“Whole new minds.” I have been thinking about these words for ages. They hold a great deal of meaning in English, the language in which they happen to have come to me. However, this phrase is difficult to translate into any other language I know, beginning with French. In English, the meaning of “mind” is expansive. The Merriam Webster Dictionary proposes this definition, one of ten that corresponds best to my own understanding: “the element or complex of elements in an individual that feels, perceives, thinks, wills, and especially reasons.” “Mind” refers to both the brain and something more abstract called consciousness.
Which leaves the two adjectives, “whole” and “new”. The meaning of “whole” is straightforward, being synonymous with “complete” or “entire”. The definition of “new” too affords little room for argument. For the Merriam Webster, it means: “having recently come into existence.” So how to explain what the full expression “whole new minds” connotes (and then I promise to say why it is worthwhile even to ask this question!)? Here goes: “whole new minds” evokes the brain and consciousness which are at once complete and fresh. Hmmm.
The era dominated by our rational, logical and linear side is over
Dear readers, these three words, which I have often found myself pondering and using during the past several weeks (and not for the first time), have captured my attention today for two main reasons, both of which I am delighted to share with you in our new “LFNY Life” blog.
First, I hope that for all of the members of our community, and particularly our students, the summer proved to be a chance for “wholeness,” That it was an opportunity to spend time in nature, time that leads to a sense of balance with the world. And also that it was an opportunity for “newness”, for activities which refresh and invigorate. It is my immense hope that everyone has returned to school this fall with “whole new minds” as defined in these terms. Our students can certainly count on our educational team to foster their sense of equilibrium and freshness throughout the year ahead!
Nurture the creativity, inventiveness and innovativeness of our students
Second, our school’s executive team read a book this past summer written by journalist and author Daniel Pink, entitled “A Whole New Mind” (translated into French as “L’homme aux deux cerveaux”). Pink’s argument struck me as providing excellent preparation for the annual back-to-school retreat which our leadership team organized in August and which focused on how best to meet the main challenges and opportunities facing the Lycée Français during the coming five years. In a very insightful, engaging text, which I highly recommend to anyone interested in 21st century education, Pink affirms that the era long dominated by the left side of the human brain (ie. our rational, logical, linear side) is over. Instead, he asserts, with considerable scientific research in support, work in the future will depend more and more on the right hemisphere of the brain (ie. our emotional, intuitive, non-linear side).
The world of today, not to mention the world of tomorrow, will belong to those who are able to cultivate the right sides of their brains, to those who have learned how to create, to invent, to innovate. Or put another way, success will go to those who have acquired a “whole new mind”. Pink is right. Among our priorities for 2012-13 (and beyond), that of nurturing the creativity, inventiveness and innovativeness of our students, of developing the right hemispheres of their brains, should indeed be central to everything we do. “Whole new minds.” Please forgive me in advance, but you will be hearing us say these wonderful words a lot this year!
About the Author :
Sean Lynch was Head of School at the Lycée Français de New York from 2011 to 2018, after having spent 15 years at another French bilingual school outside of Paris: the Lycée International de St. Germain-en-Laye. Holding both French and American nationalities, educated in France (Sciences Po Paris) and the United States (Yale), and as the proud husband of a French-American spouse and father of two French-American daughters, Sean Lynch has spent his entire professional and personal life at the junction between the languages, cultures and educational systems of France and the United States. In addition to being passionate about education, he loves everything related to the mountains, particularly the Parc National du Mercantour.