MI-News, Volume 1, Number 2, February 1999
Table of contents1 Welcome message by Clifford Morris
2 Assessing the multiple intelligences: What good can come of it? by Branton Shearer
3 The parenting corner by Debra West Jones
4 Interview between Maureen Coe and Clifford Morris
5 Existential intelligence by Howard Gardner
6 Art education and multiple intelligences by Judith Fowler
7 Mismeasuring human intelligences by Clifford Morris
8 For your intelligences only by Clifford Morris
1 Welcome message by Clifford MorrisWelcome to Volume 1 Issue 2 of the Multiple Intelligences (MI) News (henceforth simply "MI-News"). This (second) issue is provided free of charge by Multiple Intelligences Research and Consulting. Its mission is to provide useful information to those interested in Howard Gardner's MI Theory and to explore its applications via discussion, contact and sharing. In exchange for receiving the MI-News, we request that you consider making a contribution in the form of a good idea, thoughtful response, question or an inspirational MI learning activity.
2 Assessing the multiple intelligences: What good can come of it? by Branton ShearerThe question in the title to this section was recently posed by Branton Shearer to eight (8) teachers in northeast Ohio following their participation in a year-long multiple intelligences (MI) project. These fourth through 12th grade teachers volunteered to add activities related to the multiple intelligences to their busy schedules and planned curriculums. By all accounts, these veteran teachers were already very successful ... so why would they take on the additional burdens of after-school meetings, altering lesson plans, and giving up valuable class time? One teacher put it this way: "After 16 years of teaching, I feel so lucky to be excited about teaching again that I'm ready for another 16 years!"
The idea of multiple intelligences has been found to be powerful medicine for the disaffection that ails our educational system today. After nearly 18 years of growing enthusiasm and classroom practice since the publication of Frames of Mind, it is hard to dismiss MI theory as "just another fad." Even common sense tells us that to reject the importance of the "non-academic" intelligences such as musical activities, kinesthetic performances, self awareness, interpersonal understanding, visual-spatial abilities and understanding the natural world would be foolhardy. It is a risk, however, to think outside the IQ box and integrate non-traditional learning activities into the academic curriculum. The results of the efforts of these eight teachers to stretch their thinking and teaching (along with the stories of countless others) provides strong support for the positive influence that MI can have over the learning / teaching enterprise.
"I wanted to do this project because I think using MI will be a better technique of teaching reading. I want students to know themselves better so they can help themselves to deal with their reading / math problems. I want to give them other ideas and options for studying- especially in the areas of their strengths. I also want them to be able to let others know what their strengths are- especially their peers. This helps to give them a confidence boost."
1. Lisa Reid, Elementary School Academic Skills Teacher
As the tide of school reform gains momentum in the United States, there are numerous high minded ideas and admonitions to "teach better" broadcast to the educational community. While few would argue against positive change, it is hard to translate slogans and ideals into practice. Where are the bridges that will span the gap from our existing model of industrial revolution education to the mysteries of what the 21st century will bring to our schools?
Just as the vastness of space has been reduced in size via inter-planetary travel, so too the complexities of the neural circuitry of the human brain have been revealed by new technology necessitating that our old theories of "mind" must be revised to fit the data. Just as Newtonian physics have had to be assimilated into the broader picture of relativity theory and quantum mechanics, so too IQ theory is being shed to make way for the expansive and dynamic MI perspective. Instruments once considered essential to the scientist of the Newtonian age have since been drastically modified, altered in function, or relegated to the museum of historical curiosities.
The fate of the IQ examination and paper and pencil tests remains to be seen but for now it can be said with confidence that we can no longer assume they provide a complete and unvarnished version of truth upon which to base the enterprise of education. In the final analysis, there is no "objective" view of reality without accounting for the limitations, intentions, values, and the effects of the observer on that which is observed and measured. The end of the myth of objectivity is not merely of academic interest, however, for it has and continues to cause untold suffering and injustice for legions of individuals and entire races that have been classified as "merely average", "subnormal", "inferior", and "uneducatable" based upon a narrow gauge concept of what constitutes intelligence.
The Multiple Intelligences Developmental Assessment Scales (MIDAS) were created in 1987 to provide a practical and valid method of describing a person's MI profile in both descriptive and quantitative terms. It provides an assessment of the individual's perceived intellectual disposition that serves to promote "a dialogue of discovery". The MIDAS is not a one shot quick fix that pretends to represent "truth" but rather an interesting and useful method for facilitating the discovery of truth. The MIDAS is a method of structured inquiry and reflection that allows a student (teacher or parent) to carefully describe his/her abilities, involvements, and enthusiasms.
The MIDAS is not a de-contextualized test of abilities but rather a systematic strategy for describing a person's intellectual and creative life in the real world. After completion, the student is assisted with validating the information via reflection, feedback, and discussion. The resulting "verified MI profile" then serves as a self-discovered focus for curriculum development, instructional approaches, and career planning. Accompanying interpretative materials are uniquely designed to promote the development of Intrapersonal understanding. Additional materials assist teachers, parents, and counselors in understanding, teaching, and guiding the student.
The overall goal for this MIDAS project was to see how an MI assessment could enhance classroom instruction and self directed learning. There were two main objectives. The first objective was to use the MIDAS to increase student's intrapersonal understanding and awareness of the multiple intelligences as elements of learning and performance in everyday life. The second objective was to see if this knowledge by both students and teachers would have a positive impact on the classroom experience. Teachers were asked to do three things. First, both teachers and students completed The MIDAS on themselves. Second, students completed activities in the Stepping Stones interactive workbook. This is a non-traditional workbook that provides guided steps to MIDAS interpretation, verification, fun activities, study strategies, and career opportunities. Middle and high school students also completed The Challenge!, a career exploration workbook that focuses students on using their MI strengths for career planning, course selection, and college decision making. The third element of this project was for teachers to provide feedback to students regarding their profiles and then evaluate their response to these materials and activities. Over 165 students, including "at risk", "academically talented", and "typical" classrooms were involved in this project in order to determine who might most benefit and how. The results? Let's listen to what the teachers have to say.
2. Cindy Baer, High School teacher "Choices Program" for at-risk Sophomores
Cindy Baer is high school home economics teacher who recently designed a new "Choices" program for public school freshmen and sophomore students considered "at risk" due to academic difficulties. This program provides a supportive yet challenging curriculum designed to assist students with finding positive ways for engaging in the academic and social life of the school. All 44 Choices students completed The MIDAS, at the beginning and then at the end of the school year. They also completed The Challenge! and Stepping Stones workbooks.
The MIDAS was a great way to work with these students because it focused on their strengths. They felt good about it and stated that it gave them confidence. I know they are all doing more with it than they realize but because we're still learning the vocabulary we're not labeling it and unpacking our thinking about it as much as we could be doing. We're actually using it without being aware that's what we're doing. Our ultimate goal is to improve academic performance so I think that more self reporting by students and progress tracking will help me to take a stronger leadership role in guiding them in use of their intellectual strengths to do better in school. I will keep their MI profiles in the front of my mind as they work on their individual goals.
The idea of creating a positive comfort zone at the outset of the academic year by accentuating their strengths serves to draw students into dealing more effectively with their scary academic weaknesses. This is so important for our students because there is much negative baggage that they bring with them. They need to see, immediately, that they have strengths, so that they are able to see how they can be more successful. They want to be successful. Having an official MIDAS Profile that describes strengths is really helpful and powerful for them. The whole idea of coming at them with their strengths is very important. It's really key.
Student Profile: Jonathan, the underachiever
The first semester of Jonathan's freshman year was terrible but then he started to turn it around a little during the second semester when he got on the football team. He was then primed for this program. I thought I knew Jonathan well but I learned from his MIDAS profile of this skill in music. It was good to learn this about him. His strength in the bodily-kinesthetic domain made sense because he plays sports but his logical-mathematical was really higher than his grade in math class. We talked about why that was happening and attributed it to all his absences. If you are not there in class, then it's hard to make sense of things.
His visual-spatial score was high and that made him feel good because he could see how it connected to careers he'd like to do. He then could begin to feel good about working. He's going into the Carpentry program. His family life is very difficult. His mother totally disowns him. His father is chemically dependent so he lives with his grandparents. He never gets the right kind of reinforcement for doing well and being where he's supposed to be. His two big questions have always been, "Why does my mom disown me?, and "Why doesn't she love me?" The MIDAS said to him, "You have strengths. You are worthwhile." Throughout this year, Jonathan has been one of our leaders. I think that is because he does have strengths and now he feels confident having seen it down on paper.
It is as though he has turned a corner; The MIDAS Profile was a sign to help him make that turn. It's a reinforcement from the "establishment" that he can do well. In his freshman year, he didn't get much of that. Many of Jonathan's profile scores went up the second time he completed the questionnaire except that his Musical score decreased. Actually, I think that he became more realistic about his abilities. He said that he wanted to verify where his strengths actually were and to find out more about himself. He's into being "strong of character" now. He's going to try to graduate early so he's come a long way from practically flunking out his freshman year to graduating ahead of his class. He's figured out how to use school for what it's really for: to pass through and get what you need to do what you want to in life.
When a class is a challenge for Jonathan, now he looks at it and says to himself, "How can I overcome this challenge?" rather than thinking that the teacher is out to get him or whatever the line of negative thinking is that many kids are into that leads to failure. Not only does he have the confidence that he can take on the challenge but he and the other students now have actual tools that they can use to be successful. Whereas before whether they felt intelligent or not, they sure didn't think they had the necessary skills. Now, they are not only confident they can do it but they have practical ways they can look at school and learning differently.
The MIDAS is a good bridge for these students. It helps them stop the downward spiral as it attempts to connect them with their strengths. Often, when people try to help these types of students, it ends up crushing them as they focus on the negatives only. The message is, "You don't have this skill, you're doing this behavior that's bad. You're bad." The MIDAS can help them walk that bridge and make that connection (between fantasy/reality, success/failure) easier because it says, "OK, we're not all going to be strong in all of our areas but let's look at where we are strong and how we can use that in almost any situation." Yes. That's a good Ah-Ha!
3. Sierra, Sophomore, Artist in Choices Program
"I've never been book-smart but I know I'm not stupid. In general, I now have a better understanding of myself. I didn't think I was big in linguistic, so I hadn't put much effort into it before. When I saw that my score on the linguistic-writing scale was higher and that I might be good at it, then I concentrated more on it and it worked! My English teacher has praised me on my stories. It gave me confidence to try something that I wouldn't."
4. Sally Huston, Assistant Principal, Regina Catholic High School
Sally Huston is the assistant principal at Regina School, a female Catholic high school in Cleveland, Ohio. It has a large minority student population. The teachers have been working to incorporate MI activities into their lesson plans and instruction for approximately four years. Students who first completed The MIDAS during their freshman year are now graduating seniors. They have adopted a comprehensive system to infuse The MIDAS into the structure of their school. The use of MI is not considered to be a "special project" or innovation but rather an essential aspect of their philosophy of educating the "whole" student.
"There have been two overarching goals for our use of The MIDAS. First, there has been a need to help students to be more responsible for their learning. And second, there has been a need to help teachers to improve how they deliver the critical information and material that must be covered. In the first year, we administered The MIDAS to all faculty, as well as to the entire student body. Now, we give all new and incoming students The MIDAS, allowing some students the opportunity to take it a second time.
There are two main goals for the students. First, we want students and faculty to develop skill in the use of the MI language to describe their learning. Second, we want students to learn to understand their learning style so they may take more responsibility for their learning and what works best for them. Also, by knowing their weaknesses, they may supplement with other intelligences or really build up their weak skills. We use the MIDAS with all students in grades 9 through 12 but our focus is different each year. During the Freshman year, we introduce the theory to students so they can become familiar with the language, what it is all about and why it is important. We administer the MIDAS so they can have some objective means to better understand themselves.
The emphasis during the Sophomore year is in developing awareness of the different study skills associated with each intelligence. Students are given help in understanding that a variety of different study strategies may best serve them according to their strengths. We are considering having some students create a "Study Skills Action Plan" that could be followed up on throughout the year by a designated teacher or in conference with parents. In the Junior year, our goal is to begin to have students relate their MI profile to possible career choices. We want to help them to capitalize on their strengths and really focus on matching them to careers where they would be happy because they would be using their strengths. We use the MIDAS in conjunction with other career inventories that can help students choose based on their pattern of strengths and weaknesses.
Our final goal during the Senior year is to actually use The MIDAS to help students select a college that will meet their needs so they can achieve their career objectives or at least have it narrowed down to two or three possible careers. Seniors also put together a portfolio that will illustrate and showcase their best work in terms of projects, assignments, and extracurricular involvements. This is an opportunity to showcase them as a person and display their strengths. The MIDAS Profile is part of their portfolio as a foundation for the intrapersonal section. Our last goal is to have them retake The MIDAS as part of their Junior or Senior year so they can see how they've developed over the course of their high school career. Hopefully, they'll have a more realistic understanding of their strengths and weaknesses.
We've always had self-reflection as a part of our curriculum because we believe it's important to choosing careers and defining who they are as people. Many courses require a lot of journaling. The MIDAS project has helped to reinforce this importance and MI has given us a language so students may describe themselves better. MI gives us a powerful framework for describing and reflecting.
The other big piece of this project is that teachers not only teach about MI but are also actually using MI approaches in their classrooms. I've seen teaching and learning improve. This year we are also trying to expand ways of assessing student knowledge and performance that reflect their learning. They don't learn everything by writing; in fact, students probably learn better by many other activities. We need to find alternative ways to assess this learning that goes beyond tests and writing. This has been a big push for the faculty this year. MI is helping our teachers to teach better so that students get the best they can out of their education and we need to be able to describe and document that progress.
5. Kathy Frazier, Academically Talented Teacher
Kathy was recently named the 1997 Gifted Teacher of the Year by the Ohio Association of Gifted Children. She has been incorporating The MIDAS into her curriculum for several years. This year, she expanded the project to include the students as "consultants" in the critique and development of the Stepping Stones workbook. The MI approach is very valuable for these kids even though they already do well academically. We talk often in this class about metacognition and how we think. This project fit right in. Some of these students are perfectionists and very self critical. It can help some kids who are very strong in one area like language but they have to struggle with math. They're frustrated because the math doesn't come as easy as they expect. It's not that they're not good in math but they don't just get it as easy as, say, the language arts. It helps with that. Some students get really down on themselves when they must struggle in one subject while everything else comes very easily. They think, "I'm really, really, really bad at this". I have to tell that "No, it's just more challenging".
One boy who was working on an art project said that he wanted to give up because "This is hard for me because I'm not strong in my spatial intelligence". I had a talk with him and pointed out that accepting challenges to improve even those areas where we are not strong is an important part of your education. They should select those weaker areas sometimes and not always take the road of what they're best in. What MI theory and the MIDAS profile points out is that we all have strengths as well as weaknesses and that it is okay to have areas where you're not so good. It makes it more acceptable to the self critical student.
The other interesting thing about using The MIDAS was discussing with students that they were selected for inclusion in the Academically Talented program because they have strengths in the logical-mathematical and linguistic-verbal areas. Other kids have strengths too but they may not be in these academic skills areas. The sports program provides an outlet for those strong in the bodily-kinesthetic domain and drama for those socially-interpersonally adept. Especially for middle school students, they sometimes feel labeled or pulled out and they feel stigmatized by it even though they love it. We were able to discuss how this is just another piece that meets the needs for their education.
When you give this type of student reasons and techniques for understanding why they think the way they do- it is very powerful. It's like The MIDAS normalized them so they don't feel too different or abnormal. We talk a lot about "thinking-about-thinking" and being the non-conforming, round peg in the square hole of the classroom. This helps them to be not so frustrated. We talked about how they might approach a teacher about doing alternative projects that better match their learning skills so they're not so frustrated by the standard assignments. A teacher might still say "no" but it will give her something to think about and maybe find ways to help the student who is frustrated in her class. This gives students a tool that they can take the initiative with.
I think that the MI approach is very valuable for teachers. It is important that teachers use this paradigm when creating lessons that reflect more than what's in the textbook and try to connect with the personality of the class. This is very motivating for the students. Teachers can also use the MIDAS Profile to get to know their students. If I had had the MIDAS Profile right at the beginning of the year, it would have been a really useful tool for planning how to help them to grow. I think this is maybe one of the biggest benefits of it."
6. Debbie Walker, Grade Seven Literacy Teacher
Debbie teaches in a typical grade seven literacy program designed to improve students' skills in critical reading, responding, and writing. She has taught in the public schools for over 20 years and is an instructor in the College of Education at Kent State.
"First, I administered The MIDAS, then students created their Brief Learning Summaries. This was useful to do because students were able to actually see and write down their areas of strength and weakness. They then discussed their Profile with their friends and shared it. This was very good for them. It helped their ownership of the material. The Profile really promoted students' awareness of themselves but we have to be careful about the use of scores and words such as High and Low. We want to promote their "within self" comparison of strengths rather than comparison to others. Unconsciously it affected the way they think about themselves. The Profile got them to think more carefully about their strengths even if they didn't agree with everything. It got them thinking and that's a good aspect of this project.
Even though many students are not aware of their MI strengths - and they aren't - the utilization of them can only make a more positive and effective educational environment. For all teachers, it is very important to be aware of these strengths of their students. Whatever you can do in today's educational realm to get them focused is important. You know the family is changing and the student is changing and it is difficult to keep these kids focused. Even with the advanced students it is really hard to keep them focused because a teacher is competing with a whole lot more media out there than you can ever possibly be.
With the MIDAS, you can become more aware of what really turns them on - even though they're not aware of it - you've got an edge on them and you need it more today than ever. That's a great aspect of this project. You can really capture their attention by touching them in a deeply personal way and bringing that out. You've got their attention. It's hard today to be one step ahead of them because they are so street-smart or media-wise. These kids have seen everything via movies and have had information and stimulation overload. But, on the other hand, these kids have been alone a lot more than previous generations not physically or care wise, but emotionally alone.
I also think the creativity of the kids overall has diminished over the past 25 years. Except for the top academic kids, they are not able to come up with ideas of their own. Since the media does all their imaginative thinking for them I've seen how they can just sit back and be passive. It's all done for them and they can just remote control it. They can be passive receivers and merely change the channels when they want to. There isn't the activating force to create for themselves.
I think that making kids aware of their strengths will stimulate more of their creativity. This will push that activating button to take the initiative and they will also have the trust and sense of confidence within a nurturing environment so they can take the risk to express their strength creatively. You need to take risks to be creative. You can't sit back, play it safe, be remote and be creative. They all have some of that creative potential within them but they need that context that provides the tools and safe emotional environment. When they know that you've given them an area where they can't fail, then, they will work. You say, 'Hey, you're strong here. You can't fail. You may not even know it but try it, try it'.
Another great thing it did was to give the students much better awareness of themselves. They are now able to see themselves differently. They now have a language for understanding themselves and a comparison with others. Stepping Stones helped to go into deeper detail and go beyond stereotypes, surface understanding. It gave actual strategies and activities. I think the dialogue is very important. You need to discuss their profiles with them and they absolutely need to discuss them among themselves. They like the sharing. I got more excitement from them when I found ways for them to work together with it.
To sum, the first benefit was that it reaffirmed my approach of using alternative teaching and assessment methods to show me what students know and what they can do. I am also now better at defining my goals for students. I have a better background for each student and it helps me to be more defined when I do alternative assessment. I know now that I'm doing it right for each student. This project has helped me to fine tune my use of projects in the curriculum."
7. Jim Fox, OWA teacher for "at risk" Middle School Students
Jim is both a public school teacher and a musician in a local blues band. His Occupational Work Activities (OWA) class strives to provide grade eight students with real world work experience while enhancing their ability to succeed academically in school classes.
"When teachers identify areas of strength for students on The MIDAS and refer to them as an 'intelligence', this provides a basis for the building up of genuine confidence inspiring experiences. All of my students have some sort of diagnosis such as LD or ADHD. They need to hear about their strengths.
Carlos, one of my students, is very hyperactive and received rock bottom low scores on his profile. I noticed that his highest scale was the bodily-kinesthetic. I asked him if that made sense. He said, "I dunno". I asked what he was always doing when I saw him around town. He said, "skateboarding". I told him that you have to have a lot of skill in using and controlling your body to leap over walls, ride railings and such. Of course, this fits him. As he and I went through this interpretation process exploring the ways in which the intelligences are used in everyday life that's when Carlos got up out of his desk and read the workbook while walking up and down the aisle. He really, really struggles with reading. I realized then that this kid, who often sleeps during most classes, is truly understanding and believing this experience. He knows it's true. He was using his bodily-kinesthetic intelligence to help him to read. This has added a lot to his dignity and self worth. He loves to play the role of "the fool". Less now than at the beginning of the year. This project was very successful for him.
For all of these students I can see it in their eyes. I can sense the joy, dignity and self respect that has emerged as a result of this project. Part of this dignity has probably come from the recognition that their strengths are also important in the world in terms of jobs and possible careers. When we discuss the question: Why not find a job that is compatible with your strengths? This really engages them in a positive way. When you're trying to teach these kids something and they're not catching on they will let you know in a big hurry. The glaze returns. They start talking and their focus disintegrates in front of you. When they are going along with you, you know they are engaged and not doing it just to play the 'academic game'. They've rejected that a long time ago because they knew they couldn't win it. That glaze keeps them from becoming engaged but it also is their defense against losing.
3. The parenting corner by Debra West JonesAre you a parent who views nightly homework assignments as a threat? If so, you might enjoy reading Howard Gardner's timely comments, in the January 25th, 1999 issue of Time magazine. In A Prescription for Peace, this "educational theorist urges parents to treat homework not as a threat" but as an opportunity. Gardner perceives homework assignments "not as an intrusion but rather as a daily occasion where major tasks and opportunities of growing up could be worked through." To read the full text of how this nightly event may become "part of the larger tapestry of success in life", click here
4. Interview between Maureen Coe and Clifford MorrisFor the second time in two months, we are extremely pleased and proud to comment on another recently conducted exclusive email interview, this time with Maurene Coe, a classroom teacher of the gifted and talented students. Maureen became involved with Howard Gardener's MI model and with Branton Shearer's Multiple Intelligences Developmental Assessment Scales (MIDAS) when she believed that her students "needed a new perspective and view of themselves as students and individuals, especially because they were high ability students who were not using their skills." Here then is that interview.
MI-News: When did you first come to know about Howard Gardner and his Multiple Intelligences (MI) model?
Maurene Coe: I was first introduced to Howard Gardner and the Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory in 1990 while teaching in a gifted / talented program and attended a local teacher workshop / seminar designed by Maria Pappas, Supervisor of gifted / talented, in this urban school system.MI-News: What made you decide to use a MI model / MIDAS in your middle school classes?
Maurene Coe: After expressing an interest in the MI theory for a graduate research project while working toward a Master's of Education degree, Professor Wendy Kasten, of Kent State University suggested that I contact Branton Shearer. I arranged to use his MIDAS scales to assess my students (6th grade gifted / talented). I conducted my research during the months of March to May of 1998. I chose this area because my inner city (urban) students lacked confidence in their abilities, displayed no self-esteem and were very difficult to motivate in the Language Arts/English classroom. They were a difficult group to teach and their behavior was of a borderline nature. Many did not bother to do the assignments and seemed to be choosing to fail. I believed they needed a new perspective and view of themselves as students and individuals, especially because they were high ability students who were not using their skills.MI-News: Why do you feel that it is so important to remind teachers, parents, administrators about the Gardner model?
Maurene Coe: Parents, teachers, and administrators traditionally view themselves and their students as intelligent if they are strong in mathematics or in language skills. These are highly valued in our society and in our schools which are extensions of society. This (Math/Language) is a limited view, as individuals are multi-faceted, with strengths and weaknesses in many more areas than these two. Parents must change their thinking/concept of intelligence in order to instill a positive view of the early childhood learning to ready their child for the school experience. Teachers and administrators must continue to build on this foundation and strong view of self, as the child progresses through the school years. Educators must point out positive aspects of the learning rather than what has been done incorrectly.MI-News: Why is it vital to foster the development of more than just the IQ-types of intelligence in others?
Maurene Coe: Success is measured and viewed in more diverse way that the numerical IQ. Ultimately, action/service, and products/creations may be used to determine ones intelligence and success as an adult. Therefore, we should begin to use these as evaluators earlier in a students life. The MI provide a means to assess and evaluate our children.MI-News: Why is it so critical not to label students as intelligent in just one of Howard Gardner's eight (8) intelligences?
Maurene Coe: Students should not be labeled, at any age, with one of the multiple intelligences because it is another limitation we would be placing upon them. The student may not consider using or developing other areas because the adults in his/her life are content to accept only one area with pleasure and pride. The other areas would remain under-developed, under-valued and unused.MI-News: What can the Gardner MI model bring to the current educational arena?
Maurene Coe: The MI model can provide a refreshing breath of fresh new ideas in the educational arena. It could provide a freedom to explore and experience many things rather than the "accepted" and "tried and true" ideas and beliefs of the past. It provides educators a "research based" permission to change techniques and strategies in the classrooms of the world.MI-News: What general conclusions can you draw from your associations with the Gardner MI model thus far?
Maurene Coe: I found that teaching my students the MI theory and activities to accommodate their strengths and weaknesses, there was a change in their personal view of themselves. Some found a new sense of self-acceptance and self-confidence because they no longer found it useful to compare themselves to others. If a classmate was stronger than they, in an area, there was a belief that their own weakness could be improved and changed it they chose to do so. Effort became an honorable suggestion and I courage in some to try new skills and develop their weaknesses. There was a growing sense of self-reliance, as they did not wait for the adults or others to motivate them. There was more choice-making in the classroom with projects of interest to each. They began to value their own decision making abilities. Perhaps for the first time in their lives, there was an ownership of their learning process. Intrinsic motivation was observed as they were less dependent upon the adult/teacher and more willing to direct their own learning. The MI theory provided an objective tool for evaluating themselves and their work. The adult/teacher becomes the facilitator rather than the director of all activities.MI-News: How do you see the state funded public school system implementing the MI model?
Maurene Coe: I believe that schools will stay in a traditional mode but allow an atmosphere in which teachers and administrators would be free to use the theory in ways that best suited the learners.About Maureen Coe:
Maurene Coe, M. Ed.,. is a classroom teacher of gifted/talented students. She is a Literacy Specialist and a National Writing Project Fellow. In 1998, she was a panelist on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, as well as the Teacher of the Year by the Ohio Association for Gifted Children. She was especially interviewed for this second issue of MI-News by Clifford Morris. Correspondence concerning this interview should be addressed to Maurene Coe, M.Ed., 9080 Briarbrook Dr. NE, Warren, OH 44484 USA. She may also be reached by email at: macoe1@aol.com.
5 Existential intelligence by Howard GardnerRecently the magazine Scientific American published a Special Winter 1998 Issue (Volume 9 Number 4) that explored human, animal, machine, and extraterrestrial forms of intelligences. The link to that issue's Table of Contents is http://www.sciam.com/specialissues/1198intelligence/1198quicksummary.html.
Howard Gardner was one of the seven contributors to the opening section on Human Intelligence. In his article A Multiplicity of Intelligences, he comments that he is "currently considering the possibility of a ninth: existential intelligence, which captures the human proclivity to raise and ponder fundamental questions about existence, life, death, finitude. ...Whether existential intelligence gets to join the inner sanctum depends on whether convincing evidence accrues about the neural basis for it."
Here is another of his recent commentaries on the same issue ... an excerpted selection from Are there additional intelligences? The case for Naturalist, Spiritual, and Existential Intelligences. To be published in Education, Information, Transformation (Jeff Kane Ed.). Prentice Hall. The following selection has been reprinted here with permission of the author.
As I reflect on the possibility of a spiritual intelligence, I am struck by the problematic nature of the "content" of spiritual intelligence; its possibly defining affective and phenomenological aspects; its often privileged but unsubstantiated claims with respect to truth value; and the fact that it may partially need to be identified by virtue of its effect on other persons.
In an attempt to deal with this important sphere of life, I find it more comfortable to talk about a potential to engage in thinking about cosmic issues, that might be motivated by pain, by powerful personal or aesthetic experiences, and/or by life in a community that highlights that form of thinking and experience.
. . . It seems more responsible to carve out that area of spirituality which seem closest "in spirit" to the other intelligences and then, in the sympathetic manner applied to naturalist intelligence, ascertain how this candidate intelligence fares. In doing so, I think it best to lay aside the term "spiritual", with its manifest connotations, and to speak instead of an intelligence that explores the nature of existence, in its multifarious guises. Under this new dispensation, an explicit concern with spiritual or religious matters would be one variety–often the most important variety–of an existential intelligence in operation.
. . . In what follows, I focus my remarks on existential intelligence -- a concern with "ultimate" issues. I do so because this strand of the spiritual avoids those features which, according to my definition, are not germane to any consideration of intelligence.
. . . Let me begin by proposing a core ability for a candidate existential intelligence. The core ability is the capacity to locate oneself with respect to the furthest reaches of the cosmos, the infinite no less than the infinitesimal, and the related capacity to locate oneself with respect to the most existential features of the human condition, the significance of life, the meaning of death, the ultimate fate of the physical and the psychological worlds, such profound experiences as love of another human being or total immersion in a work of art. Note that there is no condition here of attaining an ultimate truth, any more than the deployer of musical intelligence must produce or prefer certain kinds of music. Rather, there exists a species-potential or capacity to engage in transcendental concerns that can be aroused and deployed under certain circumstances.
. . . one could go so far as to suggest that one of the major cognizing activities in early man was a grappling with these existential issues, and that much of early art work, dance, myth and drama dealt implicitly or explicitly with cosmic themes and concerns (Burkert 1995).
Only with the advent of formal religions, and with the birth of systematic philosophy, did there come to exist direct linguistic-propositional accounts of the existential realm. (Myths and drama are better thought of as implicit investigations of the existential). Like language, existential capacity is a distinctive trait of man, a domain that separates us from other species. We may link its emergence to a conscious sense of finite space and irreversible time. . .
. . . to go beyond the usual categories of experience, to focus one’s attention anew (perhaps beyond bodily pain altogether), to re-evaluate one's relations to the external and the psychic worlds. . . .
6 Art education and multiple intelligences by Judith FowlerWe are pleased to comment on Judith Fowler's article for two primary reasons. First of all, her comments are, in the main, centered around Howard Gardner's MI model. Also, she introduces her MI notions to a group of future teachers in art education as part of [her] teacher training program ... an excellent arena for allowing MI concepts to trickle down to the wider educational community.
Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligence (MI) is currently being used in the art education classes at Southwest MO State University in Springfield, M O., as part of our teacher training program. The MI theory of multiple learning styles is also used as a main structural point for an Interrelated Arts course designed for elementary education majors in the College of Education. The Arts 306 course (taught by four specialists from art, music, theater, dance) is now a requirement for graduation for all elementary education majors at SMSU. Approximately 80 education majors travel through this class each semester; they not only learn about the Arts, but they are learning through the arts.
Our goals for this class focus on Arts Integration throughout the regular academic curriculum and helping pre-service elementary teachers understand the MI theory enough to use it as a teaching strategy in reaching diverse learners. The textbook that I have been using for the visual art section is Thomas Armstrong's Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom. The students are required to read and write reflective summaries of each chapter. It is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it, especially for the non-arts majors. The chapters are brief and definitely to the point. Students greatly appreciate the information found in the book and it seems to inspire them to find additional information on the MI theory.
I will be making two presentations at the NAEA (National Art Education Association) conference in Washington about the development of this Interrelated Arts course, integrating the course objectives into the academic curriculum, and the use of the MI theory in teaching strategy for diverse learners.
About the author: Judith Fowler is an Assistant Professor of Art at Southwest MO State University, Springfield, M.O.
7. Mismeasuring human intelligences by Clifford MorrisReview of
The mismeasure of man: Revised and ExpandedEighteen years ago, Stephen Jay Gould wrote The Mismeasure of Man, written, in the main, to argue against serious social and political suggestions earlier scribed by Arthur R. Jensen in his 1969 famous article How much can we boost IQ and scholastic achievement? Likewise, in 1996, Gould produced a slightly revised version of the same book as a response to Richard L. Herrnstein and Charles Murray's 1994 book The bell curve: Intelligence and class structure in American life. Here then is my review of that 1996 book.
by Stephen Jay Gould
© 1996, 1981
New York: W. W. NortonIn Thoughts at Age Fifteen, the sub-title to his new introduction to the Revised and Expanded Edition of The Mismeasure of Man, Stephen Jay Gould (1996) calls himself a "working scientist by trade" (p. 24), then "a statistically minded paleontologist" (p. 25), and finally "an evolutionary biologist by training" (p. 41). The author of thirteen books, Mr. Gould currently teaches geology, the history of science and biology at Harvard University. Gould's strong interest in intelligence initially arose from his desire to bring science and its discoveries to the attention of the non-scientist.
In considering the mainstream arguments made about "the theory of a measurable, genetically fixed, and unitary intelligence", Gould (1996, p. 21) became concerned about how the social sciences, especially psychology, were misused in the development of the concept of intelligence, in particular, the whole nature of human intelligence testing itself. Gould has well responded to such misuses with two timely publications. In 1981, he wrote The Mismeasure of Man mainly to argue against the social and political results of those misapplications, more specifically, in response to Arthur R. Jensen's (1969) article titled How much can we boost IQ and scholastic achievement?. Likewise, in 1996, Gould produced the revised version of The Mismeasure of Man as a response to Richard L. Herrnstein and Charles Murray's (1994) book The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life.
Throughout the book's 424 pages, Gould "argues that early researchers (perhaps unconsciously) biased their measurements of intelligence based on race and points to shortcomings of those trying to substantiate "g" (Yam, 1998, p. 7). Gould uses his expanded and somewhat revised 1996 version to reiterate, once again, two central themes. First and simply stated for here, he argues that the psychological construct "intelligence" has not been shown to be any physical object or real thing (see pp. 27, 48, 56, 185, 189). Instead, he suggests that intelligence is one's ability to face problems in an unprogrammed or creative manner. Throughout, he argue that intelligence is what he calls "the ground of culture," not a biological entity. He perceives intelligence as the product of cultural evolution ... distinct from biological evolution.
However, Gould feels that because of the efforts of a group of American psychologists during the war years, the concept of intelligence has been endowed, as just outlined, to the position of a real object. To cite him precisely, Gould says that now intelligence has been become "reified, or made real". Restated more simply, Gould "sees" reification as a real thing, as something each person possesses that is, unitary, genetically fixed, measurable and constant (for a more detailed account of Gould's basic premises, see Carroll, 1985, especially pp. 123-125).
Gould's second major point is that using an abstract concept such as intelligence to quantify and rank people's worth is an exceedingly dangerous enterprise. He points out that this way of ranking is a fallacy because the task of ranking people implies quantification, or measurement resulting in one single number for each person -- the intelligence quotient (IQ) score. Further, "Gould shows how this sort of ranking can lead (and, as he shows clearly, has led) to the erroneous conclusion that oppressed and disadvantaged groups -- races, classes, sexes -- are found to be innately inferior and deserving of their reduced status, with all of this based on the measurement of something that exists only as an abstract concept at best" (Miller, 1993, p. 8).
In all of the above, Gould's viewpoint on human intelligence testing is quite similar to that of the Harvard cognitivist Howard Gardner (1998). Like Gould, Gardner also believes that mainstream intelligence tests cannot use single neat numeral to measure our "distinctly different kinds of minds" (Gardner, 1999, p. 45; see also Yam, 1998, p. 7). To sum up this brief review, Gould considers the use of psychological testing to rank ones' worth on the basis of the single IQ or general "g" score the major misuse of science in this century.
References
Carroll, John, B. (1995). Reflections on Stephen Jay Gould's 'The Mismeasure of Man' (1981): A retrospective review. Intelligence, 21, 121-134.
Gardner, Howard (1998, Winter). A multiplicity of intelligences. [Special Issue]. Scientific American, 9(4), 18-23.
Gardner, Howard (1999, January 25). A prescription for peace. Time, 153(3), pp. 44-45.
Gould, Stephen Jay (1996). The mismeasure of man: Revised and expanded. New York: W. W. Norton. (Original work published 1981)
Herrnstein, Richard. J, & Murray, Charles (1994). The bell curve: Intelligence and class structure in American life. New York: Free Press.
Jensen, Arthur R. (1969). How much can we boost IQ and scholastic achievement? Harvard Educational Review, 39(1), 1-123.
Miller, Lynda (1993). What we call smart: A new narrative for intelligence and learning. San Diego, California: Singular Publishing Group.
Yam, Philip (1998, Winter). Intelligence considered, [Special Issue]. Scientific American, 9(4), 6-11.
8 For your intelligences only by Clifford MorrisThanks to MaryAnne Ingles (MaryAnne_Ingles@umit.maine.edu) for informing us that the University of Toronto is presently offering an on-line workshop on the theory of MI. To acquire additional details about this course, go to
http://snow.utoronto.ca/courses.html#mi.To see how Kinder Minds, a progressive kindergarten program with a child-centered program located in Metro Manila, Philippines, is currently using Multiple Intelligences theory, go to
http://www.compass.com.ph/~pycor/kinder/main.htmTo see how Thomas Armstrong uses MI, go to
http://www.ThomasArmstrong.com/To see how Patricia Bolanos uses MI with her school staff, go to
http://www.ips.k12.in.us/mskey/To see how Thomas Hoerr uses MI in his New City School, go to
http://www.NewCitySchool.org/To see how Ellen Weber uses MI at the college and university level, go to
http://www.houghton.edu/depts/education/ellen.html
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home | updated by Clifford Morris on 9.13.01