Reflections on Gardner's 5 Minds for the Future

While reading 5 Minds for the Future, I was like, "Whoa!". I was astounded by his thoughts. I couldn't agree more with Mr. Howard Gardner.



These are 5 traits we need to have and the future generation has to have in order to make it in the real world.

And let's face it. The world has indeed evolved. As what the Medici article has taught us, there are three forces that are giving rise to more intersections: the movement of people, the convergence of science and the leap of computation. We have to keep up with the life in the fast lane. But this doesn't mean forgetting our principles and ethics.

Right-brained people will rule the future, as what Pink Daniel said. There is now more emphasis on EQ rather than IQ. Why would they need high IQ people when computers are developing fast and some day, computers can do your job better than you. Take for example the Great Kasparov's demise against a computer in various chess tournaments.

Companies nowadays are looking not only for extraordinary intelligence, but also of character. Some employers will even say, we need emotionally flexible people more than the smart bright people. So these days, the concept of "cream of the crop" is now evolving.

Take a look at the state of the Philippines. We've had enough of Harvard-graduate, summa cum laude leaders who use their intelligence to succumb the nation's wealth. And here we are, the poor getting poorer, the rich getting richer. Imagine if we can interview a future mayor, or senator or President for that matter, in a job interview setting. Now, that would be quite a riot!

Quoting a paragraph from hiringopportunities.com,

Finally, the importance of “emotional intelligence” cannot be stressed enough. In the workplace, the ability to get results is inextricably linked to the ability to access other people. If a candidate demonstrates patience, tolerance and coaching skills, employers will assume that she is able to get along with all kinds of people. When asked about specific achievements in their previous job, emotionally intelligent candidates don’t just pile the credit on themselves – they acknowledge how their colleagues, managers and supervisors helped make the achievement possible. That way, the employer can see that they are able to bring out the best in others without letting their ego get in the way.

I think the 5 minds is revolutionary and can change the way people think and live and eventually, the way the world works. It can be incorporated both in Education and Human Resources. That way, our society will breed a new generation of intelligent, ethical and socially responsible citizens.



The world needs a new perspective, a new breed of people who can find solutions to really puzzling problems the world has. Different measures have to be done this time. There has to be fresh approaches to problems we didn't imagine centuries ago. Take, for example, the problem of garbage here in the Philippines. The effects of our apathy boomeranged on us in the form of a great flood that destroyed lives and homes. That's why I support creative and innovative projects like the Invisible Sisters.



But just how do we apply the 5 minds? After all, it still is just a concept.

5 Minds is valuable and new so it is creative. But it hasn't been realized yet. So it is not innovative.

In an earlier entry (see 5-sided box for 5 year olds), I came up with some doodles and brain farts on how to concretize Gardner's 5 minds. Please check it out!

5-SIDED BOX FOR 5-YEAR OLDS and A NEW TWIST TO SAME OLD BORING FLAG CEREMONIES

5-SIDED BOX FOR 5-YEAR OLDS

As you can see on the sketch above, I suck at drawing and I have a terrible, horrendous handwriting. My apologies. I loved writing on magic slates since I was four, but oddly, the Paulinian way of writing (which is a graceful, curvy way of writing) never rubbed off on me.

Anyway, back to the project.

The 5-sided for 5-year old project is a project that teachers and parents of 5-year olds (preschoolers) can do to instill the 5 minds/values to kids. Here are the steps/rules:

1.) Form a group of 5 five-year old kids. You can have as many groups as you like depending on the number of kids in the school or in your neighborhood.
2.) Each kid will be given a large plain empty box.
3.) The kids will have a game. The mechanics of the game is that they have to fill the boxes with school supplies, that will be donated to kid in an orphanage or a public school.
4.) The catch is they're not supposed to buy anything. They will fill in the boxes by earning points. The points will be earned by the 5 kids competing in the following activities

- singing/dancing (talent show)
- doing good deeds
- arts through poster-making (this includes the most creative box)
- simple math and spelling bees
- social awareness quizzes

5.)Only one kid will win each category. For every star won, the kid will be allowed, unsupervised, to go inside a stock room to get school supplies. Each star is only equivalent to two notebooks/two books/2 ballpens/2 pencils.
6.)Each box has to be decorated creatively. (ex. he/she can make it a toy car or an animal or anything their imagination can take them!)
7.) The winner of the contest will be given a GOOD CITIZEN KID medal (sorry I can't come up with a better name right now. hehe!)
8.) All of the kids will go to the beneficiary/school to meet the kids and present their boxes.



A NEW TWIST TO THE SAME OLD BORING FLAG CEREMONIES

Say goodbye to those boring flag ceremonies, where singing the national anthem and reciting the Panatang Makabayan are just all bland and blah.

Presently, there's an ongoing movement in Education and Corporate sectors that aims to strengthen Good Citizenship values. What do I mean by this?

Studies show that kids will benefit from loving her/his country right from the start. And that does not include memorizing Panatang Makabayan and being disciplined in the flag ceremony.

Teresita Baltazar (of Good Citizenship Movement in partnership with CHED) developed a curriculum to be introduced in both grade school and high school students. This is composed of: pagkamakadiyos, pagkamaka-tao, pagkamaka-bayan, and pagkamaka-kalikasan. Corporate foundations such as Metro Bank Foundation, Coca-Cola Foundation and Ayala Foundation are inviting other groups to incorporate Good Citizenship in their programs as well (For example, Metro Bank encourages its scholars to give back by teaching poor kids how to read and write).

I believe a kid who is taught to be a good citizen, who is socially aware, will become a productive and responsible member of our society. Just like what Gardner said, quoting Mahatma Gandhi, she/he will both have intelligence and character.

So, why not add a twist to the flag ceremony?

Weekly, during flag ceremony, a group of 5 (randomly chosen across batches in either Grade School or High School) will perform A SKIT.

Each group will be given a social problem. Through the skit, they will present the problem and how they can solve it.

These activities can be part of the grade of a new subject I will call SOCIAL AWARENESS.


Other activities SOCIAL AWARENESS class can do is to have a field trip to Payatas or any poor community they can immerse in. Parents and teachers can join too. The subject can also arrange games that will test the ethical and respectful values of a child.

For now, here are my thoughts. Hopefully I'd come up with something more concrete soon. Thanks for reading!

Introduction: Who is Alina Co?

A year ago, I would have drawn up a blank if I was asked to introduce myself this way. Who am I? Sino nga ba?

I’d always answer, “I’m a film grad. who changed my medium to television and video production.” But of course, the question wasn’t “what’s your occupation?”

Does your job really define you as a person? I mean, I have friends who work in call centers, but they’re actually very good writers. But they’re forced to work in BPOs cause they need a bigger salary to support their families. An acquaintance of mine slaves day in and day out in an ad agency because he wants to earn enough money to study film abroad. Corny as it might sound, I guess what defines us is the goodness and passion inside our hearts. What makes us a better person? What makes us help people and find compassion? Find it, do it and that defines you.

For me, these are three things: video production, writing, and women and children’s rights.

A year ago, I didn’t have any idea that this was what I was meant to do. A year ago, I was weighing either shifting to law or business administration. That’s how confused I was.

But God is good, and He led me to this. Since I’ve found these three things, I wake up every day with a spring on my step and joy in my heart. It’s like I found a connect-the-dots to everything that has happened in my life and I finally feel whole…

If I were a movie, I’d be Amelie. I’m colorful like its cinematography. I like narrative films and strong quirky female protagonists. And yes, I like light-hearted plots, especially happy endings.

If I were food, I’d be yogurt – sometimes sweet, sometimes sour, but always healthy for digestion!

If I were a book, hmmm… I can be a lot of books. I can be Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wu Dunn’s Half the Sky. Or Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. Or Ann Tyler’s Back When We Were Grownups. My pages would be crisp and off-white, the texts bold and clear, font size 12. I smell good, the way all books do. I can have some highlights and arrows and notes on the side, I don't mind.

If I were a multi-billionaire, I would have my own TV channel foundation.

If I can be anything that is not a living thing, I would be a signal, or a radio wave.

If I can be anything that is not a non-living thing, I would be an eskimo or a panda, anywhere it’s wintry cold. I hate the heat, except when I’m at a beach.

If I can be anything again that is not a living thing, I would be ‘poetic justice’ or ‘state of the country’.

If I will be blessed with kids someday, I’d call them Luna, or Diwa, or Makisig, Ala-ala, I find those names cute.

My mother is my hero and my idol. I have two sweet pamangkins --Andeng and Alfie, whom I adore. They are my inspiration and sources of strength.

Reflection Entry No. 1

It was nighttime and the door in our office was already locked. The guard outside was dozing off. He was working straight for almost twenty-four hours because his reliever had to rush home. He said it was an emergency.

So the guard didn’t notice when a light in the corner of the fifth floor suddenly turned on.

--

I work in the 5th floor of one of the oldest buildings in Ortigas. Knowledge Channel is a small office, sharing the floor with two other companies – an engineering firm and an accounting firm.

However small, I love the way our office smells and looks. If you ask me, I wouldn’t change anything about it.

I like the way the dividers are arranged to separate the departments. It looks like a maze. To go to my desk, I have three ways to choose from. From the front at the lobby, then right then left. Or walk straight up then right. I can also come in from the side, where the canteen is connected, walk straight up, turn left then right.

The lighting is not too white, and not too yellow. The colors in our office is a mishmash of white, blue and beige. Our logo is cheery yellow with planets and an orbit on it.

Sometimes, however, I don’t go straight to my desk. There are times my office is in the location itself, wherever the shoot is going to take place. There are days when I go straight to our editing suites in the basement.

So I feel that every day, I can take a different route. Whatever fits my mood.

--

It was peculiar, the way the light only shone on this one particular desk. At first glance, there was nothing extraordinary about it. Sure, it was off-white, metallic and long just like the rest. But then, a cough was heard. How can that be possible when no one is there?

The teddy bear desk organizer yawned, then coughed again. Fuzzy the teddy bear has had cold and cough since the air-conditioning was fixed a day before. Blue grunted, “Fuzzy, you woke me up, yet again!” Then soon after that, Pink, Purple, Orange and Green Pens all stretched out and woke up with a start. Bright jolly old Purple said with a laugh, “I thought there was an earthquake!” “Fuzzy, have you taken your medicine yet,” Pink asked, her face full of concern.

“Yes Ma’am, I’ve taken my meds. But it’s not working Ma’am. I just need a few days off,” Fuzzy said, his voice shaky and breathy.

“But you’re not doing anything all day!,” Peachy, the yellow mug yelled. “I can understand stapler and scotch tape when they complain. I too can complain, I get filled and drank all day! But you, you just sit around all day!”

Just then a deep muscular voice was heard. “Hey, guys, don’t fight! We’re all here to do our jobs right? No matter how hard or easy or big or small.” Brad Pitt was talking in the middle of the Corkboard. “Like me, my job is to put a smile on Alina’s face when she’s stressed out or hungry or sad or tired.”



“I agree with you Brad, one hundred and one percent,” said Bart Simpson, a custom-made stuffed toy perched on the edge of the table. “I let Alina pinch me and play with me whenever she is bored! Fuzzy makes her smile too, right Fuzzy?”

Everyone were nodding their heads. Even the grouchy Blue Pen. “You’re right, I am sorry Fuzzy.” Fuzzy and the Blue Pen shook hands.



That night, they made a pact, never to argue but to just be themselves. And mostly, to do their best so Alina can never lose her imagination and creativity. After all, what’s a desk without cute office supplies and toys? And what would a work day be like for Alina without them?

--

I think, more than the office’s structure and my colorful table, it’s about the people in the office.

All of my colleagues are friendly and warm people. Thought we are stressed with workload, we never fail to joke around. A sense of humor comes in handy.

In our office, age doesn’t matter. Even our fifty-something superiors can crack us up with wild, “kanto” jokes. We all look and feel younger than our age.

I guess I can never survive in an office that is too corporate and too stiff. That would be the end of me.

At work, I hardly feel the pressure. Because I get to be a thirteen-year old every day, working with kids, directing and writing for the youth.

And being a writer-producer for youth-oriented educational shows, you have to think like a kid.

So to answer the question, yes, my work encourages creativity and that’s why I love it!

And I have my mom and family to thank! As early as 8 years old, I was already writing short stories on yellow pad paper. I invented words and wrote them on books at home (my mom scolded me for that! hehe!)

Just like Ken Robinson said, it's important to foster the creativity of students. In St. Paul Pasig, where I studied elementary and high school, I was encouraged by my teachers to write. I joined contests and the student paper. But I didn't really enjoy essay-writing as much as I enjoyed writing fiction. And this is why I took up Film.

What Ken Robinson said is true even here in the Philippines. The Dep. of Education still prioritizes Math, Science and English over other subjects. I interview HS students in public schools, all brilliant and at the top of their classes, who wanted to pursue Fine Arts or Mass Comm, but had to choose Accounting or Management because their parents told them so! Once, there was this brilliant Journalism Club president who shared her mother forced her to erase Mass Communication in her UPCAT form. Really nasty! Sayang! The girl can be the next Mel Tiangco or Che-che Lazaro.

I wish something can be done about this. Even at work, they emphasize on improving Math Science and English only. Well....as a Producer, I can use my creativity to get away with it right? Mabuhay ang mga malikhaing kabataan!

--

The guard woke up, his throat itchy from too much snoring. Just then, the light turned off from the 5th floor. And there was silence.