MI-News, December 1999, Volume 1, Number 9
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 Morris1 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.
This December 15, 1999 (Volume 1, Number 9) newsletter represents the final issue for this year. Commencing in 2000, the MI-News will become a quarterly publication of Multiple Intelligences Research and Consulting Inc. Thus, the next issue (vol. 2, no. 1 -- Spring 2000) of the MI-News is scheduled to be e-mailed to you on March 15, 2000.
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.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."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.
(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 undergratuate 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 19995 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
--------------------------------------------------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 spend 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.