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Caleb Warnar
Kari K Veblen
Music 1800
October 18, 2015

Eisner, E. (1998) - Chapter 2 "The celebration of thinking." In "The Kinds of schools we need.

I found it interesting that Eisner thought that speed is not necessary in education. Music

is a concept that should always be enjoyable and fun for anyone, even in an education setting.
As Eisner puts it, We look to clean our kitchen or the toilet bowl efficiently, but who likes to
eat a great meal efficiently? What we enjoy, we wish to savor. This statement made me realize
that even in music education, it feels as though we are often rushing to complete a given task
(practicing for a recital) rather than enjoying an act of discovery (enjoying a piece of music as it
is learnt).

Eisner mentions that the school curriculum reflects the intelligence that we recognize to

be important. As a result, intelligence involving the senses is often compared with intelligence
of the mind. I found Eisners view of the senses to be both surprising and realistic, because
throughout my education as a musician I have had numerous individuals determine that their
intellectual standard is greater than my own because they think my area of study lacks that of
the mind. However, as Eisner states, there is no competent work of the hand that does not
depend on the competent use of mind. The mind and senses are one, not two.

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As I read through this article, my frustration grew as I thought back to past individuals

that discouraged music as my primary field of study. Nonetheless, I have become conscious of
the fact that music is an area of study that engages both the senses and the mind, and demands
a high degree of intelligence and discipline in order for one to perform effectively.

A comment that I would make to Eisner would be that I think his view of intelligence is

strongly accurate. Intelligence is not a measure of ones mental ability alone, but rather how
they function as a human being. When society attempts to separate intelligence of the mind
with that of the senses, we are forced to place greater value on either of the two when in
actuality they are of equivalent value.