When I first read Susan Ohanian’s What Happened to Recess and Why Are Our Children Struggling in Kindergarten? in 2002, I was shocked at how creativity and physical activity were being systematically removed from the classroom with the goal of improving test scores. Seven years later, I still remember one anecdote about entire districts abolishing recess and others going so far as to take away the children’s break if their test scores dropped. I also remember checking Ohanian’s sources because I couldn’t believe her seemingly-outlandish claims. Unfortunately, she was right.
Up until last year, I hadn’t seen first hand the outrageous removal of such vital education. However, this past year when our district attempted to close a $9.4 million gap in its budget, some of the first to receive pink slips were all elementary and middle school physical education teachers, and their counterparts in music. Here it was, in my own backyard. Backwards thinking.
Fortunately, researchers such as Daniel Pink (A Whole New Mind) understand that linguistic and computational intelligence are not the only “important” intelligences. He takes Gardner’s multiple intelligences one step further and focuses on our society’s changing and pressing need for right-brained thinkers. Note, he doesn’t argue for the insignificance of left-brainers, but rather the crucial addition of right-brainers, or “R-Directed Thinkers” as he calls them, in order to compete in the global market. Pink asserts that due to cheap labor (Asia), access to anything we desire (Abundance), and better, faster and stronger computers (Automation), there is now virtually no difference in products purchased from different companies, so the reliance on marketing (design) has become radically important.
He claims that American workers will need to command a new set of aptitudes. Because workers elsewhere can do the same work for much less money, our workforce will need “. . . R-Directed abilities such as forging relationships rather than executing transactions, tackling novel challenges instead of solving routine problems, and synthesizing the big picture rather than analyzing a single component.”
Improving our test scores will not help us realize this goal.
Thankfully, in our district, the physical education, music and art teachers will continue their jobs and our kindergartners will not be missing recess to prepare for THE TEST. At least for this year. However, if we continue to wait for “somebody else” to set our priorities, legislators instead of educators, I fear our educational system will continue down the wrong road. A road with inept and ill-prepared travelers.
Post repeat. Just seeing if anybody's reading this anymore.
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