Being tested

Master Sgt. Randy playing digeridoo!

More than anything else while a  public educator, I preferred to not be evaluated. I  experienced it as wasted time and pure aggrevation. In addition, the more I was scrutinized the more I did what I so wasn't supposed to be doing.  Any judgment, positive or negative, that an administrator had to conclude about the observation, I perceived as projection  and/or transference of the evaluator/s own stuff, , invalidation, weilding power, naive perceptioins of what was happening there, and other such  relationships to the whole process. 

Much of it had to do with my own perception of what is valuable - someone else's feedback on my performance not being of value. I do, however, appreciate and am grateful for feedback when I am in the process of creating something new.  What I was creating, of course, is never included as important in the traditional performance evaluation process in public education.

Over the years, there, and in other types of commmunity, of which I was a part, I would often be referred to as creative - as in "My, how wonderfully creative you are." It was a put down. Yes, it was. Do not protest.

I just finished reading (audio, yet unabridged) Dan Pink's A Whole New Mind.  In this book, he proposes that there is a place - in fact, a preference for - emerging for those with dominant right brains. He posits his theory with substantial back up.  I am relieved that here, at the other end of my life, I and the majority of people on this earth who share this dominant right brain, are no longer "afflicted. Instead, we are now "in demand".

Pink further proposes that there are six senses. I thought he was going to reiterate the traditional five senses and then go into depth on "the sixth sense". Instead, he proposes that the six senses are: design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning.  He includes a myriad of websites and other resources to look into which confirm his thesis to beyond a doubt.

The book is an easy read. I recommend it for your consideration. I say, "Yeah, Dan Pink". You wtote another of the books I would have written. And you did it so perfectly.

However, I sense there are more senses that are valuable for creating the world we want today. 

What would you propose is the seventh sense?