DEVELOPING CONCEPTUAL AGE THINKING IN ART CURRICULUM

Elementary Art Curriculum in the Conceptual Age

Kristin Gantz
University of Missouri

DEVELOPING CONCEPTUAL AGE THINKING IN ART CURRICULUM

The workforce of the 21st century is rapidly changing due to material abundance,
outsourced jobs, and high functioning technology. Because of these contributions, the careers
that were once thought to be valuable and highly sought after are no longer available. 21st
century education, therefore, must address these changes. Daniel Pink, the author of A Whole
New Mind, explains the increasingly important need to develop curriculum that strengthens the
right hemisphere of the brain in order to assist students in developing skills that will mold them
to be more successful in the future workforce. Conceptual thinking, often seen in designers and
creators, will be a highly valued skill that is needed for future success.
Pink presents six abilities students will need to develop as conceptual thinkers and to be
best prepared for the future. These senses should also be consciously integrated by educators
into 21st century curriculum: design, empathy, symphony, play, meaning, and story. These skills,
listed below, are naturally embedded into arts based instruction, but look slightly different
depending on the age group being instructed. This discussion addresses Pinks senses in terms of
elementary arts education, where conceptual thinking can begin at an early age and develop
significantly throughout secondary education.
The first sense presented by Pink is design. Design is everywhere; every place and
material object started out as an idea and has been transformed into a three-dimensional space or
form. Our population has grown to appreciate and care about how products and places are
designed; they want products and places that function well and are beautiful, unique, and
meaningful (Pink, 33). Design is the characteristic that separates one product from the
abundance of other products available. Great designs are unique, not abundant. They cannot be
outsourced, and cannot be reproduced or enjoyed on the same level if produced by computers. In
the elementary classroom, educators can integrate design processes into all types of content

DEVELOPING CONCEPTUAL AGE THINKING IN ART CURRICULUM

areas, to get students to acknowledge how it is embedded into all areas of life. Art can be
integrated into virtually any content, and doing so fosters the natural practice of conceptual
thinking.
The sense of empathy requires an understanding of the circumstances and situations of
others; feeling with someone else instead of feeling bad for someone else (Pink, 153). Empathy
allows people to work together more effectively because it helps them to see multiple sides of an
argument, to comfort one another, and it increases ones awareness of their actions and words.
This skill is impossible for computers to reproduce and painstakingly difficult for others to
generate from far away, which is why it is becoming more important in the 21st century work
force. This sense should be modeled continually in every art room, where different ideas,
backgrounds, and cultures are always accepted and the learning environment forever feels safe.
Symphony is the ability to find important relationships between parts of a whole (Pink,
126). Pink explains that symphonic thinking does not focus on individual components, but rather
the whole picture. He illustrates this concept with learning to draw, through his own personal
experience, and discusses how an artist must observe all the different parts of an image and
constantly search to see the relationship between all parts. Art educators can easily acknowledge
this skill in drawing lessons, by having students look at parts carefully and critically, or looking
at negative spaces to better see the positive space (Pink, p. 150). Educators can also develop
symphonic thinking in students by encouraging them to document things they find appealing in a
sketchbook or journal, and then help the students see the connections and relationships between
those objects (Pink, 148). Educators can demonstrate this way of thinking about life.
Play, another sense presented by Pink, is becoming more sought after in that it provides
an enjoyable work environment for employees, and also boosts morale and productivity. Play can

DEVELOPING CONCEPTUAL AGE THINKING IN ART CURRICULUM

be described as individuals engaging and learning with the world instead of learning about it.
Instead of proving what they know, they are encouraged to embrace the unknown and explore
questions about it (Thomas, 38). Providing students some time to play and explore in the
classroom will also lead to greater creativity, productivity, and collaboration (Pink, 196).
Embracing a playful, experimental mindset will be critical to develop ideas into future
inventions.
Pink continues to explain how individuals search for meaning throughout life, and
because everyone shares this search it is what connects people together (Pink, 217). Spirituality
and happiness are key factors in living a meaningful life, and are also factors that contribute to
longevity and overall well-being. Employees who are spiritual are happier and have better work
performance than those who do not (Pink, 213). Creating meaningful artwork means allowing
individuals to exhibit personal identity and self-expression in their work, demonstrating their
unique emotions and feelings. This is especially important at the elementary level, where
individual assignments and projects typically resemble one another. Students should be
encouraged to search for the meaningful components of their own lives and to integrate them
into their work.
Story is the final sense, one that was studied in depth for this discussion. Pink explains
how much easier it is for people to remember information through stories, as they place facts into
context and deliver them with emotional impact (Pink, 101). Factual information is not as easily
retrieved from memory as there is little emotional connection or personal impact. Furthermore,
Pink states that facts are nearly free and accessed instantly. Most everyone today has immediate
access to technology and can have their questions answered instantly, and because of that access

DEVELOPING CONCEPTUAL AGE THINKING IN ART CURRICULUM

it will not be as important in the future to memorize facts with computers that operate faster and
more efficiently than humans.
Pink explains that it is natural for humans to narrate everyday occurrences and
happenings, and to be drawn to the narratives of others. Take children, for example, who are
natural-born storytellers. Childrens imaginations are unmatched; they can make up stories about
literally anything and everything. Furthermore, they love sharing them. They are able to make
connections to personal stories that may not make sense to adults, but the fact is that they are
doing it. The ability to tell stories is natural-born characteristic of every single individual. It is in
the hands of educators to sculpt this imagination and to empower our students to maintain this
ability, no matter how young or how "nonsensical" it may be to adults with "imagination block."
Artistically speaking, artists are storytellers and deliver narrative in a visual manner. They
are able to share personal emotions through art, create humorous parodies, or document a
moment in time. Searching for an artists story, intentions and meaning within an artwork can be
discovered by denoting or connoting the features being viewed. Learners of all ages can
successfully decipher the many messages circulating in the images and objects of visual culture
if given the opportunity (Barrett, 12). Art educators may also utilize visual thinking strategies,
developed by Philip Yenawine, to encourage their students to search for stories within an
artwork. These particular strategies also provide opportunities to integrate language arts and
history into the visual arts curriculum. Students may write out the story they perceive from an
image or artifact, or research the origin of an artifact and its significance to the creators. Using
art promotes internal motivation, autonomy and self-regulation (Lewis, 76). Arts integration also
enhances long-term memory and academic skill development (Lewis, 79). Storytelling

DEVELOPING CONCEPTUAL AGE THINKING IN ART CURRICULUM

Stories are interconnected with other senses like empathy, design, and meaning, as these
abilities are embedded within the context of storytelling. It could be said that students, even at
the elementary level, encounter these skills daily. Reinforcing them at an early age will best
prepare students for a new way of thinking, one that is necessary to succeed in the 21st century.
Forming a curriculum that integrates these skills will indeed strengthen the right hemisphere of
the brain and student ability to think conceptually. Students need these skills to become valuable
contributors of the rapidly changing workforce. As educators, the mission is clear and must be
rightfully owned in order to ensure future success for students of all ages.

DEVELOPING CONCEPTUAL AGE THINKING IN ART CURRICULUM

References
Barrett, T. (2003, March). Interpreting Connotations in Visual Culture. Art Education, 56(2), 612.
Lewis, Y. P., & Mardirosian, G. H. (2016). Arts integration in education: Teachers and teaching
artists as agents of change: Theory, impact, practice. Bristol, UK: Intellect.
Pink, D. (2005). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New York:
Riverhead Books.
Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a
world of constant change. Lexington, KY: CreateSpace.