Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

I have referenced Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain multiple times in past posts, and it is also noted in the Links section at the right. Thus, you may understand what prompted me to send the following email to Faculty and Staff at my school. As folks respond to my email, I will copy and paste their comments to the Comments at the end of this post, withholding names to keep the authors anonymous. Feel free to view the results of my participation in the workshop.

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Hi,

In the summer of 2005 RCDS financed, through an auxiliary grant, my participation in a five day drawing workshop, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Traveling to Soho everyday for a week, I spent hours under the expert guidance of Brian Bomeisler, immersed in learning to redraw.

At the time, I made the case that taking such a workshop would facilitate creative thinking, which would benefit me in my role as a teacher and someone charged with helping folks to make use of technology. I also believe that participating in professional development outside of one’s area of expertise is a phenomenal way to foster personal growth.

The act of drawing is also useful in helping with recall. Robert Greenleaf (our opening speaker this past August), shares research (pg 22 of the 2005 edition of Brain Based Teaching: Making Connections for Long–Term Memory & Recall) showing that when learners create illustrations they improve their recall by up to four times more than without the use of illustrations. 

Now an article in the Business section of Sunday’s New York Times, Let Computers Compute. It’s the Age of the Right Brain., by Janet Rae-Dupree,  describes how the art of drawing, and the art of being more creative and more right brain oriented, is taking center stage at a number of companies. Those of you who have read Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind know that this is an approach he considers crucial to succeeding in the post–Information Age.

It should come as no surprise to you that I wish everyone of us could participate in a Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain workshop. In fact, I’d love to see us have Brian come to RCDS for our opening meetings in August and guide us through the art of learning to redraw and discovering “an entirely new way to see.” I think our creative sides would feel nourished, and that, in turn, would nourish our teaching and mentoring, which in turn would nourish our students. 

Any takers?

Cheers,
Laurie