~ The MI News ~
Winter 1999 Edition
(Volume 1, Number 9) |
Publisher Branton Shearer | Editor
Cliff Morris |
Table of Contents
1 Welcome message by Clifford Morris
2 Deeper into multiple
intelligences: MI theory as a tool by Howard Gardner
3 Multiple intelligences and
brain-based learning by Doris Sweeney and Melissa Newman
4 The MIDAS and attention
deficit disorders by Marne Jo Patterson
5 For your intelligences only
by Clifford Morris
1. Welcome
message by Clifford Morris
Welcome to the December 1999 (Volume 1, Number 9) issue of
the MI-News. This newsletter is provided free by Branton Shearer's Multiple Intelligences (MI) Research and
Consulting. The goal of MI-News is to provide you with theoretical and
practical information about Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences (MI) Theory.
We try to explore MI applications via discussion, contact and sharing.
In the October 1999 issue of the MI-News, I incorrectly
stated that Howard Gardner had added a ninth intelligence to his list.
That comment of mine was wrong. I bring this error to your attention and
extend my apology to Howard Gardner for any negative effects which this error
may have produced. Thus, there continues to be eight intelligences.
2. Deeper
into multiple intelligences: MI theory as a tool by Howard Gardner
This month, we are pleased to have Howard Gardner presents
us with an excerpt from his second 1999 book Intelligence Reframed: Multiple
Intelligences for the 21st Century. The following excerpt is here
reprinted with permission from the author.
"A generative question to ask about the introduction of
MI ideas and practices in a school is: If one returns to the school three years
later, what will one see? Perhaps MI theory will long since have been
forgotten. Schools in the United States, in particular, have an
unsettling track record of embracing practices for a short period of time and
then dropping them. I can already hear the decisive declaration: “Oh,
Multiple Intelligences. We used to do that.” Or MI ideas may have
become institutionalized without having undergone fundamental change in the
interim. For instance, a school might have begun by performing an
inventory on each child and continues to carry out such inventories without
making use of the information. Or teachers might have assigned the
students a project in which they were free to use whatever intelligences they
preferred, and this “project practice” has endured. These practices may
be beneficial, but applying MI thinking makes the most sense if it brings about
deeper, more fundamental changes in the life of the school.
When people tell me, “We have a multiple intelligences
school” or “We are using multiple intelligences in our elementary school,” I
wonder about the purposes for which they are using these new ideas about the
human mind. After all, MI ideas and practices cannot be an end in
themselves; they cannot serve as a goal for a school or an educational
system. Rather, every educational institution must reflect upon its
goals, mission, and purposes continuously and, at least at times,
explicitly. Only after such reflection can MI ideas be usefully
implemented.
In fact, determining one’s educational goals is so important
and difficult an endeavor that, paradoxically, most institutions avoid
explicitly doing it. They pay lip service to certain ideals -- such as
having well-rounded children and literate adolescents -- and they carry on
well-established practices, from conducting spelling bees to dissecting
earthworms to assigning a Dickens novel. Their hesitation reflects our
underlying fear that, if stated explicitly, each of us might find out own goals
to be disparate from those of our fellow citizens.
Let me mention just a few of the educational values on which
people are likely to differ, often profoundly: How important is the attainment
of creativity? How important are the arts? Should technological
proficiency be a high priority? Should schools be involved in religious
education, moral education, civic education, health education, and sex
education? Is it more important to master a lot of facts or to secure a
deeper understanding of a limited number of disciplinary topics? Should
one emphasize the more holistic aspects of language use or the drill-focused
aspects of reading, writing, and spelling? Is mathematical problem
solving or pattern recognition more important than the mastery of number
facts? And, more broadly, do we want students who are well rounded or
those who specialize in one or two areas?
One might think that multiple intelligences would appeal
only to those who take certain clear-cut positions on these topics.
Indeed, those who are partial to the arts also like multiple intelligences,
perhaps because musical, bodily-kinesthetic, and other intelligences so readily
suggest artistic priorities. Yet, in fact, MI theory could be made
consistent -- or inconsistent -- with a myriad of practices, goals, and
values. Let us say, for example, that one is devoted to a curriculum that
focuses on the traditional subjects and that features regular tests. At
first, this kind of program might seem to clash directly with the spirit of
multiple intelligences. But because MI theory stipulates neither what to
teach nor how to teach it, one could teach English literature or the theory of
mechanics by using a number of different lesson plans or by giving students
software that draws on their various intelligences. One could mobilize MI
theory for more traditional ends by testing students’ understanding of the plot
of a Shakespeare play or the “plot” involved when a spaceship is heading toward
the moon.
The point is that there is not a direct tie between a
scientific theory and a set of educational moves. Whether one believes in
one intelligence or twenty, and whether one thinks early experiences are more
important than later ones, or the reverse, one is still free to implement any
number of educational approaches. Indeed, in an art like teaching, the
proof comes down to whether an approach works; it matters little whether the
theory was correct. And, conversely, even if the theory is both correct
and elegant, if it cannot be mobilized for concrete educational consequences,
the theory matters not a whit to the educators.
Let us say that one has in fact identified a set of goals
acceptable to the educational community. This is when one can indeed go
“deeper into multiple intelligences” and declare: “We now have goals A, B, C,
and D. How can we use this new theory of human mental representation to achieve
these goals? And how will we know whether or not we have been
successful?” At this point one stops being a visionary and begins to
become a strategist. The vision having been stated, one can recommend
specific practices, spell out a rationale, and hypothesize why these practices
might indeed lead to the desired goal. And, going one step further, one
can then begin to lay out criteria that will determine whether a practice
inspired by multiple intelligence has led to a desired effect.
STEPS FOR ESTABLISHING AN MI
ENVIRONMENT
There are many ways to proceed from goal to strategy to
evaluation, and none is inherently superior. Here are some practices that
have been effective in probing deeper into multiple intelligences.
1.
Learn more about MI theory and practices. There is now a sizeable
literature in English, plus a growing amount in other languages (see the
appendices). The literature is theoretical and practical, visionary and
realistic. There are also videos and CD-ROMS that illustrate MI practices.
2. Form study groups. Many people find it most
comfortable to explore new ideas with others. A group that meets weekly
or biweekly to reflect upon MI-related themes, with a particular eye to the
needs of a certain school or of educational institutions in one locale, often
makes fairly rapid progress.
3.Visit institutions that are implementing MI
ideas. Interacting with teachers, staff, parents, and children at an
MI site provides invaluable insights, raises questions, and triggers ideas one
can implement locally.
4. Attend conferences that feature MI ideas. In
many countries now, those involved in MI work hold workshops, symposia, and
conferences. Project Zero, at the Harvard Graduate School of Education,
holds an institute each summer; many graduates return, some serving as mentors
to new attendees. At their best, these meetings demonstrate effective
practices and introduce outstanding presenters. Even when the actual content
of the meetings is less than stellar, one has the opportunity to meet and begin
to network with people more than casually interested in MI theory.
5. Join a network of schools. There are
now explicit MI networks -- such as the one coordinated by New City School head
Thomas Hoerr for the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development --
that provide up-to-date information and regular access to others devoted to
exploring the educational implications of MI theory.
6. Plan and launch activities, practices, or programs
that grow out of immersion in the world of MI theory and approaches. It
is important to be courageous but reasonable and to build in time for
reflection. Also, having indices of effectiveness for a new activity will
be necessary for determining whether to continue it. Yet, because most
experimentation does not work well at first, it is important to be flexible
and, as appropriate, either continue for a while, even n the absence of firm
results, or change course and rethink the work.
These
practices may seem self-evident, but when teachers become interested in MI
ideas, they often make unnecessary errors. They try out recommended
activities without understanding (and questioning) their rationale; they are
too ambitious and then become discouraged when immediate, earth-shaking results
do not occur; or, most commonly, they judge success completely on anecdotal
evidence and never pose the difficult question of what data might convince a
skeptical parent or school board."
(pp. 142-147).
3. Multiple
intelligences and brain-based learning by Doris Sweeney and Melissa Newman
Editorial Overview
In this ninth and final 1999 issue of the MI-News, we are
privileged to print an informative commentary by two additional MI users, Doris
Sweeney and Melissa Newman. Doris has been teaching for 26 years, all in
a K-12 setting. She has taught regular education and special
education. She is currently a second grade title 1 teacher as well as an
adjunct professor with National Louis University. She received her Ph.D.
in Education, with emphasis in Multiple Intelligences, in 1998 from Walden
University. Melissa Newman, also a classroom teacher, is a graduate
student at National Louis University, in the field based Master's program in
curriculum and instruction. Here then are their comments:
Melissa Newman's Commentary
Welcome to the new frontier of the educational world.
For a long time, education was driven by the drill/skill/regurgitation
presentation processes. Dewey (1920) proposed a hands on process.
The progressives were pushed under the rug, considered to be "off
base." Others had their turn with the behaviorists and programmed
learning. Still others attempted to modify curriculum by instituting a
medical model with the diagnostic/perscriptive interventions. This was
helpful, but not everyone bought into it.
As we moved into the middle 1980's, Howard Gardner (1983)
proposed a new way of looking at intelligence: that intelligence was not
"set in concrete." The concept of seven intelligences controlling
how and what students learned coupled with the variables associated with any
given population in any given classroom was a new idea. Acceptance was
slow at the administrative level, but was rapid at the bottom, grass roots,
classroom level.
The theory of multiple intelligences gave classroom teachers
an opportunity to redefine the structure of their universe as it related to the
teaching of children. Lecture and drill and skill would no longer be the
driving force. Instead, a teacher would be able to choose an area of
study, decide how to present that area of study with Gardner's frameworks, and
present a variety of lessons to the students within a variety of formats with a
variety of outcomes both in student product and in assessment. Now, with the
popularity of the brain-based learning movement, there appears to be an effort
to push all of the strides made from the MI model under the rug, or off center
stage.
With the advent of the new neuroscience, I would would
suggest the following platform. Teachers and others concerned with the
education of both children and adults would benefit from a clear understanding
of the new neuroscience. Humans learn in different ways, different
styles, different combinations of ways and styles. By understanding the
complex processes involved, the MI model can and should be used as the delivery
tool to both stimulate and "informate" those involved in the learning
process. If in the educational process, direct wiring through the proper
presentation methods could occur purposefully, effective learning would and
could tae place. The debate continues ....
Editorial Overview
As an adjunct in a field based model of instruction, Doris
has attempted to use Howard Gardner's (1985) theory of multiple intelligences within
the frameworks and requirements of her program. She often uses surveys,
including personal interviews to help the learner assess her/his personal MI
profile, to discover a variety of non-threathning probes, and to provide a
basis for discovering a new way to learn and perhaps to teach. To
that objective, the following short interview was recently conducted between
Doris and one of her graduate school students, Melissa Newman.
Interview between Doris Sweeney and Melissa Newman
Doris: Tell me what you know about the theory of multiple
intelligences?
Melissa: Howard Gardner's way of
understanding the intellect, the cognitive and developmental areas working
along with "intelligences" such as music, bodily, logical (math),
linguistic, space, and inter/intra personal skills to learn.
Doris: Did you see any relevance to MI theory's application to your
daily life?
Melissa: Yes.
Doris: What effect, if any, did the results from self-assessment
instruments have upon your learning as a grad student?
Melissa: Howard Gardner's theory of
multiple intelligences came more into play as a grad student because of the
"out of the box" nature of our classes -- that the intrapersonal and
interpersonal intelligences were utilized during our brainstorming sessions in
class. Because we are "outside the box" with our classes at
NLU, the interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence skills are needed to keep
up with and understand and appreciate our classmates' thinking. The use
of linguistic intelligence is a given.
About Doris Sweeney and Melissa Newman
Doris Sweeney has been teaching for 26 years in K-12
settings. She has taught in regular education and in special education
settings. She is currently a second grade title 1 teacher, as well as an
adjunct professor with National Louis University. She received her Ph.D.
in Education with emphasis in Multiple Intelligences in 1998 from Walden
University. Melissa Newman, also a classroom teacher, is a graduate
student at National Louis University, in the field based master's program in
curriculum and instruction. Electronic mail may be sent to Melissa at
LBFOAL@aol.com. Overall correspondence concerning this commentary should
be addressed to Doris E. Sweeney, Ph.D., 5724 Cortez Drive, Orlando, FL 32808.
Electronic mail may be sent to Doris at doris@cfl.rr.com.
4. The MIDAS and Attention Deficit Disorders by Marne
Jo Patterson
Editorial Overview
The following is a brief report from Marne Jo Patterson, an
undergraduate education student who took a summer 1999 MI Workshop. She
used Branton Shearer's Multiple Intelligences Developmental Assessment Scales
(MIDAS) as her final project during her student teaching. Here is her
commentary on one of her students, James Frederick.
Marne Jo Patterson's Comment
James" is a nine year old boy with the diagnosis of
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). He fits the classic definition of this
disorder in that he lacks the ability to filter out any extraneous stimuli: He
pays equal attention to the teacher at the front of the room as he does to the
dust bunnies dancing across the floor in front of his desk. Currently,
James takes two separate medications to help control his ADD. As this is
his current medical diagnosis, it is therefore unfair to James to place blame
upon him for his inability to focus solely on one set of stimuli.
However, as his teacher, it is also not unreasonable for me to to expect him to
participate in class and make advances in his program of study.
James is a very bright boy who can answer almost any
question when it is presented to him orally. However, due, in part, to
his ADD, James is unable to read. He lacks the ability to focus and has
little to no sound symbol relationship. When presented orally with a
letter, he can identify the sound that the letter makes. In addition, he
can identify a written letter by its proper name. He can not, however,
complete the two step process of identifying a written letter with its sound.
My goal for James was to identify his areas of intelligence and subsequently
translate many of his reading lessons into that particular intelligence.
Based upon his MIDAS Assessment, which was given to him
orally, James demonstrated a high musical intelligence. This musical
intelligence was followed closely by the kinesthetic and then the interpersonal
intelligences. None of these results were overly surprising: James enjoys
singing and humming, he is always running and moving about, and he is very
amiable and gets along well with the other children.
Initially, reading lessons were translated through the
musical intelligence. Spelling words and sight words were put to tunes
which James would sing. However, the problem again presented itself when
James was confronted by these words in print. He was able to sing the
tune for "them", but he was unable to recognize that "them"
written on the page was the same word. In addition, both James and myself
were running out of tunes for words. In combination with our word songs,
we created chants and claps for various words. The problem of sight
recognition was addressed simply by writing the word on a flash card or on the
board instead of saying it to him. Eventually, he would remember the length
and types of letters in each word and was able to recognize it upon sight.
In order to address James's kinesthetic intelligence, I
created a version of Math Baseball using word cards instead of math
facts. Each person "at bat" was presented with a word card upon
which was written a word at the appropriate level of difficulty. If the
word was correctly read, within five to seven seconds, then the child got a
"hit" and ran to base. If it was not correct, the team received
an out. By individualizing the cards, James, with his basic sight words,
was able to play alongside his peers. James took advantage of his speed and
agility to steal base on several occasions. Not only did he earn his team
extra points for runs, but he also earned the admiration of his fellow
teammates.
The most significant consequence of the adapted lessons was
that James's focus was on the claps, songs, and games instead of on the dust
bunnies running underneath his desk. The lessons were presented to him in
such a manner that he enjoyed trying to learn to read. Since claps,
chants, and games do not completely cover the entire reading gamut for James, I
am looking into adapting future lessons to fit his intelligences. The one
intelligence that I neglected to explore was his interpersonal intelligence.
James thoroughly enjoys helping other students in the
class. He is always trying to behave in such a manner as to be beneficial
to others. Due to this, I am hoping to establish a peer tutoring
situation with some of the students from the first grade class across the
hall. By helping other students learn to read and recognize the words
that he already knows, I hope to kindle his excitement and interest in learning
new words and reading more books.
Marne Jo Patterson
Summer of 1999
5 For your intelligences only by Clifford Morris
MI-News Interviews
The initial publications of the MI-News contained a series
of interviews between the editor and Multiple Intelligences (MI)
practitioners. Ensuing email comments from various subscribers have been
positive and supportive of this other way of communicating about how you have
implemented MI into your personal and professional lives. In fact, some
of you have asked to have additional such interviews published in forthcoming
issues of the newsletter. To that end, I now ask you to take a few
minutes to think of becoming involved, as an interviewee, via a possible email
format.
More to the point, if you have been using some form of
Howard Gardner's MI model during your professional activities, I would like to
interview you. Depending on your specific line of MI activity, some of
the following 15 questions could be altered to better suit your particular MI
exercise. In the past, I have selected general questions as well as
specific sections from the immediate below list. Feel free to email me
(cmorris@igs.net), should you be interested. Here then is the list of
interview questions that I have used in the past.
General Questions for MI-News Interview:
1 When did you first come to know about Howard Gardner and
his Multiple Intelligences (MI) model?
2 What made you decide to use an MI model in your primary /
middle / high school classroom program?
3 What made you decide to use Branton Shearer's Multiple
Intelligences Developmental Assessment Scales (MIDAS) as a self reflective
instrument with your primary / middle / high school classes?
4 Why do you feel that it is so important to remind teachers
/ parents / administrators about the Gardner MI model?
5 How does an MI awareness / activities make a
difference? Show me HOW this awareness /activities works?
6 Why is it vital to foster the development of more than
just the IQ-types of intelligence in others?
7 Why is it so critical not to label students as intelligent
in just one of Gardner's eight (8) intelligences?
8 What can Gardner's MI model bring to the current
educational arena?
9 What general conclusions can you draw from your
associations with the Gardner MI model thus far in your career?
10 How do you see the state funded public schooling system
implementing the MI model?
Specific Questions for MI-News Interview
11 Relate an actual description of how HEG's MI or Branton
Shearer's MIDAS has changed your instruction / attitude / performance, etc.
12 Tell me about a time that awareness of MI made a
difference in your teaching or a student's attitude / performance.
13 Can you describe an MI-inspired teaching assignment or
instructional approach that was especially effective? How did it make a
difference?
14 Could you describe how your school implements MI and how
is this different from traditional schools?
15 Could you describe your recent / ongoing MI research
project? How were you able to incorporate MI theory to get your students
to better understand the subject matter under investigation?
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MI-News as a Quarterly
Publication
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This December 15, 1999 (Volume 1, Number 9) issue of the
MI-News represents the final issue for this year. Commencing in 2000,
MI-News will become a quarterly publication of Multiple Intelligences Research and Consulting
Inc. Thus the next issue (vol. 2, no. 1 -- Spring 2000) is scheduled
on March 15, 2000.
As long-standing readers of the MI-News will attest, we have
published nine (9) issues during this 1999 calendar year. As your editor,
I have enjoyed this new experience and have learned much. I have spent
many hours commenting with MI practitioners from many corners of the
world. To communicate via email with colleagues on similar educational
concerns and to agree that Howard Gardner has a model that 'fits' so many
learning situations has been a truly rewarding experience. As a result, I
feel that our newsletter has made a positive impact with numerous teachers,
parents, and most importantly, children.