theories on how the brain is apprenticed into the mind, dispels any doubts I may have had. In his article, “The Arts and the Creation of Mind”, Eisner argues for a more widespread inclusion of the arts in schools on the grounds that through the Arts, students learn to transform their brains into minds and harness a deeper consciousness. Eisner discusses the way in which experiences and the recall of experiences through language play an important role in the construction of our consciousness. As an English teacher, I am primarily interested in the language form writing as a means of representing recollected or imagined experiences. I believe the arts, particularly writing in my case, is invaluable in the shaping of one’s mind.
Eisner explains how we too often encourage our students to learn a tree is “green”; he suggests students need to employ more perceptual exploration to further the mind. Through the arts, the student has the opportunity to explore the individual qualitative character of the tree to discover an artistic realization that it is fact closer to “greenish” than “green”. I hope to encourage “greenish” in my teaching practice.
Eisner explains how we too often encourage our students to learn a tree is “green”; he suggests students need to employ more perceptual exploration to further the mind. Through the arts, the student has the opportunity to explore the individual qualitative character of the tree to discover an artistic realization that it is fact closer to “greenish” than “green”. I hope to encourage “greenish” in my teaching practice.
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