I have finished the first of my required summer reading books, and am already empathizing with students who are given required reading over the summer.
If this were not required, I would probably have put it down early on. Gardner's ideas made me think of Dan Pink's A Whole New Mind, which I found more interesting to read due to Pink's writing style and because I read it around the same time as Tom Friedman's The World Is Flat. The two books complement one another and combined provided a compelling set of ideas to mull over.
Gardner writes as if he is mussing aloud to himself, and his frequent parenthetical comments simply added to this one-way conversation. It struck me I was reading a long personal reflection.
With that said, here's the jist of Gardner's book. He believes there are at least five approaches, or habits of mind, to thinking about the future, and they are all necessary if we want to make positive change in the world.
The five minds, which to varying degrees overlap, are:
DISCIPLINED – This entails mastering a craft or subject area over the span of at least a decade, and then keeping current within that field.
SYNTHESIZING – Pulling together and combining what you know to demonstrate understanding in an area.
CREATING – Contributing original ideas to "extend knowledge".
RESPECTFUL – Understanding and appreciating the diversity of other people and ideas, and acting appropriately with regards to this diversity.
ETHICAL – Focusing on doing "good work", where "good" reflects an excellence of quality, consideration of the work's impact, and provides satisfaction to the doer.
None of this struck me as "new" or ground breaking, but since my school will be focusing for the next few years on Public Purpose and reimagining the Not for Self But for Service motto, I understand why we were asked to read the book. I'll be interested to see the discussion that comes out of our opening meetings in the fall.