The Role of the Arts in Transforming Consciousness

The key points in this reading are how the practice of representing ideas can further your thinking and develop the mind in several ways. It talks of how the practice of representing your ideas can challenge your thoughts and deepen your understanding of subjects you’re analyzing. The cognitive use of the arts can help us learn from experience and analyze our surroundings. It can help us view complex subjects as a whole, rather than just to memorize facts and other bits of information. It gives us a sense of totality and comprehension. In the reading, Eisner says, ‘What we are after in the arts is to perceive things, not merely to recognize them.’ We are after an understanding of ideas, thoughts and subjects taught, not just memorization. We are trying to perceive them in our unique way, and this develops critical thinking.

Eisner also talks about the process of turning abstract ideas into something we can explain and express. A cognitive use of the arts in school’s curriculum can help us express thoughts in a variety of subjects. For example, learning that cognitive skill through the arts could help a student explain their ideas more efficiently in an essay for a history or science class. Learning to represent ideas can help you in any subject in school, and all areas of life.

I can relate to this reading. I have seen my thought process grow and strengthen since I have been in art school. I feel like I have an overall understanding of ideas, rather than just a memorization of specific facts and information. I can connect information about the past to the present. I can articulate my thoughts much better. I can envision the outcome of situations more clearly, because I can actually comprehend situations. When I was in high school, most classes I took never helped you understand the subject as a whole. You just learn the subject in separate lessons, memorize some formulas or dates, take a test, and the information never fully resonates in your mind. Practicing art in college has helped me in all my subjects. In the history class I am taking now, I feel like I can relate lessons I learned this week to the lesson I learned last week. I know how to connect all the information and form it into something complete.

This reading helped me place together an abstract thought I had, which I explained in the previous paragraph. It did not confuse me, but it affirmed something I had thought before, and it showed me a new way of looking at the arts. It gave me an idea and philosophy that relates to how I have been recently feeling in art school. I have felt as if I have a better understanding of how to represent my ideas and myself. I know understand that art school has impacted this feeling very much.

This reading strengthened the importance of the Eight Habits of Mind in education. Each one of the habits helps develop the mind fully. They each help the thought process become whole. A cognitive use of the arts especially ties in with envisioning and reflection. Envisioning can help you piece together information. Reflection helps you discuss your ideas with others, so you can get feedback and further develop your ideas. When you rework your ideas, you deepen and strengthen them. Representing your ideas uses problem-solving skills as well, which would be engaging and persisting. You can take these skills you’ve learned and apply them to all areas in life outside of schools.