Becoming a Multiple Intelligences School

FROM THE FOREWORD BY HOWARD GARDNER

IN THIS INVALUABLE BOOK, TOM HOERR RELATES A DECADE’Sworth of MI experiences at St. Louis’s New City School. We learn about thestaff’s initial exposure to MI theory, the many activities (some more successfulthan others) that were undertaken by faculty and staff in teaching, curriculum,adult development, and assessment; the challenges that the leader faces inattempting to bring about significant and lasting change. Especially compellingare the continuing efforts to develop the personal intelligences during a periodwhen issues of diversity, multiculturalism, and standards loom so large.

Hoerr underscores the centrality of collegiality, the problems posed by transientstudents and faculty, the complementary role played by public exhibitions andstandardized test scores, the role of friends in determining the activities (andintelligences) favored by children, the delicate line between support and chal-lenge that the leader must walk, the tension between excellence and perfection.I value the concrete examples, as well as the ties to important conceptual work,such as that undertaken by Roland Barth on collegiality, Peter Salovey on emo-tional intelligence, and Peter Senge on the learning organization.

Achieving excellence has always been a process. Hoerr makes it abundantly clearthat the effort to use MI ideas effectively must remain on the agenda. Still, I cantestify that, over a 10-year period, clear, palpable, impressive progress can bemade. We can improve schools significantly, but only if we take the long viewand do not settle for patchwork fixes.

THOMAS R. HOERR is the director of the New City School in St. Louis,Missouri. Under Hoerr’s leadership, the faculty began implementing the theoryof multiple intelligences in 1988.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataHoerr, Thomas R., 1945-

Becoming a multiple intelligences school / Thomas R. Hoerr.p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.“ASCD stock no. 100006.”

ISBN 0-87120-365-01. Multiple intelligences—Case studies. 2. Cognitive styles in

children—Case studies. 3. New City School (Saint Louis, Mo.)4. Curriculum planning—Case studies. I. Title.

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06 05 04 03 02 01 00 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

B E C O M I N G

A M U LT I P L E I N T E L L I G E N C E S

S C H O O L

Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

1. The Theory of Multiple Intelligences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2. The New City School Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

3. Collegiality: Learning and Growing Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

4. Assessing and Reporting Student Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

5. Creative Routes to MI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

6. The Importance of the Personal Intelligences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

7. The Phases of MI Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

8. Supporting Teacher Growth with Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

9. What’s Next? The Future of MI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Afterword: Excellence versus Perfection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Appendix A: MI Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Appendix B: Sample Progress Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Appendix C: Sample Worksheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Appendix D: Spring Parent Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

F O R E W O R D

We would all love to remake ourselves, or ourworlds, over a long weekend. Perhaps that is whythere is a perennial market for self-improvementbooks about weight and appearance and a continu-ous demand for three-day seminars that promisegreater creativity, a richer spiritual life, or the trans-formation of schools.

In life, however, miracles are few. If one seeksfundamental changes, one is better off heedingWinston Churchill who, during the battle of Britain,promised his countrymen nothing but “blood, toil,tears, and sweat.” Educational systems that aretruly impressive, such as the preschools of ReggioEmilia, Italy, or the selective liberal arts colleges ofNew England, achieve their status over decades;moreover, they devote enormous energy and re-sources simply to maintaining their distinctiveedge.

Flavor-of-the-month slogans or manipulationshave little to do with genuine educational change. Iinclude in this characterization the set of educa-tional ideas with which I am most closely associ-ated—the theory of multiple intelligences (MItheory). While appealing on the surface to manyeducators, the application of MI theory to schools isa process that does not permit quick fixes. The effortto take the differences among individuals seriously,and to recast curriculum, instruction, and assess-ment in light of those differences, requires

significant teamwork over several years. One learnsthe most from schools that have explored the educa-tional implications of MI theory for more than adecade, such as the Key Learning Community in In-dianapolis.

In this invaluable book, Tom Hoerr relates adecade’s worth of MI experiences at St. Louis’s NewCity School. We learn about the staff’s initial expo-sure to MI theory; the many activities (some moresuccessful than others) that were undertaken by fac-ulty and staff in teaching, curriculum, adult devel-opment, and assessment; and the challenges thatthe leader faces in attempting to bring about signifi-cant and lasting change. Especially compelling arethe continuing efforts to develop the personal intel-ligences during a period when issues of diversity,multiculturalism, and standards loom so large.

I learned much from this book. Hoerr underscoresthe centrality of collegiality, the problems posed bytransient students and faculty, the complementaryrole played by public exhibitions and standardizedtest scores, the role of friends in determining the ac-tivities (and intelligences) favored by children, thedelicate line between support and challenge that theleader must walk, the tension between excellenceand perfection. I value the concrete examples, aswell as the ties to important conceptual work, suchas that undertaken by Roland Barth on collegiality,

v

Peter Salovey on emotional intelligence, and PeterSenge on the learning organization.

Achieving excellence has always been a pro-cess. Hoerr makes it abundantly clear that the effortto use MI ideas effectively must remain on theagenda. Still, I can testify that, over a 10-year period,clear, palpable, impressive progress can be made.We can improve schools significantly, but only if wetake the long view and do not settle for patchwork

fixes. Reading about the struggles and victories ofthe New City School family, I was reminded of an-other memorable remark of Winston Churchill’s:“This is not the end. It is not even the beginning ofthe end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

HOWARD GARDNER

CAMBRIDGE, MA

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B E C O M I N G A M U LT I P L E I N T E L L I G E N C E S S C H O O L

P R E F A C E

The New City School is an independent school inthe city of St. Louis, Missouri, serving 360 studentsfrom three years old through the 6th grade. Theschoolhouse is turn-of-the-century, originally builtas an all-girls day school, elementary through highschool. We make good use of our space, withwooden lofts built in most classrooms to take ad-vantage of the high ceilings. Giant concrete sculp-tures sit on our lawns—a huge frog, turtle, andserpents—telling everyone who passes by that thisis not a typical school! An eight-foot-tall, multi-headed papier-mâché dragon greets everyone justinside the front door, each head corresponding toone of the original multiple intelligences. For exam-ple, one head wears giant reading glasses while an-other has a coach’s whistle. Once inside thebuilding, visitors walk through halls adorned withstudents’ work reflecting their use all of the intelli-gences.

New City School opened its doors in 1969, cre-ated by neighbors who wanted a school to be an an-chor and stem the disinvestment of property values.In some respects, New City has succeeded in thismission and is credited by many as a key factor inthe revitalization of St. Louis’s central west end. YetSt. Louis still struggles with many of the poverty is-sues facing all major cities. Five hundred yards di-rectly south of New City are renovated mansionsbuilt in the early 1900s, worth hundreds of

thousands of dollars; 500 yards to the north areboarded up apartment buildings and vacant lots.

Beginning with 100 children, New City hasgrown to be the largest independent elementaryschool in St. Louis. The school was founded on thepremise that children learn best when they learnwith those who are both similar to and differentfrom themselves, and this thrust for diversity con-tinues today. During the 1999–2000 school year, 33percent of our students are minorities (mostly Afri-can American); 26.7 percent of our student body,students of all races, receive need-based financialaid; and students are enrolled from 50 zip codes,representing nearly all of the St. Louis metropolitanarea, although a majority of students live in the cityof St. Louis. Although an independent school, NewCity’s enrollment policies are quite inclusive. Spacepermitting, the overwhelming majority of the stu-dents who apply to New City are admitted. We donot seek to enroll the “best and brightest.”

Because we are an independent school, wehave some advantages not often available to publicschools. Our class sizes average 17:1 in grades 1–6and parents choose us based on our mission. Al-though we are inclusive in our admissions policies,we do not get a cross-section of students; familieschoose us because they value education and that isan incredible advantage.

We accept the challenges of being an independ-

vii

ent school, too. Each year parents decide whetherwe are truly worth thousands of dollars of tuitionand “vote with their feet” about whether they wishto remain at New City. If we are not meeting theirchildren’s needs they will not stay. Parental expecta-tions are increased; parents who pay tuition feel thatthey have the right to expect more from a school.

Being an independent school means that thereis additional pressure placed on our students. Our

6th graders must take competitive tests and go tovarious secondary schools for personal interviewsto determine whether they will be accepted. Wehelp our students view the application andinterview process as a learning experience, one thatwill begin to prepare them for the manyapplications they will submit throughout theirlifetime, but there is no denying the stress for ourstudents and their parents.

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A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

I am indebted to many people. First, I cannot beginto express the gratitude I feel toward Howard Gard-ner. I owe Howard a great deal, not just for his con-ception of the theory of multiple intelligences, butfor his kindness and support.

I owe much to the entire New City School com-munity. Our faculty, as you will gather from readingthis book, is exceptional. They are caring, talented,creative, and dedicated. I feel fortunate to workwith teachers and administrators who put kids firstin everything that they do. Their willingness tosearch for a better way to help all of our studentslearn is inspiring. (Plus, they tolerantly and pa-tiently roll their eyes at my bad jokes.) Our studentsand families are also special. They trust us and carefor us in many ways. Education is a partnership andour families walk with us in our efforts to discovernew ways to help students learn. The members ofthe New City Board of Directors deserve special rec-ognition for their commitment to excellence. Yearsago they expressed their appreciation of and confi-dence in me by granting me some time away fromschool, a minisabbatical, to read, reflect, and think

about the future. I read Frames of Mind (Gardner,1983) and life has never been the same for any of us!

On a personal level, much of who I am, thegood anyway, is due to the support of my wife,Karleen. She is a woman of many strengths and Ihave gained much from her. My mother, RitaCurtis, has been unwavering in her confidence inme. Her love and support have made all the differ-ence. I owe much to Pauline Wolff, my former secre-tary who helped me find a degree of organizationamidst the detritus on my desk and in my head.And both John O’Neil and Darcie Russell, my edi-tors at ASCD, warrant much appreciation for theirskill and support in helping me turn ideas into read-able sentences.

Finally, although she no longer walks this earth,I would be remiss if I did not take a moment toacknowledge my 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Mayfield.At Monroe School, in south St. Louis, HelenMayfield was everything that a good teachershould be. She believed in me and she pushed me.Whatever scholastic success I have realized startedwith her. I think of her often.

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I N T R O D U C T I O N

Great works are performed not by strengths,but by perseverence.

—Samuel Johnson

All of us want our students to succeed. We chose acareer in education and we remain educators inlarge part because of the satisfaction we derive frommaking a difference in the life of a youngster. Thisfundamental motivation to help all students learnhas moved teachers and principals to explore multi-ple intelligences (MI) theory as a tool that makes itpossible for more kids to succeed. Too many class-rooms are characterized by a pecking order of scho-lastic winners and losers. MI theory teaches us thatall kids are smart, but they are smart in differentways. All children have potential. Teachers andprincipals are finding that using MI not only in-creases the opportunities for students to learn, butalso gives adults more avenues and ways to growprofessionally and personally.

Because MI is neither a curriculum nor a peda-gogy, the ways that it can be used in classrooms andschools are as unlimited as the creativity and ener-gies of educators working together. And educatorsworking as colleagues is the key; the chance that MIwill flourish in a school increases as teachers worktogether and learn with and from one another. In-deed, entire schools are embracing MI as their focus.Whether an existing school adopts MI as a focus or anew school frames its program around MI from the

beginning, the merit of using MI schoolwide isclear: It has the potential to help children learn andit can create a setting in which adults learn, too.

When a school becomes a true MI school, everyaspect of its program and curriculum changes. Theapproaches vary enormously, but several aspects ofschool change are associated with all successful MIimplementations. First, using MI means movingfrom working to match and fit students to the exist-ing curriculum to creating new curriculums to meetstudents’ strengths. Using MI also means changingwhat is assessed and how it is assessed. Paper andpencil tests have their place, to be sure; it is impor-tant that students learn how to read, write, andcompute. That said, there are many other ways forstudents to learn and demonstrate what they un-derstand by using the nonscholastic intelligences.When schools incorporate MI, alternative assess-ment techniques, including portfolios, exhibitions,and presentations, become integral tools for record-ing and understanding student progress. Finally, inan MI school, relationships with students’ parentschange: Educators have a greater responsibility toeducate their students’ parents, and parents are of-fered more ways to connect to the school.

This is more than a book about how MI can beused in classrooms. It is also a book about leader-ship. It is a book written for educational leaders ofall kinds: principals, assistant principals,

x

curriculum supervisors, central office administra-tors, aspiring administrators, and university facultymembers whose focus is curriculum, instruction, oradministration. This book is also written for teacherleaders, those who by dint of their skills, interests,and reputation are looked to by their peers for lead-ership and counsel, whether or not they have an ad-ministrative title.

The New City School faculty has been implement-ing MI theory since 1988. I believe that we were thesecond school in the country to do so (preceded bythe Key School in Indianapolis). My thoughts stem,certainly, from those years of experience. The NewCity School faculty—an incredible group of superbteachers from whom I have learned much—has ex-perienced the excitement and satisfaction thatcomes from breaking new ground and seeing kidsgrow as a result of our efforts. We have also, how-ever, encountered the frustrations that come fromfailed attempts and from trying to do too much toosoon. In this book, I recount both the highs and lowsof our implementation in a way that, I hope, allowsyou to learn from our successes and our mistakes.

We are all products of our experiences, and thisbook reflects what I have learned in a range of set-tings. Before arriving at New City School in 1981, Iwas the principal of a public elementary school,working with disadvantaged minority youth. Beforethat, I taught in diverse environments, including amiddle-class suburban public school and an inner-city public school located amidst public housing.

Perception is reality; we act on the world thatwe see. My experiences have caused me to bringcertain beliefs to the table, to look at the worldthrough a particular lens. Setting out these biases (atleast those of which I am aware) may be helpful tothe reader.

• I believe that all children can learn. Although thiscomment is so pervasive that it sounds trite, it isonly trite because we often say it, hear it, read it, and

write it without reflecting upon or changing our be-havior. The reality is that not all children learn. MItheory offers a way to reach those students whohave fallen between the cracks, some whose talentsdo not lie in reading and writing.

• I believe that a school is no better than the qualityof its faculty. Yes, curriculum is important, as is a safeand comfortable physical setting. But these condi-tions alone do not mean that students will learn. Astrong faculty, one that respects and addresses stu-dents’ needs, can help students grow and learn.Good teachers make a difference in children’s lives.

• I believe that the role of the principal is to helpeveryone in the building learn. It is easy for schooladministrators to get weighed down in paperworkand student behavior problems. And unfortunately,the ethos of a building may place a premium onstudent control and teachers working in isolation.Good principals, though, transcend these condi-tions. They ask hard questions and they listen; theyprovide support and they listen; they challenge andthey listen. They create an environment in whicheveryone—students, staff, and parents—learns.

The nine chapters in this book cover all aspectsof implementing MI theory. Chapter 1 provides anoverview of MI theory, defining the intelligencesand contrasting MI to traditional notions of intel-lect. Chapter 2 describes New City School and fol-lows our path to MI. Roland Barth’s model ofcollegiality is covered in Chapter 3; I offer specificsuggestions for developing collegiality within aschool. Assessment is the focus of Chapter 4, and avariety of alternative techniques are offered. School-wide strategies for implementing MI and ways tolook creatively at the school day and school year arethe focus of Chapter 5. Much attention is being paidto the concept of emotional intelligence these days,and I address this concept in Chapter 6, which fo-cuses on the personal intelligences.

In the same way that children pass through de-velopmental phases, organizations travel through

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I N T R O D U C T I O N

fairly predictable stages as they grow and learn.Chapter 7 addresses the changes that take place asMI (and to a degree, any major educational pro-gram) is being implemented. Chapter 8 looks atleading a faculty and offers steps that can be takento help teachers grow. Although this book is writtenwith an MI focus, I believe that most, if not all, of theleadership and management issues apply to schoolsand organizations everywhere. Finally, Chapter 9speculates on the future of MI, how it might be im-plemented over the next decade.

An old saying goes “To learn something, wemust first teach it.” Like most classroom teachers, Ihave experienced this phenomenon firsthand insituations ranging from teaching two-digit division

to deciding how a board of directors should be or-ganized. Now, having finished this book, I wouldmodify the saying a bit: “To know something, wemust first write about it.”

Writing this book has been enormouslyfulfilling for me. It has forced me to reflect on what Ihave done, what I should have done, and what Ishould be doing differently. I reflected before, ofcourse, but not at the level of detail and intensitythat were required in writing this book. Readingwhat I have written makes me proud of my effortsand humble about my mistakes. I hope that readingabout my experiences helps you to reflect on yourefforts and seek new ways to help students learn.

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T H E T H E O R Y

O F M U LT I P L E

I N T E L L I G E N C E S

What began as a theory of intelligence, intended forpsychologists, has become a tool that educatorsaround the world seize with enthusiasm. The the-ory of multiple intelligences (MI) brings a prag-matic approach to how we define intelligence andallows us to use our students’ strengths to helpthem learn. Students who read and write well arestill smart, but they are joined by other studentswho have different talents. Through MI, schoolsand classrooms become settings in which a varietyof skills and abilities can be used to learn and solveproblems. Being smart is no longer determined by ascore on a test; being smart is determined by howwell students learn in a variety of ways.

The History of the IntelligenceQuotient (I.Q.)We, as humans, have a penchant for measuringthings. Perhaps the beginning of the modern searchfor ways to measure intelligence was the creation ofthe I.Q. test. In Paris in the early 1900s, Alfred Binetwas asked to develop an instrument that wouldidentify youngsters who were mentally deficientand in need of extra help. Thus, the first standard-ized intelligence test was born. Later, other re-searchers developed the technique of administeringa series of questions to children and recordingwhich items could be answered correctly by almostall youngsters, which by most, which by few, and

which by none. The information was used to createa test that would discern students’ levels of knowl-edge, designed so that a score of 100 would indicatean average intelligence. The idea that intelligencecould be objectively measured and reported by asingle score took hold. Nearly a century later myr-iad standardized tests are available for a variety ofpurposes, and they all are based on Binet’s premisethat a single test can yield a score that captures all ofan individual’s abilities and potential.

Of course, we know this is nonsense. Howcould all of an individual’s abilities and potentialpossibly be captured by a single test, much less asingle score? Yet many important educational deci-sions, including whether a student is accepted into aprogram or a school, are heavily influenced by asingle test or a single score. Despite the fact that themisuse of tests and test scores flies in the face ofcommon sense, many people continue to embracethe I.Q. model, assuming that there is one measurethat can assess an individual’s intelligence.

Misuse and Overuse of I.Q. and OtherStandardized Tests

Although standardized tests of various sorts havetheir roles and can be used with validity in many in-stances, they are often misused and overused. Mis-use and overuse happen because standardized testsare easy to use, cheap, and accepted (indeed, are of-ten expected) by the public.

1

1

Group achievement and I.Q. tests are remarka-bly inexpensive. Students fill in circles to indicatethe response they choose and their answer sheetsare shipped away for machine scoring. These rela-tively inexpensive standardized tests are attractivebecause most schools operate on a tight budget andthe public is familiar with standardized testing. Vir-tually every parent has taken standardized tests, sothey expect their children to do the same.

The strength of standardized tests is that theyare reliable, yielding the same score over time and,thus, are comparable even though administered indifferent settings and at different times. Their weak-ness is that they may or may not be valid; what theyactually measure may be quite different than whatthey purport to assess. Standardized tests that askstudents to use a multiple-choice format to selectthe best written passage from four samples, for ex-ample, may identify a particular skill, but it is notthe skill of writing, which can be determined onlyby asking students to write. Judging students’ writ-ing ability by having them identify good writingmay be reliable, but it is certainly not valid.

The biggest problem with standardized testsand the I.Q. model, however, is that they measureintelligence narrowly, based on how well the stu-dent reads and computes. Only a few of a students’abilities, the “scholastic” intelligences, chiefly thelinguistic and logical mathematical, are assessed.Although unfortunate, this tendency to assess onlythe linguistic and logical-mathematical intelli-gences is not surprising because for decades schoolshave focused, sometimes almost exclusively, on thescholastic intelligences. The tendency to focus onscholastic intelligences is compounded by the factthat it is relatively easy to design reliable (if not al-ways valid) paper and pencil tests for assessingreading, writing, and computation. Designing reli-able and valid tests to assess students’ musical or ar-tistic talents, for example, is much more difficultand surely more expensive.

Because standardized tests are so focused onthe scholastic intelligences, they can reasonably pre-dict future success in school. Real-world success,however, encompasses much more than skill in thelinguistic and logical-mathematical arenas. There-fore, that same focus means standardized tests offerlittle useful predictive information about success inlife. For too long we have hidden behind “objec-tive” tests, those yielding consistent and reliable re-sults, disregarding the fact that they measure only apiece of the picture. And because we focus our ener-gies on those things we measure, we wind up giv-ing almost all of our attention to the scholasticintelligences, those that are easily measuredthrough multiple-choice tests.

The Multiple Intelligences (MI)ModelHoward Gardner was working at the Boston Veter-ans Administration Medical Center when he be-came aware that brain-damaged patients lostdifferent abilities depending upon the location ofthe injury in the brain. For example, damage to thefrontal lobe results in difficulty producing speechthat is grammatical, although it does not affect theability to understand what has been said. In Framesof Mind Gardner says, “Other, even more specificlinguistic disorders turn out to be linked to particu-lar regions in the brain: these include selective diffi-culties in repetition, naming, reading, and writing”(1983, p. 51). He notes that some individuals whohave experienced significant aphasia (a loss of lan-guage) from brain damage can maintain their musi-cal abilities while, conversely, others becomedisabled musically yet keep basic language skills (p.118). To Gardner, these differing losses suggest abiological basis for specialized intelligences. Work-ing from the definition that intelligence is the ability tosolve a problem or create a product that is valued in a cul-ture, Gardner developed a set of criteria to deter-mine what set of skills make up an intelligence.

2


These criteria are focused on solving problems andcreating products; they are based on biologicalfoundations and psychological aspects of intelli-gence. He suggests that an ability can be consideredan intelligence if it can meet a few (not necessarilyall) of these criteria:

• It has the potential to be isolated by braindamage. For example, the location of damage to thebrain, such as might occur from a stroke, may resultin a person losing certain linguistic abilities.

• It is demonstrated by the existence of idiot sa-vants, prodigies, and other exceptional individualswho demonstrate a high level of skill in one area.For example, by observing people who demon-strate extraordinary ability in a single intelligence,we can watch intelligences in relative isolation.

• It has an identifiable core operation or set ofoperations. Musical intelligence consists of sensitiv-ity to melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, and musi-cal structure. Linguistic intelligence consists ofsensitivity to structure and syntax, vocabulary,rhythm and cadence, and literary tools (e.g., allit-eration).

• It has a distinctive developmental history,along with a definable set of expert “end-state” per-formances. Expert athletes, poets, and salespersonsdemonstrate these performance characteristics.

• It has an evolutionary history or evolutionaryplausibility. Animals exhibit forms of spatial intelli-gence; birds have musical intelligence.

• It has support from experimental psychologi-cal tasks. Tests can indicate how intelligences arediscrete or interrelated.

• It has support from psychometric findings.For example, batteries of tests can reveal which in-telligences reflect the same underlying factors.

• It has susceptibility to encoding in a symbolsystem. Codes such as language, maps, numbers,and facial expressions capture components of thevarious intelligences.

The definition of intelligence that is supportedby these criteria—the ability to solve a problem or createa product that is valued in a society—is very differentfrom the definition of intelligence implicit in stan-dardized I.Q. and aptitude tests (one based on ver-bal fluency, wide vocabulary, and computationalskills). While the traditional definition of intelli-gence focuses on inert knowledge and skills that areespecially valuable in school, Gardner’s definitionis far wider. “Creating a product” could encompasstransforming a blank canvas into a picture thatevokes emotion, or it might mean forming andleading a productive team from a group thatcouldn’t agree on anything. The definition of “solv-ing a problem or creating a product” is a pragmaticone, focusing on using an ability in a real-life situa-tion. Applying his criteria resulted in Gardner as-serting that there are more intelligences than thoserelied upon in I.Q. tests and typically valued inschool.

Of course, Gardner is not the first person tosuggest that there is more than one intelligence.Decades ago, J. P. Guilford created the Structure ofIntellect, a model that identified more than 90 differ-ent intellectual capacities, and Robert Sternberg hasdeveloped the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence,which contains three forms of intelligence. Recently,Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence and RobertColes’s Moral Intelligence have received national at-tention. All of these theories share the belief that in-telligence is a multifaceted, complex capacity.Gardner’s model is distinguished from the othertheories by its breadth, its scientific basis, and itseducational implications. Gardner’s multiple intel-ligences are shown in Figure 1.1.*

3

T H E T H E O RY O F M U LT I P L E I N T E L L I G E N C E S

*The naturalist intelligence was not identified in Frames ofMind, but was proposed in the 1990s by Gardner. Gardner hasspeculated that an existential intelligence might be identified as aninth intelligence.

4


FIGURE 1.1

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

Intelligence Definition

People who exhibit this

intelligence

linguistic sensitivity to the meaning

and order of words

Winston Churchill,

Doris Kearns Goodwin,

Barbara Jordan

logical-mathematical the ability to handle chains of

reasoning and to recognize pat-

terns and order

Bill Gates,

Stephen Hawking,

Benjamin Banneker

musical sensitivity to pitch, melody,

rhythm and tone

Ray Charles,

Harry Connick Jr.,

Carly Simon

bodily-kinesthetic the ability to use the body skill-

fully and handle objects adroitly

Mia Hamm,

Michael Jordan,

Michelle Kwan

spatial the ability to perceive the world

accurately and to recreate or

transform aspects of that world

Mary Engelbreit,

Maya Lin,

Frank Lloyd Wright

naturalist the ability to recognize and clas-

sify the numerous species, the

flora and fauna, of an environ-

ment

Charles Darwin,

Jane Goodall,

George Meriwether Lewis

interpersonal the ability to understand people

and relationships

Colin Powell,

Martin Luther King Jr.,

Deborah Tannen

intrapersonal access to one’s emotional life as

a means to understand oneself

and others

Anne Frank,

Bill Moyers,

Eleanor Roosevelt

MI in SchoolsGardner’s theory of multiple intelligences resonatesso strongly for many educators because it offers amodel for acting on what we believe: all children havestrengths. Many of us were taught to focus on thecurriculum as we planned and taught, to concen-trate on helping students respond to the curricu-lum; MI, however, is a student-centered model inwhich the curriculum is often modified to fit thestudents. Rather than relying upon a linguistic filterand requiring students to write to show their graspof skills and information, teachers using MI can al-low students to use their strengths to demonstratewhat they have learned. Students might use theirspatial intelligence in drawing, their musical intelli-gence in composing a song or identifying a melody,or their bodily-kinesthetic intelligence in acting outan interaction or creating a diorama. Figure 1.2 sug-gests some possible ways that teachers and studentscan incorporate the intelligences in teaching andlearning.

There is no one, right way to implement MI.That there is no single path to implementation isone of the model’s attractions, but also one of its li-abilities. The way MI is used at New City School, forexample, is different from the way it is used at theKey School in Indianapolis, Indiana, which is differ-ent from the way it is brought to life at the FullerSchool in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The beauty ofthis is that each teacher or, preferably, each group ofteachers, can use MI in a way that reflects theirschool’s unique context and culture. At the NewCity School, for example, we believe that the per-sonal intelligences are the most important; at theKey School, however, all intelligences are valuedequally. Latitude in implementation respects theprofessionalism of teachers and trusts their judg-ment to know how best to meet their students’needs.

Latitude also means, however, that it is possibleto misapply MI. Gardner has written with concernabout teachers who have music playing in the back-ground and believe that they are addressing themusical intelligence, or teachers who allow stu-dents to crawl on the floor during math, thinkingthat they are addressing the bodily-kinesthetic intel-ligence. MI can be a powerful tool for reaching stu-dents, but using it effectively requires teachers todevote the time and energy to understand MI the-ory and then decide how it can be used in curricu-lum development, instruction, and assessment.

At New City School, the MI model has causedus to look differently at curriculum, instruction, andassessment; how we work with parents; and howwe work with each other. Agood beginning is to ex-plore to what degree you are bringing the differentintelligences to life in your classroom. Assess yourbaseline using the MI Inventory in Appendix A.Share the inventory with colleagues and discussyour results.

✦ ✦ ✦

For Faculty Discussion1. Which intelligences might have been more valu-able in our culture 100 years ago? Which intelli-gences would have likely been most prized wherewe live 500 years ago?2. Looking ahead, how might technology makesome of the intelligences more or less important orobsolete?3. Can we identify former students who were notsuccessful in school but have been successful in life?Can we explain what accounts for this?4. Why might it be difficult to incorporate many ofthe intelligences into curriculum and instruction?

5


6


FIGURE 1.2

Identifying and Encouraging the Use of Multiple Intelligences in Schools

Intelligence

Students who like to do these activities

are often exhibiting their strongest

intelligences

To help students develop a

particular intelligence, teachers can

linguistic write stories and essays; tell jokes, sto-

ries, puns; use an expanded vocabulary;

play word games; use words to create

images

encourage the use of outrageous words,

and palindromes; involve students in de-

bates and making oral presentations;

show how poetry can convey emotion

logical-

mathematical

work with numbers, figure things out,

analyze situations; see how things work;

exhibit precision in problem solving;

work in situations with clear answers

use Venn diagrams to compare and con-

trast; use graphs, tables, and time lines;

have students demonstrate using con-

crete objects; ask students to show se-

quences

musical listen to and play music; match feelings

to music and rhythm; sing and hum; cre-

ate and replicate tunes

rewrite song lyrics to teach a concept;

encourage students to add music to

plays; create musical mnemonics; teach

history and geography through the music

of the period and place

bodily-kinesthetic play sports and be physically active; en-

gage in risk taking with their bodies;

dance, act, and mime; engage in crafts

and play with mechanical objects

provide tactile and movement activities;

offer role-playing and acting opportuni-

ties; allow students to move while work-

ing; use sewing, model making and other

activities that require fine motor skills

spatial doodle, paint or draw; create three-

dimensional representations; look at and

create maps and diagrams; take things

apart and put them back together

draw maps and mazes; lead visualization

activities; teach mind mapping; provide

opportunities to show understanding

through drawing; have students design

buildings, clothing, scenery to depict an

event or period

naturalist spend time outdoors; collect plants,

rocks, animals; listen to outdoor sounds;

notice relationships in nature; classify

flora and fauna

use outdoors as a classroom; have plants

and animals in the classroom for which

students are responsible; conduct

hands-on experiments; create a nature

area on the playground

7


interpersonal enjoy many friends; lead, share, medi-

ate; build consensus; help others with

their problems; be an effective team

member

use cooperative learning; assign group

projects; give students opportunities for

peer teaching; brainstorm solutions; cre-

ate situations in which students observe

and give feedback to others

intrapersonal reflect; control own feelings and moods;

pursue personal interests and set individ-

ual agendas; learn through observing and

listening; use metacognitive skills

allow students to work at their own

pace; create quiet areas within the room

or allow students to go outside to work

alone; help students set and monitor

personal goals; provide opportunities for

students to give and receive feedback;

involve students in writing journals

(Adapted from Succeeding with Multiple Intelligences, by the New City School faculty, 1996.)

A P A R A D I G M S H I F T

Over a century ago, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, HarrietBeecher Stowe presented racial issues in a way thatcaused a nation to pause. In 1859 Charles Darwin’sThe Origin of Species forever changed the way welook at ourselves and our relationship to the cosmos.More recently, Ralph Nader’s Unsafe At Any Speedand Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring began movementsfor consumer safety and ecological consciousness.And in 1983 Howard Gardner changed the way welook at intelligence with Frames of Mind.

Written as a book for psychologists and pyscho-metricians, Frames of Mind has had an influence far

greater than Gardner intended. More than pro-nouncements about the nature of intelligence,Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences (MI) hassignificantly affected educators and schools aroundthe world. In The Structure of the Scientific Revolution,Thomas Kuhn coined the term “paradigm shift,”which means looking at an established model orprinciple in a new way that forever changes itsmeaning. Gardner joins Stowe, Darwin, Nader, andCarson in writing a book that changed how we viewa piece of the world.

FIGURE 1.2—continued

Identifying and Encouraging the Use of Multiple Intelligences in Schools

T H E N E W C I T Y

S C H O O L J O U R N E Y

At New City School, the theory of multiple intelli-gences (MI) is more than a theory of intellect. For us,it has become a philosophy of education with impli-cations for the roles of educators, parents, and com-munity members. MI has helped us frame ourcurriculum, develop new assessment techniques,work closely with our students’ parents, and growtogether as a faculty.

Perhaps the best way to capture what using MIhas done for New City School is through the com-ment of a student. A few years ago, in response tobeing asked, “How do you like going to New CitySchool?” one of our students said, “It’s great but Ican never tell when I’m learning and when I’m justhaving fun!” That response captures how MI can bea powerful tool for student growth. The studentwas expressing that he was able to use many of hisintelligences in experiential, hands-on activitieswhile he was learning.

In 1988 when I read Frames of Mind and we firstbegan to pursue MI, none of us knew where thisjourney would lead. I would like to take credit forbeing prescient and a visionary and anticipatinghow working with MI would change our school,but that is not the case.

I knew that MI could be good for us, but I hadno idea how we would be transformed.

Our journey to becoming an MI school waseased because the theory of multiple intelligencessupported the faculty’s tenets:

• All children have talents• The arts are important• Who you are is more important than what

you know.

Pursuing MI seemed to make sense for us be-cause it supports our beliefs and our deep commit-ment to valuing diversity in our student body. MIseemed to offer another way to recognize theuniqueness of each individual.

Beginning with a Reading GroupAt one of our weekly faculty meetings in spring1988 I told the staff about a fascinating book I hadread, Frames of Mind (Gardner, 1983). I was particu-larly excited because I thought that it might haveimplications for our work with students. “Wouldany of you be interested in meeting after school andperhaps throughout the summer to read it withme?” I asked, offering to buy a copy of the book foreveryone who wanted to join. A dozen individuals,about one-third of the faculty, chose to do so and wehave not been the same since.

When we first met as a group, I began by offer-ing a brief summary of the book. I talked about whyit might have meaning for us, and how it caused meto reflect on what we were already doing to help allof our students grow as much as possible. Asidefrom investigating this theory of intelligences, Isaid, there would be merit in meeting and talking

8

2

about the book, even if we ultimately believed theideas were not applicable to New City School. “Weare always sharing articles and trading books,” Isaid. “This would simply take the pursuit to an-other level, a bigger group meeting more regularly.”

Although we have subsequently read severalbooks together, this was a new process for our fac-ulty, so I offered some guidelines about how wemight proceed. I envisioned a collaborative effort,each of us bringing something to the process andlearning from one another. For added perspective, Isuggested inviting a local university education de-partment faculty member, who also happened to bea New City parent, to join us. Everyone was enthu-siastic about her involvement.

I proposed that we all read the book and taketurns presenting chapters to the group and facilitat-ing the discussion. And I suggested preparingstudy questions that could be distributed beforeeach meeting, showing my preference for the lin-guistic intelligence.

“But since we believe in team teaching,” one ofthe teachers responded, “why don’t we team-teacheach chapter, working in groups of two?” This sug-gestion elicited lots of nods.

Another teacher said, “And if the idea is thatchildren possess strengths in different intelligencesand we are going to want to think about using themin our teaching, shouldn’t we try to teach with thedifferent intelligences?” Someone asked for clarifi-cation and she continued, “In presenting the chap-ter about the spatial intelligence, the teachersteaching it should try to rely on that intelligence,and the teachers teaching the chapter on thebodily-kinesthetic intelligence should use it in theirinstruction. That will give us an idea about whetheror not this approach is realistic.”

Using the different intelligences sounded likefun and we quickly embraced the idea. We decidedto name ourselves the Talent Committee (feelingthat calling ourselves the Intelligence Committee

might sound a bit presumptuous) and chose tomeet every other week. A few meetings were heldafter school and then we met monthly during thesummer, culminating our investigation the follow-ing winter.

Using the various intelligences as we studiedthem quickly transformed theory into real-life expe-rience and opened the door to using MI in the class-room. I vividly remember stretching and strainingas we played a modified game of Twister and thenused our small-motor muscles as we tried to reas-semble farming tools in learning about the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. As we studied the chapteron musical intelligence, we played musical instru-ments, identified musical patterns, and tried tocompose songs. We also talked with a professionalmusician, Jeremy Davenport, the son of our per-forming arts teacher. Jeremy plays the trumpet, hasreleased several CDs, and has performed withHarry Connick Jr. Jeremy joined us during lunchone day to talk about how he learned through mu-sic and how irrelevant much of traditional school-ing was for him.

An added, if painful, benefit of our investiga-tion came as a result of trying to learn through all ofthe intelligences. We were reminded of what it feelslike to perform poorly or even to fail. Most of us aresuccessful because we have found roles that allowus to use our strongest intelligences; conversely, wegenerally are able to avoid participating in activitiesthat require us to use our weakest intelligences.(Navigating like this, finding arenas in which wecan use our strengths and where our weaknessesare less relevant, is evidence of strong intrapersonalintelligence.)

As members of the Talent Committee, each ofus had to use all of our intelligences in studying thechapters in Frames of Mind. We did not have the op-tion of steering away from our weakest intelli-gences. For example, music is not a strongintelligence of mine and I knew that, so I was

9

T H E N E W C I T Y S C H O O L J O U R N E Y

neither surprised nor dismayed when I had diffi-culty participating in some of the committee’s musi-cal activities. But I had somehow assumed that myspatial intelligence was, if not a strength, at least notan area in which I was particularly weak. Much tomy surprise, I found myself having great difficultycompleting the mazes and discerning the patternsthat were part of the activities for the spatial chapter.I realized what students must feel when they areforced to work in ways that require them to use theintelligences that are not their strongest. Becausenone of us can be strong in all of the intelligences, Iwas not alone in this experience. Other committeemembers also experienced frustration from usingintelligences that they are typically able to avoid.Failing in front of our peers was a good, but hard,learning experience for all of us and a poignant re-minder of how our students sometimes feel.

As we began to talk about the intelligences andhow knowledge of them might be used to modifyour curriculum and instruction, a teacher noted thatwe were already doing some things that supportedMI. Instead of focusing only on what we were notdoing, seeing the glass as half empty, we decided tocreate a list for each intelligence that captured the

things we were doing. We also generated a list ofthings that we could and should be doing. Andgiven our fiscal reality, we created a third category:things we could and should do that cost money.Our categories and ideas are shown in Figure 2.1.

Putting our thoughts in a simple table allowedus to celebrate the fine things we were already do-ing for our students, look consciously at how wemight focus future efforts, and dream a bit aboutwhat we would like to do if we had the funds. Thelast category was particularly helpful because fo-cusing on what we might do with additional fund-ing, an unlikely prospect, also enabled us to focusmore directly on what we might do without extrafunds.

Getting Everyone On BoardAfter each of the first few meetings, the dialoguecontinued in conversations in the hall as people leftto go to other commitments. They were excitedabout MI and its potential to help them reach theirstudents. I was often in the teachers’ lounge, talkingabout what we had said at a committee meeting, orin a casual conversation in the hall, discussing apoint in the book. The dozen of us who were

10


FIGURE 2.1

Our Initial Thoughts About MI

Things we already do that sup-

port a belief in MI

Things we could and should do

that support a belief in MI

Things we could and should do

that support a belief in MI that

cost money

1. Have an arts program that is

an integral part of our curricu-

lum

2. Focus on students learning to

work with others

1. Use student portfolios to show

work in all intelligences

2. Begin report cards by

addressing what is most

important: the personal

intelligences

1. Have a video camera in each

classroom to capture students

exhibiting nonpaper-and-pencil

intelligences

2. Bring in practicing visual and

performing artists to work with

our students

engaged in this journey were brimming with enthu-siasm and ideas.

Near the end of the next Talent Committeemeeting, however, a teacher voiced a concern. “I’mworried that there is beginning to be a rift betweenthose of us who are on the Talent Committee andthose who aren’t.” Our group grew quiet as shecontinued, “One of my teammates asked me, ‘Whatis all of this business about intelligences?’”

Most of us who have worked in schools haveseen the phenomenon of the “in” group or popularcrowd. It doesn’t matter why a group is perceivedas the “in” group. It may be that the reasons areworthy; for example, a group of teachers is veryskilled, works hard, or is open to innovation andtrying new things. Or it may simply be that a par-ticular group of teachers is perceived to be in theprincipal’s favor. Frankly, why a group is perceivedto be “in” isn’t important. What is important is that,if one group is “in,” everyone else must be “out.”And, a divided faculty cannot move forward to-gether.

The teacher’s observation resonated with us.We knew that we wanted to avoid having a dividedfaculty as we continued studying Frames of Mindand worked on using what we learned. As wetalked, everyone expressed a concern that our worknot become an issue that divided the faculty. Butwhat to do? We had just begun our investigation,but it was already obvious that everyone wouldn’tbe serving on the committee. Some teachers wantedto participate in the discussion of the Talent Com-mittee, but did not have the time or weren’t avail-able at the scheduled meeting times. Others weremore skeptical about the existence of multiple intel-ligences and chose not to participate on the commit-tee. Still others were newer to the teachingprofession and were focusing on basic teachingstrategies and classroom control. Clearly, not every-one would be on the Talent Committee, so not eve-ryone would be privy to new information and

discussions. We knew that we needed to solve theproblem.

As we talked, we devised a conscious strategy toavoid having divisions among the faculty. First, Imade it clear that membership on the Talent Com-mittee was always open and anyone could elect tojoin at any time. Although no new members joineduntil the fall, the option made the group seem less ex-clusive. Second, at each weekly faculty meeting andin my periodic faculty bulletins, references weremade to what the Talent Committee had learned anddiscussed. All the committee members tried to sharenot just specific information but also our enthusiasmfor the potential that we saw in MI. At one meetingwe made a point of assigning Talent Committeemembers to talk with their teammates about specificideas and activities—for example, the possibility ofusing portfolios to show student growth.

Throughout the initial MI investigation, andeven today, having everyone on board is an impor-tant consideration. For example, during the winterafter our implementation of MI, ASCD held an MIConference at the Key School in Indianapolis (thefirst MI school). The Talent Committee talked abouthow this conference was an opportunity to widenthe net and bring more folks into the MI fold. As aresult, we sent eight faculty members to the confer-ence, sending four who were on the Talent Commit-tee and four who were not. We even decided totravel in two cars and be sure that each car had onlytwo people from the Talent Committee. In retro-spect, this arrangement may seem overly structuredand contrived; in fact, however, throughout our MIjourney we never experienced division among fac-ulty members. Although our faculty’s openness tonew ideas and an established culture of collabora-tion were no doubt important to our success, ourconscious efforts to be as inclusive as possible dur-ing our investigation were critical to maintaining apositive and collegial workplace.

11


How MI Has Affected UsToday, more than a decade after we read Frames ofMind, our use of MI has transformed our school. Ithas affected curriculum and instruction, assessmentpractices, relationships with our students’ parents,and collegiality.

Curriculum and Instruction

Using MI means that students are given opportuni-ties to use intelligences other than the linguistic andlogical-mathematical intelligences in their regularclassrooms. Too often the “nonscholastic intelli-gences,” if addressed at all, are the sole province ofthe art or physical education teachers. We respectthe expertise of these individuals and do not wantto supplant their efforts, but we try to enable stu-dents to use their strongest intelligences in learningtraditional subject matter and skills. This means thatstudents sometimes draw Venn diagrams to iden-tify and explain relationships among groups, usingtheir logical-mathematical intelligence to show, forexample, the similarities and differences betweenthose who dumped tea at the Boston Tea Party andthose who marched in the Civil Rights struggle. Orthey create T-shirt book reports, using the spatial in-telligence to report on what they read. Or studentsmight use their bodily-kinesthetic intelligence tojump rope and count aloud to learn addition.

Almost no lesson includes entry points for alleight intelligences; that would be neither realisticnor practical. Students are given choices, however;for instance, they can draw a picture or create adance or compose a song to show their understand-ing of a poem—all alternatives to the usual ap-proach of expressing understanding through thelinguistic intelligence. In every area, students regu-larly review their work, reflecting on their efforts,noting the mistakes they made, and making sug-gestions about how they could improve. Theyadopt trees, making periodic drawings and journalentries to monitor their growth and change through

the seasons. Students may create museums to showwhat they know—museums about plants orsnakes, museums in which students dress up as thefamous people they have studied. MI fits especiallywell with our creative approach to curriculum de-velopment. Although we have specific grade-levelexpectations, teachers develop their own curricu-lum units to achieve their goals; the few textbooksare used as supplements.

Amidst the creativity of MI applications there is aplace for mastery of rote facts, reading, writing, andbasic computation. While we value all of the intelli-gences, we recognize that our students must beskilled in reading, writing, and mathematics. UsingMI gives us more tools to help students learn and tomake learning interesting. What MI means, most ofall, is that students are viewed as individuals.Rather than molding students to an established cur-riculum, creating winners and losers, an MI ap-proach means developing curriculum and usinginstruction that taps into students’ interests and tal-ents. Students are given options, different ways tolearn, and they share responsibility for their learn-ing.

We began to use yearlong schoolwide themesat the same time that we started using MI. We feltthat thematic instruction would offer continuityand make learning more meaningful, nicely sup-porting our efforts to integrate MI into curriculumand instruction. Our first theme, Life Along theRiver, was enjoyed by everyone. The synergy of sib-lings in different grades at New City School talkingat dinner or on the way to school about what theyhad learned about the Mississippi River in their re-spective classes was great, and so was the dialogueamong teachers from different grades as they weretrading ideas and talking about how they werebringing the river into their classroom. By Thanks-giving, however, we realized that even if eachyear’s focus on the river was different and

12


developmentally appropriate as our studentsmoved from grade to grade, they would feel thatthey were learning the same thing each year.

To avoid the feeling of repetition, we knew ouridea of themes would have to be revisited. Al-though we were just a few months into usingthemes, we had already felt the positive effects,such as how themes could help us organize our cur-riculum and focus our efforts. Because we didn’twant to abandon the idea, we decided that eachgrade’s team of teachers would develop their ownyearlong theme; we continue doing so today. Thethemes stem from teachers’ passions and interests,

each being a vehicle to address schoolwide expecta-tions and goals. Teachers refine and build upontheir themes from year to year. Sample grade-levelthemes for a school year and sample focus ques-tions are shown in Figure 2.2.

Assessment PracticesUsing MI in curriculum and instruction means thatstudents learn and show their understanding inmany different ways. While paper and pencil meas-ures—essays and objective tests—have their role,they invariably limit the students’ responses to a

13


FIGURE 2.2

Sample Grade Level Themes

Grade and Theme Sample Focus

3- and 4-year-old class: All About Me Who am I and how do I fit within my family and

class?

4- and 5-year-old class: We Are All Alike, We Are

All Different

How are people, their families, and communities

alike and different?

Kindergarten: Busy Bodies How do the different systems in my body function?

1st grade: It’s a Small World How do plant and animal communities compare

with human communities?

2nd grade: All Kinds of Homes Why and how do people make homes different in

their communities?

3rd grade: Native Americans, Keepers of the Earth How did Native Americans live from and with the

land?

4th grade: Making a Difference What are the characteristics of someone who

makes a difference?

5th grade: Conflict How are conflicts caused by different views over

needs, values, and resources?

6th grade: Understanding the World from Within

and Without

What is the role of choice in determining who we

are?

few intelligences. If the question is “How much do3rd graders know about life for a Native Americantribe in the 1850s?” then a written response is notthe only way to determine a student’s understand-ing. Yes, a student essay allows the teacher to ascer-tain what the student knows, but it is not the onlyway to do so. By limiting students to writing theiranswers, relying on their linguistic skills, theteacher may find out whether a student has a goodcommand of the English language and writes well,but she may shortchange students’ understandingof Native American culture and history in otherways.

In addition to simply writing about NativeAmerican life, why not have the student use a Venndiagram to show how a Navajo tribe in 1850 livessimilarly to and differently from a family in Chicagotoday? Or how about having the student, or teamsof students, create a diorama of Navajo life? Or cana student put words to a melody and convey whatlife was like for the Navajo? Can the student draw apicture that portrays an understanding of the Na-vajo culture? The students would still need to ex-plain the thinking behind their actions, but in eachcase student understanding would not have to befiltered through only a linguistic lens.

Each spring our first floor hall becomes a walk-way to America’s past as each of our 40 3rd graderscreates and displays a diorama depicting the life ofa Native American tribe. Similarly, our 4th gradersdemonstrate their knowledge at a “state fair” inwhich they choose one state from the United Statesand create a three-dimensional display. Our gradu-ating 6th graders’ culminating experience is anautobiography that results in a detailed book in-cluding narrative, survey results, drawings, photos,and reflections.

Many of our classes plan and create museumsof artifacts and displays to demonstrate theirknowledge and educate others. The 1st graders’plant museum displays plants and results of

student-conducted experiments for visitors to see.To learn about museums, the class divides intogroups and visits local museums; they apply theirobservations in planning their own exhibits. NewCity’s 4th graders present a living museum inwhich they dress in costume to portray the indi-viduals who made a difference in an area of the cur-riculum they have studied. As visitors press startbuttons taped to the student statues, the statuesspring to life and begin to tell their stories.

Projects, exhibitions, presentations, and portfo-lios are used a great deal by students to show whatthey have learned. By working together on projects,students are also developing personal intelligenceswhile they learn content and skill. Portfolios are cu-mulative, kept from year to year, and reviewed eachspring with parents at a Portfolio Night. (See Chap-ter 4 for more on assessment.)

Relationships with Students’ ParentsBecause we use MI, we communicate with our stu-dents’ parents. We recognize that New City is verydifferent from the schools they attended, and thatwe have a responsibility to help them understandwhat we are doing. I send parents a weekly note, asdo the classroom teachers. These letters announceupcoming events and happenings but also discussthe curriculum and what children are learning. Wealso communicate with parents by displaying stu-dent work and descriptions of the assignments inour halls and on our classroom walls.

Perhaps our most powerful tool for developingpositive and richer relations with students’ parentsis our September Intake Conference. Everyoneknows that at this conference the parents, who areexperts on their children, are expected to talk 75 per-cent of the time and teachers are expected to listen75 percent of the time. Beginning the year with par-ents talking and teachers listening is a wonderfulway to learn about students, and it sets a tone that

14


says to parents, “We are all working together to helpyour children—our students—learn.”

Faculty CollegialityImplementing MI, moving forward in unchartedwaters, meant that we had to work and learn to-gether. None of us had the solution. MI helped usrecognize that all of us have different intelligenceprofiles; not only do we learn differently, we teachdifferently too. Teaching teams became more thanpeople working together and supplying emotionalsupport; using MI meant that teams began to drawupon the expertise and interests of each member inplanning curriculum and instruction. For example,a team uses strengths when one teacher plays thepiano and brings music into units and lessons. An-other teacher’s spatial talents are used to create thesigns and backdrops for student projects. The thirdteacher’s logical-mathematical strength helps heridentify patterns in instruction and relate activitiesto one another. In other teams, students might rotateamong the teachers as they use their strongest intel-ligence to teach a lesson.

Perhaps the best evidence of our collegiality isthe two books of articles and lesson plans written byour faculty, Celebrating Multiple Intelligences: Teach-ing for Success (1994) and Succeeding with Multiple In-telligences: Teaching Through the Personals (1996).*Before writing the articles and contributing the les-son plans, faculty members had to agree on whatthe book should look like and how it should bestructured. These kinds of conversations, causedand supported by our work with MI, have helpedus grow and learn together. As proud as I am of ourfaculty’s books, I know that the dialogue that tookplace in creating them is far more important. Notevery faculty will choose to produce books, but us-ing MI can facilitate faculty members trading

curriculum and instruction ideas and sharing theirskills in the intelligences.

A Work in ProgressAll of our achievements and progress notwith-standing, we still have far to go to be the kind ofschool that we want to be. We continue to grapplewith the incredible demands of time and energythat are brought on by our creating and developingcurriculum and assessment tools and by our ownnever-decreasing expectations! When asked toname the best thing about teaching at New CitySchool, a teacher once replied, “That’s easy. I get tocreate my own curriculum, decide how my stu-dents are going to be assessed, and work with oth-ers who are creative and energetic.” And what is theworst thing about teaching at New City? “That’seasy, too,” she said. “I get to create my own curricu-lum, decide how my students are going to be as-sessed, and work with others who are creative andenergetic.”

✦ ✦ ✦

For Faculty Discussion1. Which intelligences are valued most in ourschool?2. What are the obstacles to implementing MI in ourschool?3. In which intelligence is our faculty the strongest?Weakest?4. How would our school’s ideas fit into Figure 2.1?

Steps to Implementing MI

Each school and each MI journey is different. Thefollowing tips, however, may be helpful in any pur-suit of MI.

1. Educate all the stakeholders. While it is essentialto begin by building consensus within the fac-ulty—reading and discussing a book on MI is a

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*For more information about these books, contact the NewCity School.

good way to begin—it is crucial that parents andcommunity members also understand how whatwe are doing works for students.

• Use the halls and walls to educate everyoneabout MI, not just display student work.

• Write parents weekly notes that educate themabout MI and the many ways in which it is helpingtheir children grow.

• Give standardized tests to reassure everyonethat students are learning the basic competenciesthey need to succeed in school.

2. Measure what you value. Unless assessmentpractices and reporting techniques reflect MI, themessage is that the nonscholastic intelligencesreally aren’t important.

• Construct report cards that emphasize andvalue all the intelligences.

• Invite parents to hear and see their children

exhibit learning through their presentations andprojects.

• Use portfolios as powerful tools for capturinggrowth in the nonscholastic intelligences.

3. Intentionally develop collegiality. A school is nobetter than its faculty, and pursuing MI can be effec-tive only if teachers and administrators learn andgrow with one another. There is already more to bedone than the hours allow, so unless collegiality is apriority, unless specific strategies are developed tofacilitate faculty members sharing, it will not hap-pen.

• Form a voluntary faculty reading group.• Make faculty members aware of the notion of

collegiality and its value. Ask “How can we worktoward this?”

• Use faculty meetings to share teaching strate-gies and professional achievements.

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C O L L E G I A L I T Y:

L E A R N I N G A N D

G R O W I N G T O G E T H E R

Barth (1990) believes that the most important factorin determining the quality of a school is the natureof the adult relationships within that school. Pro-ductive relationships involve more than workingcongenially with others in the building. Althoughall of us want to get along with others, we need tostrive for more than just a pleasant working envi-ronment; we need to strive for collegiality. Collegial-ity means educators working with and learningfrom one another as colleagues, as partners.

As powerful as the theory of multiple intelli-gences can be in changing how educators view stu-dents, a school is not likely to succeed at using MIproductively without a high degree of collegiality. Ican conceive of good schools in which the educatorsdo not subscribe to MI theory; I cannot imagine agood school in which the staff do not work togetheras colleagues. In an MI school, collegiality is espe-cially important because educators create curricu-lum, design instructional strategies, and inventassessments tools. Teachers and administratorswork as colleagues to fashion strategies that reflecttheir assumptions and respect the unique contextsin which they work. Unfortunately, schools typi-cally have focused too little on teachers’ and admin-istrators’ learning, and it is a rare school thatencourages teachers and administrators to learnfrom one another.

Why Is Collegiality Difficult?Collegiality does not come easily in a school envi-ronment for four primary reasons:

1. Students are the focus of our efforts. It’s diffi-cult for educators to rationalize spending money ona book written for teachers when students are usingoutdated textbooks. Attending a workshop or trav-eling to a conference is too often a rare occurrence inan era of budget-cutting and austerity.

2. New, and therefore unproven, educationaltrends and directions are viewed as suspect andrisky. It is politically safer to remain with old tradi-tions and activities. Educators are more likely to becriticized for trying something new and not suc-ceeding than for continuing along the road of thetried and true, even though the existing strategy hasnot been successful. By staying the course, they con-tinue to work in relative isolation, because theyhave little need to work with or learn from others.

3. Most schools are not designed for collabora-tion or collegiality. Classrooms are enclosed spaceswith rows of student desks and one teacher’s desk.Seldom is there a space designed for teachers towork together and exchange ideas, such as a confer-ence room with comfortable chairs, a large table,dry-erase boards, and computers—a customaryset-up for the average business. In contrast, thegathering place for teachers is the lounge, typicallya crowded place to eat and relax, filled with

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3

secondhand furniture. Architects and plannershave not seen the need to provide an environmentthat supports the faculty learning as colleagues.

4. Finally, and perhaps most important, schoolsare not organized to support collegiality. In Redes-igning School, Joseph P. McDonald (1996) points outthat for teachers, “there is literally no time built infor learning on the job. Indeed, learning on the job isdisparaged to some extent” (p. 105). Working to-gether is often defined as teachers sharing materi-als. The reward system of schools neitherencourages nor reinforces teachers who take thetime to lend a hand and share their expertise. Atbest, educators have come to feel that their goodideas shouldn’t be shared because they might ap-pear to be bragging. At worst, good ideas arehoarded because a teacher wants to ensure thatwhat students experience in her room is unique.Principals are too busy with paperwork, discipli-nary matters, and staff supervision to work at creat-ing a climate in which the adults work collegially.

All these factors conspire to create a settingwhere adult learning takes place in isolation. Andyet, we have learned that many students learn bestwhen they work with others. Along with individualmastery, cooperative learning has an important rolein student learning and achievement. Why shouldlearning be any different for adults?

Collegiality as a Route to MIAs noted earlier, MI theory is not a curriculum.Consequently, there is an opportunity for eachteacher—preferably for each group of teachers—touse MI in ways that respect their unique setting. Be-cause this means traveling in uncharted educationalwaters, the pursuit of MI can encourage faculty towork together as colleagues on a journey of under-standing. Indeed, a successful implementation ofMI means that the school becomes, in Peter Senge’s(1990) terminology, “a learning organization.”

Roland Barth (1990) offers four ways in which

educators can work as colleagues: (1) teachers andadministrators talking together about students’growth and students’ needs, (2) teachers and ad-ministrators working together to develop curricu-lum, (3) teachers and administrators observing oneanother teach, and (4) teachers and administratorsteaching one another. To Barth’s components, I add:Teachers and administrators working together onfaculty committees to reflect on current practicesand plan for the future. And, more important thanany of these specific tactics is the underlying prem-ise that by working together, we can achieve morethan by working in isolation.

While MI implementations vary, the followingrepresent some examples of how collegiality andMI implementation go hand-in-hand.

Student Growth and Needs

Believing in and using MI means that educatorsmust be aware of students’ strengths and weak-nesses in the various intelligences; in short, educa-tors must know their students. MI becomes a tool tohelp students learn information and skills and toenable them to demonstrate their understanding.To use MI effectively, teachers need to know eachstudent’s strongest and weakest intelligences.Knowing each student, teachers can design curricu-lum and present instruction in ways that allow stu-dents to use their strengths, although few lessonswill offer eight routes to learning.

To learn about their students, teachers needstructured time to share information and to learnfrom one another’s perceptions. Teachers some-times share information about their students withother teachers, but they rarely discuss those who areachieving, or as Gardner calls them, “at-promise”students. Working together as colleagues, facultymembers can share perceptions about how theyview students when they are using different intelli-gences. Sitting around a table, comparing notes ontheir students, teachers might say

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• “Paul’s collection of butterflies and insectswas incredible. I’ve never seen him so analytical!”

• “Why do you think René seems so muchmore motivated in English than in social studies?”

• “Brad excels when he can use his spatial intel-ligence to show me what he knows!”

• “It was amazing to see Samantha go throughher portfolio and talk about how she learns.”

• “Mei-Lee filters everything through her mu-sical intelligence.”

• “Lee’s interpersonal intelligence is so strong, Ialways try to have her work in a group.”

• “I wasn’t sure Langston understood the Na-vajo life style until he began to explain his dioramato me.”

• “It’s interesting, I have seen that Carl is somotivated at recess or in P.E. class when he is usinghis bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. I need to find away to let him capitalize on this strength in learningabout the Civil War.”

MI becomes another way to individualize in-struction, another way to look at how Jacqueline isdifferent from José who is different from Juanitawho is different from John. Viewing and talkingabout students from the perspective of MI enablesus to look at how each student is unique. We need toknow how students learn best in order to adjust ourcurriculum and instruction. Some teachers teach asubject or discipline that lends itself to a particularintelligence, such as English or physical education.It is important for these teachers to hear how teach-ers in other subject areas or academic disciplines, es-pecially those that rely on other intelligences, seetheir students. Talking about students from theviewpoint of multiple intelligences is a good way tofocus on how they learn best. Each teacher has a dif-ferent perspective, and by sharing their observa-tions teachers can more quickly get to know theirstudents’ strengths. Specialist teachers who en-counter each student for only a portion of the dayespecially benefit from these shared observations.

Similarly, teachers in self-contained classroomscan observe how their students respond to differentsubjects and instruction. If John struggles with read-ing but is incredibly motivated when drawing, howcan his strength in the spatial intelligence be used toaddress the prescribed curriculum goals and helphim learn? The answer is more likely to be found ifteachers share their perceptions of John and theirstrategies for teaching him.

Recording how students solve problems offersvaluable insights. Sometimes the easiest way toidentify students’ strongest intelligences is to givethem choices and observe what they select. Moststudents, indeed most people, choose the route thatallows them to use their most developed intelli-gences.

Faculty Jointly Develops Curriculum

Students learn best and teachers teach best whenteachers develop, modify, and personalize the cur-riculum. Yet in most cases state and district expecta-tions and publisher’s scope and sequence pathsneed to be followed. Textbooks often serve as de-fault curriculum guides, becoming the teacher’splanner. Regardless, teachers have opportunities towork collaboratively to decide the best ways to ac-complish goals and expectations. Whether it isplanning lessons, developing units, or decidingupon yearlong themes, teachers and administratorscan create both the experiences in which childrencan learn and the methods by which to determinewhat learning has taken place. Using the MI frame-work helps plan an array of experiences and activi-ties that allow all children, not just the linguisticallyor logical-mathematically inclined, to use theirstrongest intelligences in learning.

Teachers naturally teach using their strongestintelligences. The linguistically intelligent teacherexplains everything; lectures are his modus oper-andi even when teaching about history or art. Nomatter what the subject, the teacher who is strong-

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C O L L E G I A L I T Y: L E A R N I N G A N D G R O W I N G T O G E T H E R

est in the logical-mathematical intelligence looks forformulas and rules when teaching. Although I mayhave exaggerated these descriptions, they havemore than a few kernels of truth. Because schoolsare framed around these two scholastic intelli-gences and because people who choose to becometeachers tend to be those who did well in school, it isonly natural that most teachers rely on the linguisticand logical-mathematical intelligences. Studentsstrongest in the scholastic intelligences benefit fromthese approaches, but what about students withstrengths in the other intelligences? They probablycan gain the most from teachers and administratorsworking together to make learning more accessiblefor all students. Here are some examples of teachersworking together to figure out ways to incorporateMI into their instruction:

“This is the time of year when I introduce ThePopcorn Book to my students,” says a 1st gradeteacher, “but I want to do more than just read italoud and appeal only to the linguistic intelligence.Any ideas?”

A 5th grade math teacher responds, “Whydon’t you actually pop popcorn, not just to eat, butto get the kids hypothesizing and estimating, usingtheir logical-mathematical intelligences? You couldhave the kids guess where the kernels would land,pop it without the lid on, and then measure wherethe kernels landed, graphing the predicted versusactual distance.”

The music teacher adds, “What about makingrhythm instruments from the cardboard tube insidepaper towels? You could fill them with kernels ofcorn and enclose the ends.”

The 1st grade teacher interrupts, “And whilehaving the kids use them as rhythm instruments isgood, I could also have them use the shakers toidentify the number of syllables in words. We’reworking on that now!”

Two other teachers brainstorm about ways thatthe 3rd grade teachers can use both the logical-

mathematical and spatial intelligences in helpingtheir students appreciate the enormous size of thebuffalo. They decide to use masking tape to createthe silhouette of a full-size buffalo on the classroomfloor and have kids invent units of measure usingparts of their bodies to calculate how big it is. “Thisway I can address both measurement and propor-tion, two of my math goals, in my Native Americanunit,” says the 3rd grade teacher.

Another 3rd grade teacher talks about using theoutdoors, tapping into students’ naturalist intelli-gence, to encourage writing. “Some of my kids whohave difficulty creating rich descriptions were com-pletely different when we were looking at how theleaves change colors in the fall,” she said. “As a re-sult, we each adopted a nearby tree and periodicallygo outside to make observations and record them inour journals.”

At the other end of the table a 4th grade teacheris discussing his frustration with a unit on biogra-phies. “I know they’re important,” he laments, “be-cause our students need to understand the genre ofbiography and how it’s different from autobiogra-phy, fiction, and so on. And I appreciate the value ofstudying famous people whose character and vir-tues made them successful, but for those kids whoare having difficulty reading and writing, produc-ing these biographies becomes a real ordeal andthey get turned off from learning.”

“Why not adapt what we did last year in ourunit about snakes?” responds a 2nd grade teacher.“So many of our kids, especially those few whowere not yet reading, excelled when they gave oralpresentations to their classmates and parents. Youcould have your kids dress up like the charactersthey’re studying and create a living museum, inwhich they would pose as statues until visitorspress their button. At that prompt, the kids springto life and tell ‘their’ life stories, the biographies!”

The music teacher adds, “That would be greatfor Carlton. You’ve told me he is not a good reader,

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but he comes alive in my class when he is perform-ing in front of others!”

A 6th grade teacher asks others how they de-velop reflection sheets, as she looks for ways to cap-ture her students’ intrapersonal intelligence in theirbiographies. And 5th grade teachers talk about us-ing Venn diagrams to determine how well their stu-dents understand the similarities and differencesbetween the Civil War and the Civil Rights Move-ment.

All of these examples are taken from the New CitySchool. These practices worked for our kids andthey came from teachers and administrators talkingtogether about how MI can be used to modify cur-riculum so that every child can learn.

Observation Opportunities

The norms of education do not support educatorsobserving one another teach, certainly not teachersobserving peers teach. The presence of an adult,other than the teacher, in the classroom often meansthere is a problem. An administrator may formallyobserve a teacher during class, but the observationis often focused on determining whether a teacher’scontract should be renewed, not on growth. Teach-ers typically visit other classrooms only to borrowsomething, to ask a question, or to briefly check onan activity. Sara Lawrence Lightfoot, author of TheGood High School, says, “Teaching is a very autono-mous experience—but the flip side of autonomy isthat teachers experience loneliness and isolation”(in Moyers, 1989, p. 165).

As teachers, we spend most of our days withyoungsters. And while students invariably offer usfeedback on how well they think we teach—whether we want it or not!—they cannot give ustargeted feedback to enable us become better teach-ers. Students cannot help us reflect on wait-time oron our success with problem-based learning, con-structivism, or action research.

When pursuing MI, however, a faculty has theopportunity to change the paradigm. Because weall have a unique MI profile, we recognize that oth-ers approach curriculum and instruction differently.Thus it becomes obvious that we can learn fromothers whether or not they teach the same disciplineor age level. Teachers can feel comfortable usingtheir strongest intelligences in sharing with peers,both while teaching peers and being observed. Spa-tially talented teachers, for example, can demon-strate how they incorporate this intelligence inteaching Shakespeare, and how they enable stu-dents to use it in demonstrating their understand-ing of the historical period and culture in which theTaming Of the Shrew was written (perhaps throughdesigning a city map or travel poster of Londonduring that time). While our profession’s norms canmake it difficult or awkward for one teacher toshare with another teacher her strategy for teachingtwo-digit division, describing how she uses her mu-sical intelligence to teach equivalent fractions iseasy—and welcomed by nonmusical colleagues.We easily accept that we are not strong in every in-telligence and readily look to others who havestrengths different from our own.

Extensive work with MI sometimes leadsteachers to conclude that they should capitalize ontheir strengths and interests by having students ro-tate among a set of teachers, each teacher focusingon the same concepts through different intelli-gences. Teacher-taught centers that address thevarious intelligences can be created and shared. Orclasses can come together to watch one teacher dis-play a skill or understanding in an intelligence. In aunit on government, for example, our 4th gradeteachers invited the band teacher to come to theirclasses and instruct students on how to create a mel-ody and set their poetry to music.

It is helpful to develop guidelines for teachersto use in observing each other, rather than encour-aging open-ended observation and discussion. For

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example, the observing teacher might enter theclassroom with three goals: (1) to identify threethings that she’d like to try, (2) to find somethingpositive to share with the teacher being observed,and (3) to find one thing to ask questions about. Astructured situation is far less threatening to bothteachers.

Reciprocal Teaching

Again, because MI is not a set curriculum, teachersand administrators have the opportunity to learntogether by teaching one another. When membersof our faculty read Frames of Mind, we did it as a vol-untary committee. Pairs of faculty members took re-sponsibility for presenting a chapter to the rest ofthe group, teaching with the particular intelligencedescribed in that chapter. Likewise, as we em-barked on using portfolios to help us capture stu-dents’ progress, different teachers took the lead inhelping us read and discuss articles. Today, we arepursuing genuine understanding—students usingskills and knowledge in new and novel situa-tions—as colleagues teaching one another andlearning together. It is clear that none of us is the ex-pert, that we all have experiences, ideas, and talentsto bring to the table. Learning from one another be-comes a necessity.

Faculty book groups have played an importantrole in our teaching one another. Participation inthese groups is optional, but they are great opportu-nities for administrators and teachers to work to-gether. Meeting every couple of weeks, either beforeschool or during the summer, members of our fac-ulty have read books chosen because they sup-ported our mission. Looking at how to meet studentneeds, we have read Frames of Mind (Gardner, 1983),The Unschooled Mind (Gardner, 1991), ImprovingSchools from Within (Barth, 1990), Emotional Intelli-gence (Goleman, 1995), and The Teaching for Under-standing Guide (Blythe, 1998). With diversity as ourfocus, we read Warriors Don’t Cry (Beals, 1994),

Daughters (Early, 1994), I Know Why the Caged BirdSings (Angelou, 1970), and White Teacher (Paley,1979). Our discussions invariably range from reac-tions to the books to explanations of our personaleducational philosophies to recollections of specificinstances in the classroom. More than simply shar-ing ideas and opinions, participants gain a sense ofrespect and trust for one another.

Reflecting and Planning

We view faculty committees as the primary enginefor driving collegiality. Schoolwide committees, bytheir very nature, focus on long-term, transcendentissues. We expect that each teacher will serve on atleast one faculty committee, and many choose toparticipate in several committees. Cross-grade com-mittees place teachers next to and alongside otherteachers and faculty with whom they might notnormally work.

We typically have four or five committees dur-ing a school year, each meeting every two or threeweeks. We always have a Diversity Committee,whose charge is to increase awareness of racial andsocioeconomic diversity issues among our faculty,as well as to develop curriculum. We usually have acommittee that deals with implementing MI (theTalent Committee), a Portfolio Committee, and atleast one other ad hoc committee. One year, for ex-ample, we had a Parent Communication Commit-tee, which designed our Progress Reports (reportcards) and came up with the idea for our SeptemberIntake Conferences. In previous years we have hadan Assembly Committee, a Technology Committee,an Assessment Committee, and a committee onschoolwide behavior expectations and standards.Administrators and teachers work as partners, col-legially, on committees.

Collegiality is more an attitude than a strategy. If MIis to be successfully implemented schoolwide, how-ever, collegiality must be present. Administrators

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have an opportunity to promote collegiality by ac-knowledging it in teachers’ end-of-year evaluationsand praising teachers who model this quality. If wemeasure what we value, then we need to show thatwe truly value teachers working as colleagues.More important, administrators can model it byworking collegially with their administrative teamand by learning with and from their faculty mem-bers.

✦ ✦ ✦

For Faculty Discussion1. What evidence is there that collegiality is valuedin our school?2. As we proceed along the path of learning and col-legiality, what can we do to ensure that we don’twind up with an “in group” and an “out group”?3. How could we encourage and support teachersfrom different grades or disciplines working to-gether on curriculum?

Steps to Implementing MIEach school and each MI journey is different. Thefollowing tips, however, may be helpful in any pur-suit of MI.

1. Is there interest in a before- or after-school facultybook club? Even if “only” four or five faculty mem-bers participate, it is a good use of time for them(and a good beginning for everyone).2. Set aside some time at faculty meetings for teach-ers to share successful strategies. If it is difficult tobegin, ask teachers to submit questions on 3" x 5"cards to get the dialogue started.3. Combining congeniality and collegiality, offer be-fore- or after-school classes one day each week inart, music, or some aspect of physical education forteachers and faculty. These classes help the adults inthe school community begin to learn and work withcolleagues while developing their own intelli-gences. (A bonus is the visibility the classes offer tothe various intelligences and the specialist teacherswho teach them.)

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A S S E S S I N G A N D

R E P O R T I N G

S T U D E N T G R O W T H

The relationship between curriculum, instruction,and assessment needs to be strong. That we givemore time and attention to teaching skills and be-haviors on which students will be evaluated is onlyappropriate. But how we assess also plays a role indetermining what and how we teach. Assessingstudents in ways that draw upon only linguisticand logical-mathematical intelligences is both an in-justice to students and a failure to help parents viewtheir children with a wider lens. A commitment toMI should not only affect how we design curricu-lum and present instruction, but also how we assessstudent progress.

Good assessment is relevant, ongoing, andauthentic; students learn from their performanceson meaningful tasks. Students need to be able toread, write, and compute well, so there is a place forthem to use their linguistic and logical-mathe-matical skills (their scholastic intelligences) inshowing what they know. Sometimes performancesof understanding need to be displayed in a particu-lar intelligence, such as using the linguistic intelli-gence to show mastery of essay writing or using thelogical-mathematical intelligence to demonstratewhether it is better to purchase or lease an automo-bile.

In good instruction, the line between curricu-lum and assessment becomes fuzzy. Assessment isnot only a culminating, end-of-unit activity. Instead,

students show what they know by monitoringthemselves and learning from their performance asthey progress. Consequently, we need summativeassessments of finished products, assessments thatshow what students know and can do, as well as cu-mulative assessments, assessments that show how aproblem was solved and the points of progressalong the learning route. Each of these kinds of as-sessment provides insights into student thinkingand also provides the student with informationabout personal achievement. And as the various in-telligences are woven into instruction, they shouldbe included in assessment.

We need to be careful, however, to use “intelli-gence-fair” assessments (Krechevsky, Hoerr, andGardner, 1994) whenever possible to enable stu-dents to use their stronger intelligences to showwhat they know rather than forcing them to use alinguistic filter to demonstrate their understanding.If the goal is comparing and contrasting the Lincolnand Kennedy presidencies, for example, why not al-low students to do this by making a Venn diagramor poster rather than requiring them to write aboutit? Why not allow students to create a skit or roleplay to illustrate the law of supply and demand? Ifwe want to know whether students understand acertain principle in physics, we should ask them tobuild a pulley and lever system and demonstrate itrather than having them respond to multiple-choice

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4

items. Why not allow students to show that theyunderstand a poem by creating a song or dance?

Reporting Assessment toVarious AudiencesEducators decry parents who focus on grades andstandardized test scores, yet we often share onlythese measures of student progress. We need to rec-ognize that there are many different assessmentaudiences and that not only what we assess, but alsowhy and how we assess vary with the audience:

• For students, assessments provide feedbackon their performance and enable them to increasetheir intrapersonal intelligence. Students can use allintelligences in learning and showing what theyhave learned.

• For students’ parents, assessments provideinformation on how their children are progressing.Appropriate assessments can give parents confi-dence in a school that is quite different from theschools they attended. Although parents can seetheir children’s growth in all intelligences, educat-ing parents about MI (e.g., through assessment) al-lows them to better appreciate the value of theintelligences.

• For educators, assessments help us knowwhat a student has mastered and what still needsmore attention. Assessments also enable us to gainfeedback about the job we are doing. In particular, itis interesting to see how students’ performancechanges as they are given opportunities to use all oftheir intelligences.

• For the larger community, assessments gener-ate confidence that students are prepared to suc-ceed in society. Unless the community is educatedand sees the value of the nonscholastic intelligences,the larger community will resort to focusing almostexclusively on standardized test data. It is the re-sponsibility of the educators to help communitymembers see that there are other, richer ways ofmeasuring student progress. Inviting community

members to visit the school and observe studentpresentations can be an effective way to educate thepublic.

• For the larger educational institution (theschool or district’s board of education, state board,and department of education), assessments indicatethat we are fulfilling our responsibilities and ensureconfidence in students’ learning and preparationfor higher learning. Given the press for objectivityand vast numbers of students applying for limitedslots, these groups rely on standardized test data,which primarily measure the scholastic intelli-gences.

Most educational institutions rely on standard-ized test scores, which show success in the scholas-tic intelligences, to ascertain quality of studentpreparation. These data can be valuable, but theycapture only a portion of student talents andachievements. Although policymakers and govern-mental entities rely on standardized test data, thosewho truly want to know students’ strengths andweaknesses—including the students—can learnmuch when viewing progress in the nonscholasticintelligences. Communicating about student prog-ress in the spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, natu-ralist, intrapersonal, or interpersonal intelligencesalso offers an opportunity to educate parents andothers about MI theory and how it can help childrenlearn. We can capture student growth through all ofthe intelligences in several ways that will allow usto satisfy the assessment needs of the various audi-ences.

Projects, Exhibitions, and Presentations(PEPs)

Asking children to show their understanding bycreating projects, exhibitions, and presentations(PEPs) opens up a world of possibilities. BecausePEPs are all complex acts, they require (as do allcomplex acts) students to use several intelligences.Using PEPs means that students not only have to be

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A S S E S S I N G A N D R E P O RT I N G S T U D E N T G R O W T H

knowledgeable about their topics, it also means thatthey have to use their personal intelligences. Be-yond learning the content or skill, students need tothink about the best way to present the informationto their audiences. In making presentations, stu-dents work on making eye contact, enunciating andpacing their speech, projecting their voices, and“reading” their audiences. PEPs are often done ascollaborative activities with two or more studentsusing their interpersonal intelligences to work to-gether as a team. Students reflect on their perform-ance, sometimes reviewing videotapes of a previ-ous effort in their planning.

Fourth graders at New City School culminatetheir unit on the states, for example, by selecting astate, studying it, and preparing a report that theypresent to other students and adults. The 4th grad-ers use all of their intelligences in displaying theirunderstanding. Reports are presented in a three-dimensional format, each including a student-created game for visitors to play in testing theirknowledge about the states.

The 6th graders prepare narrative autobiogra-phies that also include photos, drawings, bar andline graphs, survey results, and songs that the stu-dents feel capture who they are. The autobiogra-phies are presented to family members, friends, andother students.

Report Cards and Progress Reports

Report cards, or progress reports, are formal com-munications about student progress. They are notjust read and discarded, but are often shared withother family members and coworkers. Sometimesreport cards are tucked in a drawer and referred toyears later. They carry a weight and symbolism thatcannot be ignored; more to the point, they offer anopportunity to educate as well as report. By whatthe report cards focus upon and by what they ig-nore, we send messages to students and parentsabout what is important. Each faculty should look

at a blank copy of the school’s report card and ask,“Are we showing what we value by what we are re-porting in the report cards?”

At New City, we believe that the personal intel-ligences are the most important intelligences. Con-sequently, we designed our progress reports so thatthe entire first page addresses the personal intelli-gences and is accompanied by a personalized nar-rative report. The next two pages contain rubrics forboth the linguistic and logical-mathematical intelli-gences and also include narrative reports about thestudent’s progress. Personalized narrative reportsoffer context (describing what the class has workedon during this reporting period) and a way to docu-ment the student’s efforts in demonstrating knowl-edge through PEPs. Figure 4.1 (pp. 28–29) shows asample of the logical-mathematical page and narra-tive comments.

The progress report also includes specialists’reports for the musical, spatial, and bodily-kinesthetic intelligences, as well as reports from thescience, library, and Spanish teachers, each on aseparate page. Appendix B shows the full text ofour progress reports. These reports are sent hometwice each year. Used with our other reporting tech-niques and measures, the progress report shares in-formation about a child’s strengths and the areaswhere the student is weak. Note, too, how the re-ports educate parents about our curriculum.

Our teachers devote considerable skill and timeto preparing these reports. They are an investmentin the future of our school. The effort that goes intothe preparation (talking with teammates ahead oftime to share perceptions of student progress) andwriting not only ensures that parents will have arich understanding of their child’s growth, it alsohelps educate parents about MI and our program.By using the MI vocabulary and focusing on thepersonal intelligences in each of our specialist’s re-ports, we help parents see how their children’s dif-ferent intelligences are used in school. The reports

26


are sent home before conferences so that parentshave time to review them before meeting withteachers. Parents treasure the reports, often com-menting that they appreciate the work of the teach-ers and how well their children are understood.

The progress reports, sent home twice eachyear and followed by a parent-teacher conference(in January and June), are part of our ongoing com-munications with parents. Two other parent-teacher conferences are held (the September Intakeconference and a no-report November conference),as well as a Portfolio Night in the spring. In addi-tion, teachers send home a weekly letter to their stu-dents’ parents (I also send home a weekly letter)and parents are invited throughout the year to assistin classrooms and join us when students presenttheir PEPs.

Portfolio Night

Keeping a portfolio for each child—a collection ofwork and artifacts that give a picture of the child’sgrowth—is a way of capturing progress without us-ing paper and pencil measures. Unless the portfoliois given credence and shared with parents as a re-port card is, however, it will be seen as just a grab-bag with little educational significance. At NewCity, the spring Portfolio Night highlights the role ofthe portfolio.

During Portfolio Night, parents and childrenreview student artifacts and reflections and puttheir hands on evidence of student growth. Familiescome together to celebrate student progress and ac-complishments and to talk about areas needingmore attention and effort. In short, reviewing port-folios gives parents an opportunity to view theirchildren’s progress in all of the intelligences.

The teacher’s role in Portfolio Night is simplyto welcome parents and to be available for ques-tions. Because student reflection plays such a keyrole in the value of portfolios, it is important that thestudents review the contents of their portfolios with

their parents. Portfolios contain achievements, butthey also hold work in progress and sometimeswork that is noteworthy because of a lack of suc-cess. Indeed, “processfolios” is a better term to de-scribe the purpose of a portfolio.

All items in a portfolio should contain a reflec-tion sheet, such as the one in Figure 4.2 (p. 30). Com-pleted by students, teachers, or both, these formsindicate the particular intelligence or intelligencesan item addresses and why it was chosen for theportfolio. Without reflection sheets, it is easy for ob-jects to lose their significance over time. Photo-graphs of three-dimensional accomplishments aswell as audiotapes and videotapes that capture astudent’s progress should also be included in eachportfolio. Portfolios should be cumulative, beingpassed on from grade to grade; however, it is a goodidea to cull the portfolio each spring, decidingwhich objects are representative and should remainand which items can be sent home with the stu-dents. As a group, the staff can decide whether port-folios should contain evidence of accomplishmentsthat occur outside school, such as scouting activi-ties, athletics, or musical performances.

School Displays

If advertising has taught us anything, it is that im-ages can send a powerful message. Think carefullyabout what is hanging on the walls and in the hallsof the school. Are student successes in different in-telligences shown? If an Honor Roll is posted, is itbased only on the scholastic intelligences? Where isthere evidence of students who have excelled in thepersonal intelligences? Does the art program havethe same prominence as the athletic program?

It is helpful to have parents in the building asoften as possible to see what is happening. We wantparents in our building because we use our hallsand walls for educating, not just decorating. Even ifparents only come in the building at the start of theday (7:00 a.m.) or at the end of extended day (6:30

27


28


FIGURE 4.1

Sample Progress Report on Logical-Mathematical Intelligence

Name LOGICAL-MATHEMATICAL INTELLIGENCE

4th Grade Fall Spring

Fall Expectations Spring Expectations

Not Yet Developing Achieving Extending

• cannot show information

through Venn diagrams

and/or mind maps

• does not recognize an

angle

• does not recognize similar,

congruent and symmetrical

shapes

• attempts to calculate area

and perimeter with limited

success

• identifies plane and space

figures

• rarely identifies parallel,

perpendicular and intersect-

ing lines

• shows some information

through Venn diagrams and

mind maps when prompted

• recognizes that two lines

form an angle

• identifies similar, congru-

ent and symmetrical shapes

• calculates area and

perimeter

• identifies and classifies

plane and space figures

• sometimes identifies par-

allel, perpendicular and

intersecting lines

• uses Venn diagrams and

mind maps when prompted

• identifies right angles

• identifies and creates

similar, congruent and sym-

metrical shapes

• understands and calcu-

lates area and perimeter

• identifies, classifies and

creates plane and space

figures

• identifies parallel, perpen-

dicular and intersecting

lines and line

• uses Venn diagrams and

mind maps independently

as a way to organize

information

• identifies right angles and

can apply this concept to

3- dimensional figures

• identifies and creates

similar, congruent and sym-

metrical shapes and can

apply these concepts to

3-dimensional figures

• estimates area and

perimeter accurately

• creates plane and space

figures to solve a problem

• identifies parallel, perpen-

dicular and intersecting

lines, and can apply these

concepts to 3-dimensional

figures

/ = Not assessed at this time



• can do no more than one

of the following: collect, or-

ganize and describe data

• can do no more than one

of the following: construct,

read and interpret displays

of data

• unable to formulate and

solve problems that involve

collecting and analyzing

data

• can do 2 of these 3 skills:

collect, organize and de-

scribe data

• can do 2 of these 3 skills:

construct, read and inter-

pret displays of data

• formulates and solves

problems that involve col-

lecting and analyzing data

with teacher guidance

• collects, organizes and de-

scribes data

• constructs, reads and in-

terprets data on a model

provided by the teacher



lecting and analyzing simple

data

• collects, organizes and de-

scribes data, and is able to

apply these skills to situa-

tions outside of the assigned

class projects

• constructs, reads and in-

terprets displays of data,

and is able to apply these

skills to situations outside of

the assigned class projects



lecting and analyzing data

and applies these skills to

situations outside of the as-

signed class projects

STATISTICS

Goal: to exhibit

practical and concep-

tual understanding

of data

NY D A E

GEOMETRY AND

MEASUREMENT

Goal: to exhibit


tual understanding

of geometry and

measurement

NY D A E

29


FIGURE 4.1—continued


4th Grade Fall Spring



• recognizes, writes numer-

als to 10,000

• demonstrates an under-

standing of place value with

teacher direction

• cannot round numbers

• cannot explain or accu-

rately compute 4-digit sub-

traction with regrouping


rately compute 2-digit by

2-digit multiplication


rately compute division with

1-digit divisors and up to

4-digit dividends

• does not know basic multi-

plication facts to 144

• does not know basic divi-

sion facts to 100

• cannot identify fractions

as part of a set and part of a

whole

• incorrectly adds and sub-

tracts fractions with like de-

nominators (e.g., 1/4 +1/4 =

2/8)

• does not understand <,>, =

with fractions

• does not understand con-

cept of decimals

• recognizes, writes and un-

derstands numerals to

10,000


standing of place value

through 1000’s

• rounds numbers to the

nearest 10’s, 100’s

• explains and accurately

computes 4-digit subtraction

with regrouping using base

10 blocks


computes 2-digit by 2-digit

multiplication with a model


computes division with 1-

digit divisors and up to 4-

digit dividends with a model

• knows basic multiplication

facts to 144, but cannot

meet time standard

• knows basic division facts

to 10, but cannot meet time

standard

• identifies fractions as part

of a set and part of a whole,

but cannot apply to real

world situations

• adds and subtracts frac-

tions with like denominators

with models

• understands <,>, = with

fractions with models

• adds and subtracts deci-

mals inaccurately

• recognizes, writes and

understands numerals to

millions


standing of place value

through millions

• rounds numbers to the

nearest 10’s, 100’s, 1000’s


computes a 4-digit subtrac-

tion problem with regroup-

ing


computes 2-digit by 2-digit

multiplication


computes division with

1-digit divisors and up to

4-digit dividends


facts to 144 (Goal:

30/minute)


to 100 (Goal: 30/minute)

• identifies fractions as part

of a set and part of a whole

and can apply to real world

situations


tions with like denominators

with accuracy

• understands <,>, = with

fractions with accuracy

• adds and subtracts deci-

mals with accuracy

• understands the concept

of ones, thousands and

millions


standing of <,>, = with

whole numbers beyond

millions

• rounds numbers to solve

problems

• understands and accu-

rately uses short method,

lattice and 11’s trick; also

solves 3-digit by 3-digit

problems

• understands and can accu-

rately use short method

with 2-digit divisors


facts to 144 (more than 30

facts per minute)


to 100 (more than 30 per

minute)

• understands relationship

between fractions, decimals

and percents


tions with unlike denomina-

tors

• experiments with and un-

derstands <,>, = with frac-

tions regardless of

numerator and denominator

• adds, subtracts, multiplies

and divides decimals

NY D A E

COMMENTS: Research shows that place value issues constitute 70% of errors in computation. Because of this, time was spent on place value through thebillions, as well as subtraction. Base ten blocks provided students with a concrete method of exploration. Paul scored 90% on a subtraction review and 97%on a place value review. Paul is also close to achieving a +30 fourth-grade goal on the Mad Minutes. Yea!

While we were reading Shiloh, we recreated his 6’ x 8’ pen on the classroom floor. This led to our exploration of area and perimeter. Students used geo-boards, dot paper, and other manipulatives to look at these concepts.

The elections provided statistics galore. Students were introduced to the concepts of percents and averages. The first step was to find percents and av-erages using a calculator. As we continue to look at these concepts throughout the year, we’ll work toward better understanding the process. Informationfrom the elections was also shown in pie and line graphs. Other statistics were used to create bar graphs. On a recent review, Paul was able to show profi-ciency in all areas except on labeling a bar graph properly. Paul seems to enjoy learning about and messing with statistics.

Effort in developing Mathematical Intelligence: AC DA ED

_______________________Teacher

Fall Fact Information:Your child has mastered multiplication and division facts through the 12’s using the individualized Math Magician Program. yes no+_______ = Average number of subtraction facts completed per minute. (+30 is the 4th grade goal; anyone averaging over +30 is above grade level.)

Copyright 1996 by the New City School, Inc., St. Louis, Missouri

NUMBER AND

COMPUTATION

CONCEPTS

Goal: to exhibit


tual understanding

of numbers and

computation

/ = Not assessed at this time

30


FIGURE 4.2

New City School Portfolio Reflection

Name

Title of Work

(or description)

Date

Grade Level

Teacher

This work exhibits my efforts in the following Multiple Intelligences area(s):

❑ Bodily-Kinesthetic

❑ Interpersonal

❑ Intrapersonal

❑ Linguistic

❑ Logical-Mathematical

❑ Musical

❑ Naturalist

❑ Spatial

Note: I submitted this work under the intelligence I have checked in the list above.

Reflection and Comments:

p.m.), we have an opportunity to educate them. Weneed to create an environment where parents arecomfortable. At New City, a giant coffee urn sits inthe main hall beneath a sign that invites parents tohave a cup of coffee and linger with us! Whether aparent has time to stop for a cup of coffee, whether aparent even drinks coffee, the message is that par-ents are welcome in our school.

When parents visit, they see student work of allkinds prominently displayed throughout our halls.Line-autobiographies (personal life stories told spa-tially and logically-mathematically through a linegraph) are posted next to T-shirt book reports (largepieces of paper shaped like a T-shirt, featuring adrawing that captures the essence of the book, plusa narrative). Dioramas of Native American tribes sitnext to definitions of what all families, modern andancient, have in common, and adjacent to student il-lustrations of emotions. To give younger studentsan understanding of how to record data, a posterwith a row of nails indicates the possible number ofsiblings in a family. Each student then hangs a giantpaper clip under the number of siblings thatmatches her family, thus creating a bar graph madeup of various lengths of paper clip chains. Otherclasses create full-size three-dimensional bodies,lungs made of balloons and bones of white Styro-foam packing material, which they hang from thewalls. Issues of race and data collection come to-gether in a bar-graph chart that reads “My skincolor looks like . . .” Students print their name abovethe appropriate substance: brown sugar, branflakes, oatmeal.

The hanging of student work, however welldone or attractive, is not sufficient. Parents need ex-planations. In our halls you will find explanationsby the student work, showing parents, educatingparents, what we are doing and why it has value.Here is an example of a posted explanation fromour halls:

The 4th grade has been getting to know aboutthe life and work of Frida Kahlo, a female artistfrom Mexico. Frida led a fascinating, but oftenvery difficult, life. Most of her paintings areself-portraits that she began very early in her ca-reer. Often her self-portraits include some im-agery that symbolizes various circumstances inher life, such as the accident she was involved inor her marriage. We tried to show personaldepth in these self-portraits by our 4th gradersby using strong contrast in the foreground andbackground, and using images and symbolsthat represent our likes and dislikes. Look care-fully, as there is often more here than is obvious!

Surrounding the description are self-portraitcollages done by the students.

On another floor, the following explanation ishung:

SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF A POEM

The 5th grade has finished reading The Outsidersby S. E. Hinton. A Robert Frost poem, “NothingGold Can Stay,” appears in the book. We talkedabout the meaning of the poem as it standsalone and also its meaning within the context ofThe Outsiders. Students were asked to create aspatial analysis of the poem within the contextof the story.

Student art work, a spatial analysis of their in-terpretation of the poem, is posted around the ex-planation.

Parent Education

An important part of parent education is also edu-cating parents about our use of standardized tests.We may not like the fact that some decisions aremade based on percentiles and stanines, and wemay believe the tests have little validity; however,standardized tests are the gatekeepers of the educa-tional establishment and it is important not onlythat our students perform well on these types of

31


tests, but that our parents know that we expect ourstudents to do what is needed to excel. As a result,we work on test-taking skills, remind parents aboutthe importance of a good breakfast (especially dur-ing testing week), and report the information to par-ents in an understandable manner.

But again, if the only information shared withparents is a traditional report card that focuses onthe scholastic intelligences and the results of stan-dardized tests, the message to parents is that theseare the only intelligences that truly have value.Looking at all of the intelligences, determiningwhich need to have more prominence, and then de-ciding how to report on these intelligences can pow-erfully influence both students and their parents.

Reaching the Community

Inviting outsiders—parents, grandparents, friends,individuals with expertise—to witness students’presentations, exhibitions, and presentations (PEPs)is a good way to prepare students for experiencesoutside the classroom and to help educate the largercommunity about student progress. Inviting stu-dents from other classes to attend PEPs also givesstudent presenters an appropriate audience and letsthose in the audience understand what is expectedfrom them, too, if they are asked to perform a simi-lar task.

Intake Conferences

Another effective strategy that works in a MI envi-ronment is an intake conference. Too often schoolstalk and parents are expected to listen. Althoughthat shouldn’t be acceptable in any school, it makeseven less sense in a MI school where many intelli-gences are pursued out of school in the eveningsand on weekends. An early Intake Conference

(perhaps in lieu of a fall parent and teacher confer-ence) in which the expectation is that parents willtalk most of the time and teachers will listen most ofthe time enables teachers to learn about their stu-dents’ interests and strengths in the various intelli-gences. It also tilts the power relationship betweenteachers and parents as it is based on the premisethat parents have expertise and can offer useful in-formation about their children.

✦ ✦ ✦

For Faculty Discussion1. Walking through the halls of our school, which

intelligences are honored?2. Which intelligences do we highlight in our re-porting and communications to parents? Which arenot given much attention?3. How do students reflect on their performancesand understanding?4. How do we educate our students’ parents aboutour program and values?

Steps to Implementing MIEach school and each MI journey is different. Hereare some tips to help you in your pursuit of MI.1. Form a faculty committee to look at assessment,both what is measured and how it is measured.How could the report cards be redesigned or recre-ated to ensure that the value of MI is communicatedto both students and parents?2. Explore using teacher portfolios as a way to helpfaculty members see the merit of the portfolios.3. Plan culminating student presentations and per-formances so that they are done before an audienceof “outsiders.” Invite parents and communitymembers to the school to serve as this audience.

32


C R E A T I V E

R O U T E S

T O M I

Many educators embrace MI because it respects therole of the teacher. MI allows educators to knowtheir students, to identify the ways they learn, andto be creative in creating curriculum and assess-ment tools. MI can be a powerful tool in helping stu-dents learn skills and acquire understandings. ForMI to make a difference in students’ learning, itshould be used regularly and integrated into theschool day, not viewed as an extra or a special oc-currence. MI can be used with a variety of instruc-tional strategies, such as lectures, learning centers,projects and exhibitions, and as part of cooperativelearning activities. Teachers can use MI to help stu-dents learn and students can use it to show whatthey have learned. A single teacher can use MI inthe classroom, or it can be a part of schoolwide en-deavors. No matter who uses MI, it should be en-twined in the culture.

Dispelling MI MythsThe flexibility of implementing MI presents somedrawbacks. Because MI is not a set curriculum, be-cause each educator or group of educators can fash-ion an approach that fits the particular context, theidea of MI is vulnerable to misinterpretation andmisapplication. Before suggesting some promisingways to integrate MI into a school’s program, I’dlike to alert you to some potential trouble spots.

• MYTH: Each intelligence should be incorporatedin every lesson. Although an occasional lesson mighthave eight options, addressing each intelligence inevery lesson fragments instruction and requires anincredible amount of planning and preparationtime. Attempting to incorporate each intelligence inevery lesson is unrealistic.

• MYTH: Surrounding students with the variousintelligences is a good way to address MI. Merely ex-posing students to various intelligences, whilelaudable, is not the same as enabling them to usetheir intelligences in learning and sharing informa-tion. Music playing in the background is pleasantand walls adorned with fine art are always attrac-tive. Neither condition, however, helps children usetheir array of intelligences in learning.

• MYTH: There is significant merit in formally la-beling each student’s intelligence. The intelligencesshould be thought of as tools, not as ends in them-selves. To the degree that knowing a student’sstrengths helps educators plan and tailor instruc-tion for that student, assessment in particular intel-ligences can be beneficial. But simply measuringand labeling a student’s level of proficiency in an in-telligence or in all intelligences serves no practicalpurpose and may lead to labeling or categorizingstudents. If formal assessment of intelligences is tobe done, students should be assessed through theirdirect use of the intelligences.

33

5

• MYTH: There is no need for students to under-stand the MI model and know how it is being used.Knowing the intelligences is the first step in helpingstudents recognize how they learn best, which intel-ligences are their strongest and, equally important,which intelligences are their weakest. Knowledgealso plays an integral part in developing students’intrapersonal intelligence.

• MYTH: Children should always be allowed tochoose which intelligences they wish to pursue. Al-though there is merit in letting students select theintelligences in which they wish to work—theytypically choose their strongest intelligences—edu-cators are responsible for helping students grow inall intelligences and learn the best ways to solveproblems.

Integrating MI in the ClassroomCreative teachers find opportunities to tailor theircurriculum and instructional approaches to allowstudents to use different intelligences to learn and toshare what they understand. As students becomemore comfortable using their various intelligences,they may solve problems or display knowledge us-ing an intelligence not anticipated by the teacher.Establishing a classroom climate where studentsfeel free to take risks and use different intelligencesis an important hallmark of incorporating MI. Evengranting that all lessons can have multiple path-ways to learning, available time and energy simplydo not allow for all lessons to incorporate all of theintelligences. Some lessons will remain single-intelligence lessons. What, then, are some useful ap-proaches to incorporating MI into lessons and theclassroom?

Curriculum-based Learning Centers

These centers use a specific intelligence to address askill or understanding. If the class has just com-pleted reading a novel, for example, the teachermight design a series of centers, each corresponding

to a particular intelligence, to determine the stu-dents’ understanding of what they have read. Thedirections at a spatial center might ask students todraw a series of pictures or cartoons (filmstrip-like)to show what they have read and learned. A mathcenter might ask students to create a line graph toshow the story’s rising action and denouement. Theactivity at the linguistic center might be to show un-derstanding of character by telling (speaking into atape recorder) or writing how a particular characterviewed a situation; or students might be asked tochange the situation and project how a characterwould respond. A bodily-kinesthetic center mightrequire students to dramatize significant events inthe story.

After reading Julie of the Wolves, for example,students might be asked to plot Julie’s trek acrossthe Canadian wilderness on a map that they create;or they might draw a series of cells to create a car-toon strip, showing how Julie foraged for food. Aline graph could capture Julie’s emotions as she waslost, feared for her life, became resolute in her desireto find civilization, and ultimately succeeded incompleting her journey. Students could keep a jour-nal of her journey; the journal could be written,audiotaped, or drawn. Other learning centers mightask students to choose among musical selections tocapture the action in the story or to work as a groupto create or perform a play that features part of thestory. The range of possibilities is practically end-less, but using centers provides students with op-portunities to use different intelligences to showwhat they have learned about a specific curriculumfocus or goal. These centers are generally short-termand address a particular aspect of the curriculum byoffering opportunities for reinforcement, extension,and assessment of skills or understandings.

Intelligence-based Learning CentersIntelligence-based learning centers are designed toenable a student to pursue some of the skills related

34


to a particular intelligence. They are typically usedless frequently than the curriculum-based learningcenters and differ from them in that they are not tiedto a specific curriculum focus or goal; the intent is tohelp students develop the particular intelligence.When intelligence-based learning centers are used,teachers design centers for all of the intelligences,each containing many different activities. A spatialcenter, for example, might offer students the optionof drawing a picture, solving a maze, or using amind-map to share information. Or students maybe given opportunities to use photos or magazinepictures to create a collage that expresses an emo-tion. Sometimes students might be asked to use sev-eral different forms of spatial intelligence incapturing the same event or an emotion. For exam-ple, students might paint a picture, create a collage,and draw a mind-map to describe how they thinkNative Americans felt when they first encounteredexplorers from Europe.

A musical center might have a cassette playerand earphones and ask students to select music thatbest captures the mood of the historical event theyare studying. Students might be asked to compose amusical piece or write lyrics to a tune they havebeen given.

One teacher created a center with several taperecorders and headphones, each featuring a differ-ent genre of music (jazz, blues, rock and roll, classi-cal). After the class discussed different kinds ofmusic and how they are used, students listened tothe various kinds of music and wrote words ordrew pictures to share how the music made themfeel. As a culminating activity, the teacher hung asheet over a clothesline strung across the classroomand turned off the lights. The students sat on oneside of the “curtain” as each student took a turn asthe performer. The performer, silhouetted againstthe curtain with a powerful flashlight shining be-hind him, chose a musical selection and, usingheadphones, danced or moved to the music. The

audience, unable to hear the music, was to identifythe kind of music the performer was listening tobased only on his movements.

Depending on what resources are available (in-cluding space), several centers focused on a singleintelligence may be available, or just one center foreach intelligence. Again, while reinforcement ofskills or assessing understanding is important, theprimary goal of these centers is to give students ex-periences to enable them to develop their intelli-gences. These centers generally have activities thattake students longer to complete than those incurriculum-based centers, and offer more complextasks.

In working with either kind of center, studentsmay be given the option to choose a center, theymay be assigned one or more centers, or they mayneed to follow a plan or schedule that moves themthrough various centers. Alternating approaches,sometimes assigning centers and sometimes lettingstudents select where they wish to work, seems tomake the most sense.

When students are allowed to select intelli-gence-based centers, consider the degree to whichtheir choices are influenced by factors other than theintelligence featured in the centers. Afew years ago,for example, one of our teachers tried to test the hy-pothesis that when given options, students wouldgo to the centers that allowed them to use theirstrongest intelligences. She observed the class for afew weeks in a variety of situations, in class and atrecess, and recorded how the students spent theirtime, identifying each student’s strongest intelli-gences. She then created intelligence-based centersand scheduled 30 minutes each day for students towork in the centers of their choice. Much to heramazement, there was little relationship betweenthe intelligences she had identified as the students’stronger ones and the centers they selected. After acouple days of trying to figure out what was hap-pening, she asked Adam, a student with strong

35

C R E AT I V E R O U T E S T O MI

bodily-kinesthetic talents and interests, why he waschoosing to go to the music center. “Because that’swhere Fred goes,” he replied. She told this story tome with no small amount of embarrassment, realiz-ing that she had failed to anticipate that many stu-dents would base their choice on friendships morethan intelligences. Of course, another way of look-ing at this is that Adam was being led by his inter-personal intelligence more than his bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.

A question we are often asked is “Do you helpchildren develop their strongest intelligences or tryto help them pull up their weakest intelligences?”The answer is that we try to do both. The value weplace on MI and, as a result, the time that studentsspend engaging in the various intelligences meansthat students will become more proficient in manymore of the intelligences than if our focus was onlyon the scholastic intelligences. That said, our intentis to use the intelligences as tools in helping our stu-dents learn. Regardless of the kind of center inwhich students are working, the experience is moremeaningful if they are given the opportunity to re-flect on their experience and, if applicable, how theyworked with others.

Projects, Exhibitions, andPresentationsProjects, exhibitions, and presentations (PEPs) ap-ply a performance perspective to MI. Students usetheir intelligences to share what they know with awider audience. For example, students create a dio-rama that shows a scene from a novel or shows howa tribe of Native Americans lived, thereby usingtheir spatial and bodily-kinesthetic (small-motormuscles) intelligences to depict what they know.Similarly, students use a variety of intelligences toprepare a display that shows how the human bodyfunctions, how plants grow, or how a snake shedsits skin.

If the student-created artifacts are accompanied

by an oral presentation, the students also use inter-personal, linguistic, and, perhaps, the bodily-kinesthetic intelligences. Preparing for an “un-known” audience, whether students from othergrades or adults, raises the stakes a bit and encour-ages students to be clear in both their understand-ing and presentation. Each 3rd grader, for example,researches a Native American tribe and creates adiorama representing some aspect of that tribe’slife. On presentation day, the students stand next totheir dioramas, ready to talk about the diorama andthe tribe with other students and adults. Similarly,our 4th graders select one of the 50 states and giveoral and written presentations featuring a descrip-tion of the state along with graphs, drawings, andexamples of typical food grown and eaten in thearea.

Afterward, students reflect on their perform-ance, ranging from simply responding to “Whatwould you do differently?” to soliciting feedbackfrom the audience, to watching a videotape of theirperformance. Reflection is an integral tool in devel-oping intrapersonal intelligence. Inviting parentsand community members to presentations is a won-derful way to educate them about the effectivenessof MI because it lets them see how students use avariety of intelligences to learn.

Thematic Instruction

The premise of thematic instruction is that studentslearn best when learning is meaningful. A theme isa unifying concept that transcends disciplines andcontent areas; at New City School, themes typicallyare studied for a semester or a full year. Instead ofthe curriculum being a series of unrelated skills andpieces of content to be learned, it is related to andderived from the theme. After a theme is chosen, theteachers create a curriculum that addresses agreed-upon skills and understandings. Because thethemes are selected and developed by teachers, of-ten in conjunction with their students, the themes

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are interesting, relevant, and easily converted intoprojects, exhibitions, and presentations that can bedone individually or collaboratively. Thematic in-struction supports the use of MI and vice versa.

The rich possibilities of thematic instructioncan be seen in the 4th grade theme, “Citizens Makea Difference,” which serves to transform the class-room into a government, with students acting as al-derpeople and the teacher serving as mayor. Lawsare proposed and passed to regulate classroom con-duct. During the year the classes go to St. Louis’sCity Hall and Jefferson City, the state capital, to seewhere laws are made and city and state govern-ment takes place. How we can make a difference bytaking personal responsibility is addressed in manyways, from a disabilities unit in which students ei-ther spend a day in a wheelchair, blindfolded, orhave their dominant arm bound, to focusing onhow they can listen to others and respond to theirneeds. Homelessness has been addressed as part ofthis theme, and the director of a nearby homelessshelter has visited the class to talk about her job andthe shelter. In addition, students visited the home-less shelter during the day (when it was empty) tohelp prepare food. (See Chapter 2 for more informa-tion on themes.)

Using MI in Schoolwide EndeavorsThe linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, and naturalist intelligences areeach closely related to a certain academic discipline.Because of the narrow way that schools typicallyapproach curriculum and instruction, the value ofany one of these intelligences may depend onwhere you are in the school building! In general, astudent with a strong spatial intelligence shines inthe art room, a student with bodily-kinesthetic in-telligence finds success in the gym or on the play-ground, while a student with musical intelligenceflourishes in the music room or on stage. In the sci-ence lab or outdoors, a student with a proclivity to

the naturalist intelligence excels, and students withstrong linguistic and logical-mathematical intelli-gences do well in writing, language, and mathclasses. Confining students to using specific intelli-gences in specific disciplines and certain areas of theschool limits their opportunities for success.

Students should be able to use their array of in-telligences to learn in all disciplines and in everyclassroom. Regardless of what they are expected toteach, all teachers should seek for students to capi-talize on their MI strengths. Our experience hastaught us that in addition to looking for ways to in-corporate MI into individual classrooms, it is valu-able to create schoolwide opportunities for studentsto tap into their intelligences so that they becomemore knowledgeable about and develop their intel-ligence strengths. Using MI schoolwide not onlygives students more chances to flourish, it heightensthe visibility of the intelligences, sending a power-ful message to the school community that all of theintelligences are valued. What follows are someideas for using MI in schoolwide endeavors.

The Flow Room

Are there times when you skipped meals or missedappointments because you were so involved in anactivity that you lost track of time? If so, you proba-bly were successfully meeting a challenge that youenjoyed. Whether immersed in writing a letter,pruning flowers, achieving a personal best on yourexercise machine, composing or performing a song,or putting the final piece in the hand-carved modelof the Titanic, you were in flow, “the state in whichpeople are so involved in an activity that nothingelse seems to matter” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 4).Because we are most likely to find our flow whenwe are using our strongest intelligences to respondto a difficult and interesting problem, flow can beassociated with using MI. It is when athletes arepushing their bodies, writers are lost in narrative,and painters are creating a new reality on an

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easel—when they are accomplishing through theirstrongest intelligences—that flow is found.

Unfortunately, schools are so linguistically andlogically-mathematically based that some studentsspend most of the school day using the intelligencesthat are not their strongest. A flow room gives stu-dents options to pursue what they do best and en-ables them to use their stronger intelligences. It isstocked with a range of materials that correspond tothe various intelligences and students are allowedto choose their activity and choose if they want towork by themselves or with others. Students typi-cally work with little adult direction or intervention.Whether they are playing chess or Twister, buildinga model alone or with a friend, listening to or per-forming music, painting, classifying a collection ofinsects, or writing in a journal, they are probably in-volved in an activity in which they are succeeding,one that allows them to use their intelligencestrengths. Citing chess, tennis, and poker as exam-ples of activities that can create a sense of flow,Csikszentmihalyi says that flow takes place whenboth goals and the appropriate responses are clear.Of course, opportunities for students to pursue flowcan be created within classrooms, in the hall orlunchroom, or outside the school. All that is neededis a range of options that corresponds to the intelli-gences and opportunities for students to get in-volved and become engaged.

Many students, particularly those who are notstrong in the scholastic intelligences, go for long pe-riods of time without finding success, without real-izing flow. For them, flow does not happen atschool; if flow takes place, it happens after school orover the weekend. Flow may not happen for somechildren if family resources are limited and a child isnot able to take lessons or have opportunities toplay on teams. Some children become adults with-out experiencing flow; not having experienced it,these adults do not know what they are missing. Fortoo many children and adults, the closest they come

to experiencing flow is the passive sensation theyget from sitting in front of a television or computerscreen for hours at a time.

A flow room—any flow space, really—is mosteffective when it does more than just allow studentsto enjoy themselves and use their stronger intelli-gences. An important aspect of flow is the opportu-nity that it presents for helping students reflect onand become aware of their stronger intelligencesand how they find enjoyment. Teachers can helpstudents consciously learn about their interests andthe pursuit of flow by asking them to reflect on theirfeelings after they have engaged in tasks associatedwith different intelligences. Do they find, for exam-ple, that they are more refreshed after playing chessthan after finishing a drawing? Does listening tomusic or playing hopscotch cause them to forgetabout some of the day’s frustrations? Are they ableto focus their energies on building a model orwatching a mouse in a cage regardless of the dis-tractions in the room? Are they more “productive”when working alone or as a member of a team?

Students who are strong intrapersonally have asense of how their participation in various tasks(corresponding to the various intelligences) relatesto their moods and feelings, whether or not ques-tions are posed to them about this. For those stu-dents who are not very strong intrapersonally,however, the issue needs to be raised directly. Askstudents to keep track of the frequency and timethey spend engaging in various activities. A moreelaborate approach is to have them record their feel-ings on a Likert-type scale (“strongly agree,”“agree,” etc.) before and after they participate in ac-tivities. Reviewing the data with students can helpthem discern tendencies and patterns in their be-havior and learn about themselves.

Understanding ourselves, developing the in-trapersonal intelligence, enables us to gain controlover our feelings. In Emotional Intelligence, DanielGoleman says, “Much of what we do—especially in

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our free time—is an attempt to manage mood. Eve-rything from reading a novel or watching televisionto the activities and companions we choose can be away to make ourselves feel better. The art of sooth-ing ourselves is a fundamental life skill" (1995,p. 57). Experiences in a flow room, pursuing flowand learning about oneself, can help develop the in-trapersonal intelligence.

Conversely, students should be encouraged touse the flow room to try different tasks and meetnew challenges by investigating areas that do notcorrespond with their strengths. Although perhapsnot as much fun as working with stronger intelli-gence and finding flow, exploring weaker intelli-gences also provides useful information to studentsabout how they learn best, what causes difficulty,and how they can work at minimizing frustration.Working with the weaker intelligences is a valuableexercise in developing intrapersonal intelligence.

Learning Pods

In learning pods, gaining skill is the goal and stu-dents are often taught how to use an intelli-gence—how to mold clay, play an instrument, pot aplant, or kick a ball—through direct instruction. Aspecified time is set aside (perhaps an hour once orseveral times each week) and the entire school com-munity offers unique, intelligence-oriented experi-ences. Often, all the adults in the building, includingthe office and custodial staff, serve as mentors andinstructors for pods. Students choose an activityand pursue it for several sessions. Pods might focuson knitting or stitchery, table games, gardening,computers, architecture, music, cooking, sports, sci-ence experiments, magic tricks, public speaking,woodworking, or quiet reflection. As with flowrooms, pods offer students chances to pursue theirstronger intelligences, find enjoyment, gain skill,and learn about themselves.

If it isn’t possible to establish learning podsschoolwide, a teacher in one classroom or a few

teachers working together can create these opportu-nities in their classrooms. Although fewer choiceswould be available, students would have opportu-nities to pursue and develop their intelligences.

Role ModelsRole models can help to create enthusiasm for ac-tivities that require particular intelligences. Interact-ing with people whose roles are based onproficiency in the intelligences as they share theirexpertise and passion with students can help towiden students’ horizons and aspirations. Whethervisitors come to classrooms or perform in a school-wide assembly, the result is the same: The studentswhose strongest intelligences correspond withthose of the presenter will be touched and inspiredin special ways. Schools that value MI should makespecial efforts to ensure that adults representingskill in each of the intelligences are visible and ac-cessible to students. Likewise, taking students to lo-cations where a high level of skill in specificintelligences is necessary—artists’ studios, concerts,nature conservatories, sports competitions—is alsoimportant. With older students, creating mentor orapprenticeship programs or simply providing anopportunity for them to work directly with some-one whose livelihood stems from proficiency in anintelligence can influence their lives. Presentingthese kinds of role models is especially important ifa school does not have music, physical education,and art teachers on staff or if students do not haveregular access to the teachers of these subjects or in-telligences.

Lengthening the School Dayand School YearAnother approach to adding MI to an already fullcurriculum is through extending the school day andlengthening the school year. Adding more time forschool does not mean more of the same. It meansthat schools can meet families’ needs for after-

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school or summer supervision by providing oppor-tunities for students to investigate and pursue dif-ferent intelligences. As work patterns and familieschange, more schools are providing additional cov-erage for their students. At New City, for example,our school day is 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., but we offercoverage for our students from 7:00 a.m. until 6:30p.m. The before-school coverage is free and isstaffed primarily by teacher aides. As many as 150of our 360 students stay after school in our fee-based Extended Day Program, which is primarilyrecreational in nature (although a study hall is of-fered for upper-grade students). College studentsare hired to work in this program.

Within the Extended Day Program, for an extrafee, we offer Talents Classes, sessions that meetweekly and are framed around MI. Adults, includ-ing some parents, teachers, and outsiders who use aparticular intelligence as their livelihood, teachthese classes. Recent offerings have included karate,drums, paper marbling, student newspaper, piano,jewelry making, insects and bugs, drama, photogra-phy, and Web page design. Perhaps my favorite of-fering was one that combined the musical andbodily-kinesthetic intelligences, Rock & Roll RollerSkating.

At New City School, we also offer a summercamp program for 10 weeks of the summer. All stu-dents go swimming each day, everyone gets to en-joy the flow room, and our older students haveovernight camping trips. Extra classes are offeredwithin the summer camp as well, including piano,drums, Web page design, writing, and mathemat-ics. As with our Extended Day Program, the rela-tively leisurely pace of summer makes it a bit easierfor us to allow our students to pursue their intelli-gences and find their flow.

Using MI requires more time and energy than does

a traditional textbook-based approach to teaching,and political considerations and philosophical con-straints can inhibit progress toward MI. But by be-ing creative about MI, finding new ways to givekids opportunities to use all of their intelligences,students and teachers benefit. Learning centers,flow rooms, learning pods and looking anew at theschool day and calendar can all be helpful in pursu-ing MI.

✦ ✦ ✦

For Faculty Discussion1. Where in our school can kids pursue their non-scholastic intelligences?2. What kinds of games and activities would go inour school’s flow room?3. How can we help students learn to understandand gain from their frustrations and failures?4. How would we be different if our schools hadvalued MI when we were children?5. How do we, the adults, find flow in our lives?

Steps to Implementing MIEach school and each MI journey is different. Thefollowing tips, however, may be helpful in any pur-suit of MI.1. Begin discussing ways that MI could be ad-dressed beyond what takes place in individualclassrooms.2. How could our school create MI opportunities forstudents before and after school, and during lunch?3. Conduct an inventory of the talents and skills invarious intelligences possessed by all the adultsworking or volunteering in our school. How couldthese be used to offer learning pods for students?4. Plan a speakers series in which individuals em-bodying success in the various intelligences visit theschool to share their passions and successes.

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T H E I M P O R T A N C E

O F T H E P E R S O N A L

I N T E L L I G E N C E S

When I give presentations on MI, I often begin bysaying to the audience, “Take a moment and writedown the initials of three adults you know person-ally and consider to be intelligent. How you defineintelligence is up to you.” I wait a moment and thenask the participants to write the initials of three fa-mous people they consider to be intelligent. FinallyI ask them to write the initials of three of their stu-dents they consider intelligent. Then I ask them tospend a few minutes discussing their answers insmall groups, looking for both differences and simi-larities among the people on their lists. Finally, thesmall groups share their common people and char-acteristics with the whole group.

Regardless of the composition of the audience,whether educators or parents, whether the ques-tions are asked in Maryland or Texas, Chile or Aus-tralia, the results are nearly the same. Rarely, if ever,are people identified solely because of their abilityto read, write, or compute. Yes, those scholasticskills are important, to be sure, and many of the in-dividuals on the lists possess them in abundance.But being able to read, write, and compute well arenot in themselves qualities that prompt people to beidentified by others as intelligent.

The consistent responses from a range of audi-ences indicate that proficiency in the scholastic in-telligences (any of the intelligences, really) must besupplemented with strength in the personal

intelligences. Simply put, if you can’t work withothers, if you continue to make the same mistakes, ifyour people skills are terrible, these deficiencies faroutweigh your other skills and strengths. Writing,speaking, and calculating well are valuable thresh-old skills; these abilities give you access to a profes-sion or role. Once there, however, accomplishment,advancement, and success come from knowingyourself and working successfully with others.

Perhaps in an earlier day, a lighthouse keepercould do a good job with little or no human interac-tion. The interconnectedness of today’s society,however, means that working with others is an inte-gral part of any complex task, and the prospect oftechnological advances only exacerbates the need towork together. Indeed, it may be that the personalintelligences are even more critical today becausethe speed at which information is generated andshared can leave little time for knowing and under-standing others. For example, the use of e-mail isbecoming pervasive because it speeds communica-tion, but the use of e-mail reduces face-to-face hu-man contact and interaction, inhibiting the relation-ship building that we need, particularly in times ofstress. Writing about this phenomenon, EdwardHallowell (1999), talks about the “human moment:an authentic psychological encounter that can hap-pen only when two people share the same physicalspace” and when emotional and intellectual

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6

attention is given to the other person. He says that“the absence of the human moment—on an organ-izational scale—can wreak havoc” (p. 60). The rarityof these human moments means that skill in thepersonal intelligences, the ability to work with oth-ers who are similar to and different from you, be-comes even more critical. Preparing our studentsfor this future means that it is essential that they cancapitalize on their strengths and work well withothers.

The gamut of multiple intelligences offersmany different avenues for success and accom-plishment, but in each the personal intelligencesplay an important role. Successful human interac-tion of any kind requires an ability to know oneselfand to work with others. As Goleman writes inEmotional Intelligence (1995),

Much evidence testifies that people who areemotionally adept—who know and managetheir own feelings well, and who read and dealeffectively with other people’s feelings—are atan advantage in any domain of life, whether ro-mance and intimate relationships or picking upthe unspoken rules that govern success in or-ganizational politics. People with well-developed emotional skills are also more likelyto be content and effective in their lives, master-ing the habits of mind that foster their own pro-ductivity; people who cannot marshal somecontrol over their emotional life fight inner bat-tles that sabotage their ability for focused workand clear thought (p. 36).

Someone who possessed exceptional interper-sonal intelligence was Franklin D. Roosevelt. In dis-cussing FDR in No Ordinary Times (1994), Goodwinsays, “It seemed at times as if he possessed invisibleantennae that allowed him to understand what hisfellow citizens were thinking and feeling, so that hecould craft his own responses to meet their deepestneeds” (p. 78).

Years ago, a student named Jeffrey exemplifiedinterpersonal intelligence. He was an avid chessplayer and played with the school counselor duringweekly visits to work on overcoming his shyness.Jeffrey consistently beat her at chess and it was astanding joke between them. One day when theywere finished meeting, the counselor came to me,exultant. “I beat Jeffrey in chess!” she said with ahuge smile; he followed her, looking rather down-trodden. When the counselor left, I said to Jeffrey,“Boy, that’s a surprise. She’s never beaten you, hasshe?” He smiled at me and said, “I let her win be-cause I knew she was having a bad day.” In fact, thecounselor was quietly going through the throes of adivorce and few people knew it. Jeffrey’s keen inter-personal intelligence, however, alerted him to thefact that she was experiencing some difficulties, andhe chose to help out by losing at chess.

A strong intrapersonal intelligence was dis-played by one of our students, Adam, a couple ofyears ago when he was a 4th grader. His older sister,three years ahead of him, was linguistically giftedand had read nearly every book in our library be-fore 6th grade. Adam struggled in learning to readand felt as if he was simply “Karen’s youngerbrother” and not a very good student in compari-son. As his class learned more and more about MI,however, he began to appreciate that the differencesbetween them were just that, differences, not judg-ments of better or worse. One day his teacher cameto me, almost teary-eyed with joy. “You won’t be-lieve what happened,” she said. “We were talkingabout MI in class and Adam jumped up and said,‘I’ve got it! Karen is smart linguistically but I’msmarter logically-mathematically!’” She continued,“He then talked about the various intelligences andwas able to identify the intelligences in which shewas stronger but also those in which he excelled.I’ve been working so hard on building up his confi-dence and I think this was a breakthrough.” As a re-sult of his burgeoning intrapersonal intelligence,

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instead of feeling less smart than his linguisticallytalented sister, Adam was able to appreciate the ar-eas in which he was strong while being aware ofthose areas that needed more attention.

The Unique Role of IntrapersonalIntelligenceDuring my presentations, after I have explained MIand focused on the personal intelligences, I oftenask, “Is anyone a bad speller?” Despite the plethoraof people with master’s and doctorate degrees inthe room, a forest of hands always appears beforeme. “It’s not so important whether or not you canspell well today,” I continue as some begin to nod,“and why is that?” Almost in unison the crowd re-sponds “spell-check!”

“Yes,” I continue, “but spell-check is helpfulonly if you know you need to use it, if you know you area poor speller. This is where the intrapersonal intel-ligence comes in. Because if you don’t know youspell badly, you’ll continue to misspell, unaware,writing notes and turning in papers that are filledwith errors.” I continue, “Knowing that spelling is aweakness of yours, however, allows you to capital-ize on spell-check or having someone else proofyour work.”

The point is that having a weakness isn’t nearlyas much of a problem as not knowing what theweakness is. If you don’t know where you areweak, how can you systematically improve? Know-ing ourselves—identifying and understandingwhat we do well and why we do it—is the intraper-sonal intelligence.

The intrapersonal intelligence is the key intelli-gence. More than any other intelligence, a strong in-trapersonal intelligence positions us for success;conversely, a weak intrapersonal intelligence likelymeans that we will continue to meet frustration andfailure—and our successes, if we have any, will berandom.

Knowing our strengths allows us to find

situations in which what we do well is valued andwhere we can succeed. Knowing our weaknessesallows us to avoid situations where we are likely tofail (or at least we’ll be aware of our weakness sothat we can do what is necessary to succeed, as inusing spell check). And knowing our weaknessesallows us to work at improving, to turn a weaknessinto a strength. Strong intrapersonal intelligence al-lows us to successfully navigate situations to capi-talize on our strengths and minimize ourweaknesses. Whatever our strengths and weak-nesses, we can make the most of our talents throughour intrapersonal intelligence. Conversely, a weakintrapersonal intelligence causes us to continue tomake the same mistakes and prevents us fromlearning how to solve problems or avoid them.

The Reciprocity of thePersonal IntelligencesThe lines between the intelligences can be fuzzy. Atalented visual artist certainly possesses a strongspatial intelligence, for example, but she also pos-sesses sufficient bodily-kinesthetic talent to enableher to fashion the clay or move the brush to conveyher vision. But nowhere are the intelligences moreintermingled than with the interpersonal and in-trapersonal intelligences. Gardner recognized thisin his foreword to the New City faculty’s secondbook, Succeeding with Multiple Intelligences (1996),saying, “I have always felt that the personal intelli-gences are more closely related to one another thanany other two sets of intelligences. . . . To a theorist,clarification of the relation between the intelligencesremains important; for the practitioner, however,some attention to both is the primary mission” (p.viii).

People who are strong intrapersonally areaware of how others perceive them and are continu-ally monitoring how they are received. They maynot be doing so consciously, but it is this ability,whether dealing with children or peers, that allows

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T H E I M P O RTA N C E O F T H E P E R S O N A L I N T E L L I G E N C E S

them to always seem to say the right thing, to knowwhen to offer comfort and when to remain firm. Indescribing the interrelationship of these intelli-gences Goleman says, “Empathy builds on self-awareness; the more open we are to our own emo-tions, the more skilled we will be in reading feel-ings” (1995, p. 96).

It is important to note this reciprocity because,as we shall see, activities that develop either of thepersonal intelligences often address both simulta-neously. When our faculty first pursued MI we hadwonderfully rich and lengthy discussions aboutwhether it was possible to be strong in the interper-sonal intelligence without being strong in the in-trapersonal intelligence or vice versa. We ultimatelydecided, as Gardner implies, that the two are soclosely related that success or deficiencies in one ofthe personal intelligences will support or hamperthe other.

Emotional Intelligence

Appreciation for the personal intelligences receiveda great push forward with the publication and suc-cess of Emotional Intelligence. Goleman focused ex-clusively on the personal intelligences, discussingsuch qualities as “self-control, zeal and persistence,and the ability to motivate oneself” (p. xii). He usedmany examples to make the case that teaching skillsin these areas will give students “a better chance touse whatever intellectual potential the genetic lot-tery may have given them” (p. xii).

Goleman cites Yale professor Peter Salovey,who classified the personal intelligences into fiveareas (p. 43):

1. Knowing one’s emotions. Self-awareness—rec-ognizing a feeling as it happens—is a keystoneof emotional intelligence. Self-awareness isbeing aware of both our mood and ourthoughts about that mood.

2. Managing emotions. Handling feelings so that

they are appropriate is an ability that buildson self-awareness.

3. Motivating oneself. Marshaling emotions in theservice of a goal is essential for paying atten-tion, for self-motivation and mastery, and forcreativity.

4. Recognizing emotions in others. Empathy, an-other ability that builds on emotional self-awareness, is the fundamental “people skill.”

5. Handling relationships. The art of relationshipsis, in large part, skill in managing emotions inothers.

Salovey’s first three domains of emotional intel-ligence correspond with Gardner’s conception ofintrapersonal intelligence; the last two correspondwith Gardner’s conception of interpersonal intelli-gence.

After a group of the New City faculty read Emo-tional Intelligence, we decided to introduce Salovey’sfive components to everyone else on a fall afternoonat a faculty meeting. The meeting started as usualwith bulletin board announcements. Next we weretalking about plans for an upcoming parent even-ing and one of my assistants was using the over-head projector to present the plans. Suddenly,without warning, I blew up at her, “Betsy,” I said,“your overheads are sloppy. Can’t you take anypride in your work?”

Her eyes widened and she responded just asexplosively, “There you go again, Tom, always criti-cizing. You know I’ve been under some stress andyou ought to cut me some slack!”

“Slack?” I responded, now walking toward herand almost yelling, “You want slack, but if I don’tstay on your case nothing will get accomplished.I’m tired of this,” and I threw some papers I hadbeen holding on the floor and stomped out of theroom.

The room was quiet as teachers sat stunned,having witnessed two administrators at their worst.

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After a few seconds Betsy announced, “Relax, thiswasn’t real! Tom and I may make one another crazyat times but this was all fake!”

I returned to the room in time to hear exhala-tions and see bodies relaxing. I added, “We wantedto introduce a new model for the personal intelli-gences to you and rather than simply talking aboutit, we thought a little role play might be fun!” Then Ipassed out a sheet listing Salovey’s five componentsand definitions and asked teachers to look throughit and identify which of these Betsy and I had lackedin our interaction. Someone muttered in a stagewhisper, “ALL!” and everyone laughed.

In the subsequent large-group discussion Iasked the faculty if we ever saw these sorts of be-haviors in real settings with students or adults. Ofcourse, we all agreed that we do. We then talkedabout how Salovey’s model offers specificity aboutthe personal intelligences and how we need to ad-dress each area through our curriculum and in-struction so that we do not fall prey to our emotions.“Too often,” I said, “we focus on content and cover-age, not giving enough attention to the personal in-telligences when thinking about and planning forstudent growth. If this happens, our students leavewith a handicap.”

Developing the PersonalIntelligences in the ClassroomMany different activities can be used to address theintrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences in aclassroom. Taking into account students’ develop-mental readiness, teachers can establish a classroomnorm in which students regularly reflect on howthey are feeling, their role in the group, and the ef-fect they are having on others. Begin by simply ask-ing students, “How do you think you did on thistask?” and “What could you do differently nexttime?” Initially, focus students on their own per-formance. Over time, students can be led to ratingthemselves on their work in a group and then

comparing their perceptions with feedback on theirperformance solicited from the other group mem-bers. We use the Personal MI Profile (Figure 6.1) andMath Inventory (Figure 6.2, p. 47) to help us and ourstudents. Other examples of forms that can be usedto help students reflect on and develop their intrap-ersonal intelligence are included in Appendix C.

Activities that can help students gain intraper-sonal intelligence include surveys (to enable stu-dents to see how they compare with others), autobi-ographies and journals (not necessarily solely lin-guistic), experience charts, portfolios, and goalsetting and monitoring. Activities that can help stu-dents gain interpersonal intelligence include col-laborative writing, group projects, panel discus-sions and debates, rubrics or rating sheets for as-sessing a performance collaboratively, role playing,and interviews. One teacher has the class watch afive-minute clip of a television show that she tapedwith the sound turned off. She then asks, “Who cantell me what was happening?” Some of the studentscan identify characters’ feelings and motives almostas well as if they could hear them speak, but for oth-ers the lack of sound precludes their having anyidea of what was happening. An activity like thisone leads to a great lesson on body language andthe nonverbal ways that we can “read” others.

Other teachers use “gallery walks” when stu-dents have finished writing stories. Completed“best” student work is displayed, and other stu-dents read and critique it. For peer critiques to besuccessful, of course, the teacher must first teach thestudents how to give and receive feedback. Indeed,if students are to develop their personal intelli-gences, it is critical that teachers structure situationsin which students give one another feedback onhow each is performing as a member of the group.Feedback needs to be given carefully so that the stu-dents whose personal intelligences are the mostlacking neither damage others’ feelings nor are hurtthemselves. As with so many other issues, time is an

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46


Name: Date:

How much do you use each intelligence?

Put an X on the line to show how often you use each intelligence.

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Bodily-Kinesthetic

Linguistic

Logical-Mathematical

Musical

Naturalist

Spatial

Seldom

Seldom

Seldom

Seldom

Seldom

Seldom

Seldom

Seldom

Sometimes

Sometimes

Sometimes

Sometimes

Sometimes

Sometimes

Sometimes

Sometimes

Often

Often

Often

Often

Often

Often

Often

Often

FIGURE 6.1

Personal Multiple Intelligences Profile

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FIGURE 6.2

Math Inventory

Name: Date:

1. I think math is

because .

2. My favorite math topic is

because .

3. The math skill that is easiest for me is

.

4. The math skill that is most difficult for me is

.

Rate the following statements using this scale:

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

not very

at all much

Statement Rating

5. I enjoy math.

6. I am enthusiastic about learning new math skills.

7. I use math skills in other subject areas.

8. The math skills I learn in school are useful to me when I am not in school.

9. I use my personal best effort in math.

10. I am good at math activities.

On the back of this sheet, list all the times you use math skills during the day.

copyright 1996 New City School

important consideration. If students are going to re-flect on their performance and their work with oth-ers, they need time to do the reflection.

Proactive Approach with Parents

As you focus your students on the personal intelli-gences, be aware that parents may be wary of yourwork, perhaps even more so than with the spatial,musical, naturalist, or bodily-kinesthetic intelli-gences. From a parent’s perspective, the personalintelligences might seem to be related to values, andsome parents will therefore worry that the school isimpinging upon their parental responsibility toteach right and wrong. As mentioned in Chapter 2,parent education and parent understanding are es-sential to a successful MI program, and educatorsshould take extra care in addressing the personal in-telligences.

You can make a strong case that schools play avital role in the development of children’s personalintelligences, as skill in the personal intelligences isessential in any profession. In Working with Emo-tional Intelligence (1998), Goleman notes

People are beginning to realize that successtakes more than intellectual excellence or tech-nical prowess, and that we need another sort ofskill just to survive—and certainly to thrive—inthe increasingly turbulent job market of the fu-ture. Internal qualities such as resilience, initia-tive, optimism, and adaptability are taking on anew valuation (p. 10).

By relating the personal intelligences to theirsuccess in the adult world—perhaps using thequestions about identifying intelligent people thatopened this chapter—parents can come to under-stand the importance of the personal intelligences,though the term is probably not familiar to them.Although parents can and do disagree about val-ues, all parents want their children to succeed.Every parent has encountered difficulties with a

colleague, friend, or boss; and at some level, everyparent knows the importance of people skills inwork and social settings. Once parents understandwhat the personal intelligences are, they are usuallyeager for their children to develop these skills.

Developing the Faculty’s PersonalIntelligencesTeachers and administrators also need to be con-scious of and work toward developing their ownpersonal intelligences. They need to learn to beaware of how they are feeling and how they affectothers. Although work on the personal intelligencesdoes not have to be part of every faculty meeting, itshould be a priority. After all, staff are in effect mod-eling behavior for students.

Afew years ago, in an effort to increase our fac-ulty’s intrapersonal intelligence and to encouragestaff to think about our interpersonal intelligence,we began an August inservice day with a differentkind of activity. After coffee and doughnuts, our 40faculty members gathered in the amphitheater. Oneof my assistants, Nancy, began the presentation. Shesaid, “Who we are, formed in part by our back-grounds, has a strong influence on how we view is-sues and how we work with one another and withour students. Sometimes we’re aware of thesethings and sometimes we’re not.

“What we’re going to do now,” Nancy contin-ued, “is ask you some questions that will cause youto self-identify and group yourselves by how yourespond. Each time, after I give you the categoriesand you physically move to a point to stand withothers who share this particular characteristic, I’dlike you to look around and note your position, in-dividually, and the size of your group in compari-son with the rest of the groups. Then I’ll ask yousome questions. After that, the groups will talk for afew minutes.”

People weren’t quite sure what was going tohappen, but she went ahead anyway. “First,”

48


Nancy said, “I want you to stand in groups to indi-cate your strongest intelligence. When I finish nam-ing them, let’s have those who are strongest in thelinguistic intelligence stand over here, behind me.Those who are strongest in spatial should moveover there, across from me. If you’re strongest inmusical, then stand. . . . ” She continued, listing all ofthe intelligences and indicating the different placeswhere people should stand. Then, Nancy askedpeople to move. The groupings were fascinating.The linguistic group was largest, and the logical-mathematical group was smallest.

“OK, look around and note the size of thegroups and who’s in which group,” she continued.“Are all of your teammates in the same group, orare you distributed among different intelligences?What does this mean?”

After giving the groups a minute or so to reflectand talk, Nancy asked everyone, “How does whereyou’re standing, or the intelligence in which you’rethe strongest, affect your teaching?” This questionled to a rich discussion within each group. After acouple minutes she announced that we were goingto return to one large group and begin the processagain. This time people were asked to sort them-selves by their weakest intelligence, and the ques-tions were repeated.

We continued this process four more times.People were asked to reclassify and group them-selves according to their answers to the followingquestions.

• “How did your parents raise you? Were theystrict, laissez-faire, or liberal?”

• “In what socioeconomic status were youraised? Wealthy, upper-middle class, middle class,lower-middle class, or poor?”

• “At what age did you first experience difficul-ties in school? During the elementary years, middleschool years, high school, college, or never?”

• “At what age did you first work or play withothers who were a different race from yourself?”

Again, after people had sorted themselves inresponse to each question, Nancy asked them to re-flect on where they were in relation to the largestgroup, how the size their group compared with theother groups, who was in their group and what thatmight imply, and what their answer might suggestabout their teaching. The activity ended with a finalquestion to everyone, still standing in the lastgroup: “What can you tell me about these ques-tions? Why did we choose them and what do younote about the sequence in which they wereasked?”

The discussions stemming from these ques-tions and the groups in which we found ourselveswere fascinating. Clearly, how we were raised, ourschool experiences, and our relations with otherraces powerfully affect who we are today and howwe teach. Although some of us may have individu-ally pondered these influences, most of us had notfound the opportunity to share our thoughts withothers, especially those with whom we are not veryclose. Doing so publicly validated that these factorsneed to be considered and opened the door to ourtalking about them in future formal and informalgatherings. We ended the activity by asking the fac-ulty to form groups once again, this time by grade-level teams, to talk about how they felt during theprocess.

A single activity, even one as powerful as this,does not significantly move people forward in de-veloping their personal intelligences. But a series ofactivities like this, supported by time to reflect onhow we are feeling and how the group is working atcommittee, faculty, and ad hoc meetings, can go along way toward setting a tone that helps advanceeveryone’s personal intelligences. Having these ex-periences with our peers means that we are morelikely to see their worth and lead our students insimilar kinds of reflection and sharing.

✦ ✦ ✦

49


For Faculty Discussion1. Think of individuals—students and adults—whohave excelled because of their personal intelli-gences. Share those thoughts and successes in dis-cussion.2. Is it possible to have a strong intrapersonal intelli-gence without a strong interpersonal intelligence?Is the opposite possible?3. Think of the students who have difficulty suc-ceeding in our school. Which of Salovey’s five com-ponents do most of them lack?4. What are some obstacles to focusing on the per-sonal intelligences in our school?

Steps to Implementing MI

Just as each school is different, so is each MI journey.

There are, however, some steps that may be helpfulin any pursuit of MI.1. Hold a parent meeting and focus on the personalintelligences. Begin by presenting Gardner’s modeland Salovey’s components. Perhaps distribute thisarticle by Daniel Goleman: “What Makes ALeader?” from the November–December 1998 issueof Harvard Business Review.2. Review how the personal intelligences are ad-dressed in our school’s grading system. How couldthey be addressed? What opportunities are there forstudents to develop or exhibit skills in these areas?3. Convene a faculty committee to plan activities tohelp the faculty develop their personal intelli-gences. If this is too big a step, the committee canplan activities to help develop their own personalintelligences.

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51


T H E P E R S O N A L I N T E L L I G E N C E S

A R E A M O R A L

Gardner has said that the personal intelligences areamoral. That is, someone with a strong interpersonalintelligence could use the knowledge to do good orevil. Adolf Hitler no doubt possessed a strong inter-personal intelligence. Likewise, someone with astrong intrapersonal intelligence could use this self-knowledge to place herself in positions where herstrength could be used to either help or harm others.

Clearly, focusing on the personal intelligenceswithout also addressing values and morals is insuffi-cient. In The Moral Intelligence of Children, RobertColes (1997) notes that it is not enough for children toknow right from wrong; they must act in the rightway. In defining “moral intelligence,” Coles refers towhat a pediatrician friend told him “about girls andboys he’d known and treated who had it—who were‘good,’ who were kind, who thought about others,who extended themselves toward those others, whowere ‘smart’ that way” (p. 4). Even in a contentioussetting, one in which parents argue about the meritsof new math versus old math or phonics versuswhole language, all parents want their children topossess these qualities described by Coles.

If we are to focus on helping students developtheir personal intelligences, as I believe we must, wealso have a responsibility to help them learn the dif-ference between right and wrong. It is not enough toteach students how to understand themselves andothers; we must also teach how to care for them-selves and others and how to work with one another.That teaching must begin in the early grades. Aprac-tice as simple as asking young children “use yourwords,” instead of crying, is valuable and effectivewhen coupled with activities that help children be-gin to understand the effect their words and actionscan have on other people.

In the primary grades at New City School, weuse red chairs as a tool to teach students diplomacyand how to work with one another. Any studentwho feels that he has been verbally or physicallyabused or has had his feelings hurt by another child

can summon the other person to the red chairs.There, seated and facing each other, under the direc-tion of a teacher at the beginning of the school year,students learn to express their feelings and hear oth-ers. As they get older, students feel comfortable insummoning each other to the red chairs or beingasked to join someone there without any adult inter-vention. Occasionally two children will ask to stayinside at recess to sit in the red chairs and work out aproblem.

With that sort of preparation and understand-ing, the stage is set for older students to treat one an-other with care. No, our students are not angels, butthey have learned to appreciate and respect eachother, to treat others as they would like to be treated;they are sensitive to how their words and actions in-fluence others.

Our efforts to have our students respect one an-other are reinforced by our practice of valuing racial,ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity. We focus on di-versity in all we do, creating numerous entry pointsfor discussion: from creating bar graphs with ourpreschoolers to tally their skin color, to taking the 5thgrade on an overnight trip to the National CivilRights Museum in Memphis. Believing in multipleintelligences supports our appreciation for diversity.All of this comes together to teach our children thatevery person is worthy of respect and that we can dowell by doing good.

While our students have many talents and aresmart in an array of intelligences, what gives us themost pride is when secondary school teachers say tous, “The students from New City are good kids,really nice to be around.” We cannot, of course, takeall of the credit for that; clearly, families greatly influ-ence students’ growth. But we believe our focus onthe personal intelligences, coupled with our effortsto teach children empathy and respect for others,help facilitate the development of what Coles terms“moral intelligence.”

T H E P H A S E S

O F M I

I M P L E M E N T A T I O N

Children pass through predictable stages of devel-opment as they grow, regardless of their culture oreducational setting. Simply stated, a child mustcrawl before walking and walk before running. Achild must count before adding and must know let-ters and sounds before reading.

The same developmental perspective thathelps us understand children’s growth offers in-sights about how organizations evolve. In CorporateLifecycles (1988), Ichak Adizes says

Organizations have lifecycles just as living or-ganisms do; they go through the normal strug-gles and difficulties accompanying each stage ofthe Organizational Lifecycle and are faced withthe transitional problems of moving to the nextphase of development (p. xiii).

Just as it is important to know the developmen-tal phases through which children evolve, under-standing the developmental sequence of organ-izations can enable us to understand their growthand plan accordingly. Adizes says that “knowingwhere the organization [is] in the lifecycle enable[s]management to take proactive, preventive meas-ures and deal with future problems earlier or avoidthem altogether” (p. xiii). In The Fifth Discipline(1990), Peter Senge makes a similar comment, say-ing that recognizing the kinds of structures that

recur again and again in organizations is afundamental component of systems thinking.

Crooked Paths and Dead EndsWhile a developmental lens is helpful in under-standing any school’s evolution, it is even morevaluable when looking at schools experiencing theinevitable and significant changes that are part ofbecoming an MI school. Because the MI movementis a relatively new one and because there is no oneformula for applying MI, the path to implementa-tion will be crooked—and it will occasionally leadto dead ends.

New City School’s RoadblocksAfter 12 years of implementing MI, we still findourselves progressing down crooked paths andrunning into dead ends. As difficult and dishearten-ing as this can be, it isn’t a negative experience.Rather, as the developmental model suggests, thesefrustrations are necessary steps in our progression.

A crooked path might best describe our use ofportfolios. We have had a Portfolio Committee foryears and have spent a great deal of time trying touse portfolios as a tool to help us document, under-stand, and assess student growth. We keep portfo-lios for students at every grade level and have apopular Portfolio Night in the spring (see Chapter

52

7

4), yet we are far from having a portfolio culture. Af-ter more than a decade, we still seem to view portfo-lios more as a collection of student artifacts than astools that offer insights into student growth. Weneed to continue work on how we view and useportfolios.

Similarly, as hard as we work at parent educa-tion, pursuing it remains a crooked path. Althoughcommunication with parents has improved overthe years, we still spend time undoing parent mis-perceptions. For example, a few years ago we al-tered our schedule and reallocated specialistteachers to offer more science time to our upper-grade students and more library time to ouryounger students. A parent who was uncomfort-able with our use of MI told other parents that real-location was done in response to our 6th graders’scoring poorly on a standardized science test. Al-though we had not given such a science test, andour students do quite well in science, this was a hottopic on the soccer sidelines and at the coffee pot inthe hall. It took months for the canard to die. Nodoubt the rumor gained verisimilitude simply be-cause using MI looks so different from a traditionalapproach to education. Even today we occasionallyhear from parents who question the rigor of MI be-cause their child thinks school is fun.

A very public dead end occurred not long afterwe announced, with great fanfare and hoopla, thatwe would use schoolwide themes to help us imple-ment MI. Despite our enthusiasm, the idea was dis-missed a few months later (see Chapter 2). And,after more than a year of investigating how a child’suse of MI in the grade-level classroom could be cap-tured by the creation of the MI Profile, the projectwas scrapped. The MI Profile sprung from the beliefthat what you measure is what you value and wasintended to give an idea of a student’s interest andproficiency in all of the intelligences. As originallydesigned, the MI Profile was to be shared with

parents and facilitate and support classroom teach-ers’ use of the intelligences.

Despite the fact that the MI Profile was createdby a faculty committee, reviewed and modified bythe remainder of the faculty, and included in ourfaculty’s first book, we had problems. Just beforewe were to use the Profile, a group of teachers cameto me, including some who had helped design it,and told me that they would be uncomfortable us-ing it. Some teachers did not feel they could assesschildren in every intelligence, particularly those inwhich they themselves were not strong. Although itpained me to do so, I knew that I needed to respondto the teachers’ concerns. Despite the scores ofhours that were spent in preparation and despitemy personal misgivings, the MI Profile was putaside. I hope some day to pull it from the ashes andhave the faculty reconsider its use.

The MI Profile experience illustrates why weneed to consider the strain that pursuing MI canhave on a faculty. We must be realistic and acceptthe fact that implementing MI requires significantchanges in the behavior of both teachers and ad-ministrators. Teachers who use MI move from be-ing mere conveyers of information to acting as theprofessionals who develop curriculum, create as-sessment tools, work collegially with peers, andform new relationships with their students’ parents.Administrators who support using MI must lookdifferently at how lessons are designed and taughtand how student achievement is measured and re-ported to parents.

These changes take their toll, even though theyincrease student achievement. At a minimum, moretime and more energy are required from the faculty.William Bridges (1991), talking about good changesin Managing Transitions says, “The failure to identifyand be ready for the endings and losses that changeproduces is the largest single problem that organi-zations in transition encounter” (p. 5). “Adaptabil-ity to change,” says Warren Bennis (1997), “becomes

53

T H E P H A S E S O F MI I M P L E M E N TAT I O N

the most important determinant of survival”(p. 217). Understanding the phases of MI imple-mentation can help staff more quickly adapt andidentify necessary changes.

Phases of MI ImplementationRecognizing the phases through which a school—or more specifically, a faculty—will pass doesn’tmean that the crooked paths or dead ends can orshould be totally avoided. Anticipating and recog-nizing the phases simply enables planning to takeplace; realizing that there are some predictable ebbsand flows in the progress toward MI can be reassur-ing. “Because the stages in an organization’s lifecy-cle are predictable and repetitive, knowing wherethe organization [is] in the lifecycle enables man-agement to take proactive, preventive measuresand deal with future problems earlier or avoid themaltogether” (Adizes, 1988, p. xiv). Avoiding prob-lems altogether is not likely; however by anticipat-ing the MI phases through which a school will pass,we can fortify ourselves for a bumpy journey andtake steps to smooth the way.

All schools pass through certain sequentialphases when implementing MI. The phases, out-lined in Figure 7.1, are the same whether you arestarting from scratch to build a new school, offi-cially converting an extant school, or gently movinga school to focus more on MI. Variations in contextmeans that some issues will be more significant tosome schools than others, but the phases are morealike than different.

Phase 1: Awareness

Awareness is the beginning phase, when there is ei-ther a realization that something is lacking in aschool or a vision that MI might be a tool to make agood school even better. As educators learn aboutMI, they often feel that it makes sense because itgives them more tools to use in reaching students.

In some cases, educators recognize how MI wouldhave helped them in their own education. Theawareness phase is characterized by

• a recognition that texts and established cur-riculums are lacking or restrictive,

• a feeling that the status quo is not addressingall students needs, and

• a realization that MI is a way to personalizelearning.

The pursuit of MI can be initiated by teachers oradministrators; rarely do parents initiate the effort.

Phase 2: Exploration

In the exploration phase, MI is actively investigated,typically by a small group of faculty members(sometimes with parent involvement). The groupusually begins by reading and talking about MI andhow it might work in their school. Good books forthese groups to begin with are Frames of Mind(Gardner, 1985) and Multiple Intelligences In theClassroom (Armstrong, 1994). The decision to use MIschoolwide has not taken place, so efforts are madeto inform other faculty members and garner theirsupport. The exploration phase is characterized by

• lots of reading and talking about MI, sharingof books and articles,

• experimentation with one or two “new” intel-ligences in selected lessons,

• reactions of excitement (although those teach-ers not actively involved may respond with “yes,but . . .”), and

• a recognition that it is important to have eve-ryone’s support as the pursuit continues.

Questions invariably arise about how MI is dif-ferent from learning styles, 4-MAT, and other edu-cational practices. Until teachers use MI andexperience its success, some are likely to view MI asjust another fad.

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55


FIGURE 7.1

The Phases of MI Implementation

PHASE CHARACTERISTICS TEACHER BEHAVIORS

1. Awareness questioning the status quo and dissatis-

faction with the “traditional approach”

to education; a recognition that there

must be a better way to educate stu-

dents

identifying students who are bored or

who are not challenged, allowing les-

sons to be text driven, eager to find

new ways to reach kids

2. Exploration reading and learning about MI, a nucleus

of faculty members meeting regularly to

pursue the idea of bringing MI to the

school

thinking and talking about how faculty

roles and instruction would change from

using MI, consciously using a “new”

intelligence

3. Courtship visiting or communicating with schools

using MI, generating interest among

the rest of the faculty, initial attempts

at informing parents and other stake-

holders

experimenting with MI, trading ideas

and strategies with others, focus on MI

in staff development, seeing more stu-

dents succeed

4. Full-Speed

Ahead

most of the faculty begins to use MI,

parents understand how MI helps their

children, MI is used regularly, signs and

graphics throughout the school extol its

virtues

assessment and reporting practices be-

gin to change, much enthusiasm as

teachers work collaboratively in many

different directions

5. Roadblocks internal or external obstacles are en-

countered, there are questions about

the merits of MI and how it can be used

to help students

feelings of frustration or defensiveness

can occur, possibility that faculty di-

vides into pro- and anti-MI camps

6. Regrouping reflection leads to a commitment to MI

based on both the gains and costs asso-

ciated with its use, a realization that

using MI doesn’t solve all problems

the pace slows, more focus on reflec-

tion and refinement of MI practices, a

push toward understanding

7. An MI School;

An MI Learning

Community

MI affects all areas of the school: cur-

riculum, instruction, assessment, rela-

tions among faculty and with parents;

a recognition that the journey has as

much value as the destination

engagement in all aspects of curricu-

lum, pedagogy, and assessment, work-

ing as colleagues, a recognition that

becoming an MI school will always be a

work in progress

Phase 3: CourtshipDuring the courtship phase, many teachers becomecomfortable with the tenets of MI theory and its ap-plication and begin to use it in their classrooms.Staff clarify what MI entails and discuss the impli-cations for students and faculty. Administrators andteachers agree that MI has the potential to reachmore students, and the theory is shared with par-ents and the larger community. The courtship phaseincludes

• an evaluation of how present practices wouldwork with a MI approach;

• efforts to look to others for guidance and in-spiration (e.g., corresponding and visiting withother schools that are using MI);

• a focus on using MI in instruction, with stu-dents responding positively;

• the use of MI at different levels schoolwide(largely depending on teacher enthusiasm); and

• efforts to answer questions from parents andthe community about the value of MI.

In this phase, teachers often overuse MI, tryingto fit too many intelligences into a particular lessonor even trying to use all the intelligences in everylesson. Teachers feel a real sense of excitement andempowerment, as using MI frees them from text-books and taps into their creativity. MI is often seenas a goal in itself, rather than as a tool for improvingstudent achievement.

Phase 4: Full-Speed AheadAt this point, there is general recognition that theschool is an “MI School.” Faculty members are en-thusiastic and parents begin to understand how us-ing MI will help their children. Teachers andadministrators begin to explore how using MI canand should affect other parts of their program. Thefull-speed ahead phase is characterized by

• the regular use of MI by all (or almost all) fac-ulty,

• the acceptance of MI by parents and commu-nity,

• high-energy efforts to try to do everything atonce,

• increased sharing of ideas among faculty, asworking relationships change, and

• an understanding that student assessmentand communication with parents must change if MIis to be effective.

Excitement and satisfaction pervade the school.Staff are using MI in a variety of ways and devotinggreat energy to looking at all aspects of the school.As each innovation and success increases expecta-tions for the future, some teachers begin to wonderwhen the pace will let up.

Phase 5: RoadblocksSuccess has set the stage for some frustration.Crooked roads and dead ends begin to appear aswonderfully creative ideas meet pragmatic realities.Part of the difficulty is that there are so many thingsthat seem to need to be addressed, seemingly all atonce. The roadblocks phase is characterized by

• staff changes, either through natural causes(retirement, maternity leave, relocation) or becausesome teachers desire a more traditional setting;

• a press for traditional accountability assome teachers and parents question the use of MI;

• teacher concerns about what using MImeans for curriculum continuity; and

• some faculty dissension, as increased dialoguehas highlighted areas where disagreements exist.

The challenges of this phase require particu-larly strong administrative vision and leadership.Without a strong principal and without strong lead-ership from within the faculty, the school can de-volve into factions that disagree on the merits of MIand how much time its implementation requires.As new staff join the faculty, special attention needsto be given to orientation, training, and support.

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Phase 6: RegroupingA realistic view of both what is possible and howlong it will take to accomplish that goal is the resultof many dialogues among faculty members. Duringthe phase called regrouping, MI has a powerful in-fluence on thinking and how educational issues areframed, but it is not seen as a panacea. MI is viewedas a tool, rather than a goal. Instead of focusing oncreating new ways to use MI, faculty members givemore time to evaluating and refining the MI strate-gies that they are already using. Regrouping is char-acterized by

• sustained experience with MI, whichmeans that teachers can identify students who haveflourished using MI;

• an emphasis on prioritizing and focus-ing efforts, realizing that everything can’t be done atonce; and

• efforts to establish support systems andongoing staff development, as everyone recognizesthat faculty members are at different levels in imple-menting MI.

The highs associated with implementing MI arelong gone. The faculty has enough experience withMI to appreciate its benefits and costs. How tomaintain the momentum for MI while prioritizingand focusing becomes the challenge for the schoolleadership.

Phase 7: The MI Learning CommunityIn this phase, MI is an integral part of the school,transcending individual personalities. It is em-braced by educators, students, and parents as a toolthat helps identify and nurture student strengthswhile advancing student growth in traditional aca-demic areas. The learning community phase is char-acterized by

• more students succeeding;• the acceptance of MI as a tool for accom-

plishing educational goals;

• the blending of MI into the school cul-ture (e.g., in faculty discussions, wall and hall deco-rations, and notes home to parents);

• the use of MI to motivate students tolearn and teachers to teach;

• the use of assessment tools and tech-niques that focus on understanding, not just rotememorization and recitation;

• the use of MI in faculty hiring, teacherevaluation, and staff development efforts; and

• parent and community support for MIand widespread understanding of how its use canhelp students and teachers grow.

Despite the gains made with MI, a school usingMI will always be a work in progress; the becomingis never finished! That is, teachers will continue toreflect on how MI is used and search for betterways. Although all schools are works in progress,the pace of change may be faster at an MI school be-cause curriculum and assessment are so teacher-driven. Experience and effort yield success and newways of using MI to help students learn, but thisprocess will also plant the seeds for higher aspira-tions. Consequently, given enough time andenough progress, a school that reaches the learningcommunity phase will probably recycle back toroadblocks and travel the last few phases again.Here, too, strong administrative leadership is re-quired to help the faculty balance worthy goals ver-sus pragmatic realities.

My comments about schools passing and mov-ing through phases notwithstanding, the reality isthat schools don’t move at all. It is the teachers andadministrators working together who move throughthe phases. And given the vagaries of human na-ture, we all move a bit differently. Dealing withthese differences is part of the leadership challenge.

How to Survive and ThriveThe path to MI implementation is not always easy.Yet surviving—indeed, thriving—is possible! We

57


can start by recognizing that there are phases to MIimplementation, that the path is not always wideand downhill, and that obstacles and setbacks areinevitable. Beyond that, three factors greatly in-crease the likelihood that teachers will thrive whilewading into MI waters:

1. The faculty must maintain a commitment to stu-dents; they must be doing MI for the right reasons. Un-der the best of circumstances, implementing MIrequires additional time, energy, and creativity fromteachers. Pursuing MI because it is fashionable orbecause it is mandated almost surely guaranteesfrustration, if not failure. The right reason—indeedthe only reason—to bring MI into the classroom isto enable all students to learn more, to reach theirpotential. A commitment to students not only en-sures that students will be the center of our efforts,as they should be, but it keeps MI in perspective. Byfocusing on students, we are reminded that MI is atool, not an end in itself. The bottom line must be“Do students benefit?”

2. Teachers are far more likely to thrive when theyhave the support of their peers, when they work and learnas colleagues. Teaching can be a lonely road, butwhen teachers make time to bounce ideas off col-leagues, revel in their successes, and groan togetherover their mistakes, the journey is much morepleasant and the energy level higher.

3. Teachers must have the support of the administra-tion. In every school setting teachers need adminis-trators who trust and respect them and whounderstand the pull of the often conflicting respon-sibilities that adults have in their lives. Administra-tors need to remember that teacher creativity is tiedto trust, and teacher efforts are related to apprecia-tion. It’s essential that administrators walk withteachers on the MI journey.

Staff Development

As teachers and administrators pass through the MIphases, the need for faculty development and

growth is enormous and ongoing. Staff develop-ment activities are important, but they are only a be-ginning, at least as staff development activities havetypically been fashioned. Although there is merit inan outsider sharing experiences for a morning or aday with a faculty, that is only the beginning.

What is far more powerful is to establish a cul-ture that encourages faculty learning. In workingwith MI, teachers need to do more than learn a newcurriculum or a new way to measure studentgrowth. Pursuing MI can become a vehicle for themto learn with and from colleagues, to be part of anenterprise that continually seeks information andreflects on whether there is a better way to meet stu-dent needs. Staff development strategies “shouldexplicitly concentrate on the dual goals of imple-menting a project successfully and influencing thecollegial climate of the school as an organization”(Fullan, 1990, p. 12).

At New City, we address staff developmentneeds throughout the year. We begin duringAugust inservice training, which is typically sevendays, often including an overnight retreat, and con-tinue on the two inservice training days held duringthe school year. The work of our faculty committeesalso pursues staff development needs during theyear.

Inservice TrainingAll of our staff development efforts are valuable,but the August inservice training is especially im-portant because it offers a continuous period for ad-dressing complex issues. Plus, what is done inAugust helps set the tone for the school year. De-spite the luxury of a week to work together beforestudents arrive and the school year officially begins,this time is busy. In addition to getting rooms ready,obtaining supplies, and preparing records, we al-ways focus on various aspects of our MI implemen-tation. What to teach, how to teach it, and how tomeasure what students have learned (curriculum,

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pedagogy, and assessment) are always discussed.Recently we spent three half-days in August on

curriculum mapping. We started the process theprevious spring by having all grade-level teamsidentify the skills and concepts they were teachingin social studies. These curriculum maps wereshared with the entire faculty as we all looked forgaps and redundancies and then compared our cur-riculum to sets of social studies standards. After thisanalysis, we talked in grade-level groups abouthow MI can be used in our instruction and how wecan record and assess students’ progress.

We have also used our August inservice train-ing to talk about what should be included in ourstudents’ portfolios and how to best use our linguis-tic and logical-mathematical rubrics. For severalyears we have spent some time on the concept ofgenuine understanding (students using skills andinformation in new and novel ways), and workingon how teachers could teach for this goal and how itcould be communicated to parents. We have alsodeveloped “throughlines” for each grade. Through-lines are “goals which identify the concepts, pro-cesses, and skills about which we want students todevelop understanding” (Blythe, 1998). We deter-mined how throughlines can be supported by ouruse of MI. In addition, teachers from adjacentgrades always meet and share information aboutstudents; on a few occasions we have used students’portfolios as aids. The portfolio discussions invaria-bly lead to reflections on how we use portfolios aswell as observations about the individual students.

Although the two inservice training days heldduring the school year (one in the fall and one in thespring) are isolated, they allow us to reinforce im-portant themes or to address needs identified sinceAugust. One year, for example, several teachersfrom different grades individually expressed con-cerns about students who were having difficulties.It was clear to me that these teachers shared somecommon concerns. As a result, I began inservice

training by asking teachers to think of the three stu-dents in their classrooms who were struggling themost as well as the three students who caused themthe most frustration. I then asked teammates, thoseteaching the same grade level, to see if they hadidentified the same students. Then I had teachersidentify the intelligences in which these studentswere the strongest and the weakest, looking for pat-terns. Not surprisingly, at the risk of generalizing,we found that the students who struggle the mostare those who are weakest in the scholastic intelli-gences. Those who are the most frustrating to teach-ers are those who are the weakest in the personalintelligences. From there, we revisited the role of thenonscholastic intelligences in helping kids learn,though we’d been focusing on those intelligencesfor years.

Faculty CommitteesFaculty committees are the primary engine for ourstaff development efforts. They operate a bit differ-ently from inservice training because the focus isnarrower and the time line longer. We have hadcommittees review our assessment techniques,share ideas about incorporating MI in instruction,map our social studies curriculum (continuingwork from our August inservice training), andsearch for ways to support our valuing of racial andsocioeconomic diversity throughout our curricu-lum. These committees can take credit for creatingthe format for our progress reports, initiating IntakeConferences and Portfolio Nights, and developingrubrics for the linguistic and logical-mathematicalintelligences. When we created the first page of ourprogress report, which focuses exclusively on thepersonal intelligences, a faculty committee devel-oped a handbook for new teachers, to help them ad-dress these intelligences. While the nature of thefocus and activity varies, depending on the commit-tee, in every case faculty members—teachers andadministrators working together—are refining

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efforts and seeking new ways to help studentslearn. Senge’s comment about the learning organi-zation applies:

Real learning gets at the heart of what it meansto be human. Through learning we re-createourselves. Through learning we re-perceive theworld and our relationship to it. Through learn-ing we extend our capacity to create, to be partof the generative process of life (1990, p. 14).

Aspects of the MI PhasesThe growth of children through developmentalstages is never as clear or steady as we might think.The same holds true for the phases of MI implemen-tation. Depending upon a host of variables—rang-ing from the quality, open-mindedness, andstability of the faculty to political support and com-munity context—some phases will take far longerto pass through than others. And realistically, someschools may be “stuck” in a phase for a period oftime. That’s where leadership comes in.

The principal’s job is not to make teachershappy. Rather, it is to create a climate in whichteachers are supported and challenged, one inwhich they can learn and grow. If that takes place,students will learn and the teachers will be happy.

The role of the principal is to lead, to work withfaculty members to reach consensus, to anticipatethe crooked paths and dead ends so they can beavoided or passed through with as little pain andwasted energy as possible. The days of hierarchicalbosses who used titles and coercion to mandatechange are gone. Particularly in an MI school, aschool fueled by teacher creativity and commit-ment, the leader must be a visionary and a listener.A leader’s job is to take you where you weren’t sureyou wanted to go and to allow and help you behappy once you’ve arrived. Understanding andrecognizing the phases of MI implementation canhelp leaders do just that.

Faculty Support and ReceptivityImplementing any sort of change always meanswalking a fine line between what is desired andwhat is realistic. At New City School we are awarethat we often make compromises due to limited fi-nancial resources. As a result, when we have ideas,we put them on a list of what we want and thencompare the costs to how much we can spend. Weestablish priorities, which reflect that we cannot af-ford everything we desire. The process is oftenpainful but we understand financial limitations andmake conscious decisions.

Just as often, without realizing it, we walk thesame fine line between what is best and what is pos-sible in other areas. This happens when the re-sources that can be allocated are not dollars butfaculty support and receptivity. For example, just aswe recognize that the ideal is 1 computer per stu-dent, we know that we can afford only 3 computersfor 28 students. We also recognize that while itwould be ideal for a student’s portfolio to containseveral examples of each of the multiple intelli-gences each year, that ideal isn’t feasible either.Given our teachers’ available time and energy, in-cluding a minimum of one item reflecting each in-telligence every year is a more realistic goal. Inaddition, while we believe that it would be best foreach student to routinely show understandingthrough projects, exhibitions, and portfolios, ourteachers don’t have the time and energy to achievethat goal either.

Given that we find ways to do those things thatwe truly value, the essential resources are teachersupport and teacher receptivity. If teachers fully em-brace an implementation, the sky is the limit! Morecan be done than was thought possible and setbacksare seen as minor obstacles to the goal. If teachers donot value the innovation (whether it is MI or someother strategy or technique), the cost of implemen-tation increases, in part because the perceived valueis so low. Simply stated, this means that the success

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of any change effort is a result of the interplay be-tween two variables: the perceived quality of the in-novation and its acceptance, determined by teachersupport and teacher receptivity. Judging the poten-tial success of an innovation such as MI only on itsmerit, considering its potential without taking intoconsideration how it is received by those imple-menting it, is shortsighted.

For example, the use of portfolios to assess studentprogress is an idea that has great potential andmerit, but just hasn’t worked at New City School.Although we use portfolios at every grade level,they are usually a collection of artifacts, that, whileinteresting, are not useful in recording studentgrowth and progress. Faculty have not committedthemselves to using portfolios in a more expansiveway: the success of the innovation is hampered bythe lack of teacher acceptance. Leaders need tospend considerable energy in the exploration andcourtship phases to create enthusiasm and engen-der support from the faculty. Faculty support cre-ates resources that will be spent during the

roadblock phase. Without sufficient resources—fac-ulty enthusiasm and support—the cost is muchhigher than the gain, and the implementation willrun aground.

✦ ✦ ✦

For Faculty Discussion1. Other than the phases of MI implementation, inwhat other ways is an organization like an organ-ism? What are the implications of these similarities?2. Which phase is our school in now?3. After identifying our school’s overall phase of im-plementation, try to identify where specific compo-nents of the school might be. For example, do differ-ences exist in progress on curriculum development,assessment, and reporting to parents? Are particu-lar grades or sections of the school more advancedin their use of MI? If the answer is yes to either ofthose questions, why is that?4. Now that we are aware of the phases of MI imple-mentation, what could we be doing differently?

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S U P P O R T I N G

T E A C H E R G R O W T H

W I T H L E A D E R S H I P

When Elizabeth greets the start of summer vacationby saying, “I had a great year. I can’t wait until Sep-tember!” she is really saying, “I had a greatteacher!” And when David’s mom says, “I love theNew City School,” she really means “Every year atNew City has been good for David. He had a won-derful teacher, followed by a superb teacher, andthen a great teacher.” Each of us can look back on theteacher who made a difference for us. We may notremember the formal curriculum or what knowl-edge or particular set of skills we learned from thatteacher, but we know that person made a differencein our lives. Regardless of how old we were or thesubject we were studying, we remember how theteacher believed in us, held high expectations for us,understood us, and cared for us. Indeed, in manycases, we chose to become teachers because of theinfluence of that one teacher.

Clearly, the teacher is the most important factorin a child’s education. Good schools are simplybuildings filled with good teachers, and greatschools are simply buildings filled with great teach-ers. A rich and challenging curriculum helps teach-ers become more effective, to be sure. But above all,it is the quality of the teachers that makes the differ-ence for children.

LeadershipAll of us—principals, assistant principals, curricu-lum developers and specialists, teacher leaders, and

university faculty—need to do everything that wecan to help teachers grow and develop. Whenteachers use MI, their roles change and professionalgrowth and development become more important.Teachers who work with MI find creative ways todevelop curriculum and assessment tools. They fo-cus on helping students use all their strengths tolearn how to solve problems and work collabora-tively. Rather than working in isolation, these teach-ers usually work and learn with others.

The MI journey is ongoing. As we move forwardwe realize that what appears to be the summit is, infact, just a crest that is followed by another peak be-yond the horizon. Gains are almost always accom-panied by a desire to do more. The more we know,the more we know what we don’t know. The facultymoves forward in using MI and then periodicallyslows and retrenches. Then momentum builds andthe school spurts forward again.

Of course, a school doesn’t really “spurt.”Rather, the people in the organization take stock ofwhat they have learned, reflecting on what workedand what didn’t, and then they try different ways ofusing MI to help students grow. Constant move-ment and growth is invigorating and empowering;it is also draining and frustrating. Growth can beonly sustained in an environment where teachergrowth is valued and supported by strong leader-ship in both words and action.

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8

Make New Mistakes

We realize that children learn best when they con-struct knowledge and come to understanding bydiscovering learning in a meaningful way. In con-trast to the traditional hierarchical classroom wherethe teacher disseminates knowledge, in a construc-tivist classroom learning is typically messier and of-ten takes longer. Because the student hasconstructed knowledge, the learning that takesplace is richer and in a meaningful context. As a re-sult, what is learned is more likely to be understoodand retained. Constructivist classrooms are busyplaces where students are active experiential learn-ers, testing hypotheses as they seek understanding.Simply put, teaching with a constructivist philoso-phy means creating situations for students to learnfrom firsthand experiences, providing opportuni-ties for them to have the “Aha!” experience, whenthe light of understanding goes on because theyhave created meaning by discovering an importantconcept or skill.

The process of learning is no different foradults. We also learn best when we are able to con-struct meaning in finding “Aha!” solutions.

Individuals bring past experiences and beliefs,as well as their cultural histories and worldviews, into the process of learning; all of theseinfluence how we interact with and interpretour encounters with new ideas and events. Asour personal encounters are mediated with theworld, we construct and attribute meaning tothese encounters, building new knowledge inthe process. This constructive, interpretativework is facilitated and deepened when it is un-dertaken with others and with reflection.(Lam-bert, 1995, p. xii).

Just as students better understand how an elec-trical circuit works if they assemble one (construct-ing knowledge), rather than just read about it,teachers gain when they construct meaning in their

learning. It will be easier, for example, for teachersto understand how students can use their logical-mathematical intelligence to make a Venn diagramto compare stories if they have also done so. Even ifadministrators think they know the “right” way touse a particular intelligence in the classroom, even ifthey know the best way to create student portfolios,they still need to create opportunities for theirteachers to come to these understandings. We re-spond better to a guideline than an edict, and that isno less true when we are learning. Perhaps the bestway to envision an environment where teacherslearn and grow constructively is captured by EstherDyson’s (1998) recommendation to “make new mis-takes” (p. 346). That is a profound statement, full ofimplications for growth and development:

• There is nothing wrong with making amistake. It is good to take risks and try new things,though you will likely make mistakes in the pro-cess.

• As long as the mistakes are new ones,you are learning and growing; make mistakes butlearn from them so they are not repeated.

• If teachers are to benefit from makingnew mistakes, they must be allowed time for reflec-tion.

If teachers are to construct knowledge by creat-ing meaning, they must be able to reflect on their ex-periences. Facilitate reflection by opening a facultymeeting with this statement: “Take a few minutes tothink of something you did this week that didn’twork as well as you had hoped. What will you dodifferently next time?” When doing so, it is alwaysimportant to point out, as Dyson suggests, that thegoal is not to avoid mistakes but rather to learn fromthem so that they are not repeated.

Making new mistakes is an important part oflearning constructively. If we want an environmentwhere teachers can take risks and learn construc-tively, they must be allowed to make new mistakes.

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S U P P O RT I N G T E A C H E R G R O W T H W I T H L E A D E R S H I P

Almost by definition, constructivist learning im-plies acceptance of missteps, dead-end roads, andfailures. And, when teachers are implementing MIand creating curriculum and developing assess-ment tools, it is important for an administrator tosay that missteps are acceptable, even desirable.What matters most, however, is how an administra-tor responds to the mistakes. Talking about and en-dorsing “make new mistakes” is a good start, butactions must follow words.

When I schedule formal observations with myteachers, I sometimes say, “Try something new dur-ing this lesson. If it works, great. But if it doesn’t, wecan talk about what went wrong and how to changethings in the future.” The expectation is clear: learn-ing, not perfection, is the goal. Because risk taking isnot generally part of the educational culture, thismessage needs to be repeated.

A powerful way for administrators to helpteachers take risks and try new things is to publiclyshare mistakes and errors with the faculty. A litanyof my mistakes would turn this book into a multi-volume series, but one example may illustrate mypoint. At New City, the annual goal-setting processbegins in the fall when teachers are asked to gener-ate their professional goals. After drafting the goals,each teacher meets with an administrator to talkabout the appropriateness of the goals and howprogress will be measured. During the year, my as-sistants and I use observations, dialogue, andmemos to check with teachers on how they are ad-dressing their goals. At the end of each year, we re-view and discuss the goals with the teachers. Wetypically asked teachers to focus on one, two, orthree goals.

A few years ago, I decided that we needed toask each teacher to set five professional goals for theyear. Teachers were asked to generate one goal toshow how they would address each of the threepoints in our New City mission statement: academ-ics, ambience, and diversity. In addition, teachers

would be asked to generate a goal for using MI andone for displaying collegiality. My assistants cau-tioned me that it was not realistic to have so manygoals, but I persevered. “All of these are important,”I argued. “How can we do any less?” (As you haveprobably already guessed, I confused what was de-sirable with what was feasible.)

No sooner had the memo gone to teachers thanthe discussion began. Five was definitely too manygoals! As the year progressed and dialogue contin-ued, it became clearer that this ambitious approachsimply wasn’t feasible. Thinking about five goalscaused many teachers to diffuse their efforts. Inmid-January I shared the realization that five goalswas too many and apologized for being unrealistic.Subsequently, each time we met with teachersabout the progress they were making toward theirgoals, I made a point of noting that five was an un-realistic number and asked “What should we reallyfocus on?” (Because everyone had already gener-ated five goals and begun to work toward them, de-leting some goals in the middle of the year didn’tseem like a good idea.) The following year I made apoint, again, of taking responsibility for the previ-ous year’s error. This time we asked teachers to gen-erate one professional goal for technology alongwith a team goal, generated in collaboration withtheir teammates. (All members of the teaching teammust agree to the same team goal, one that focuseson their working relationships and ability to workas a team.)

The point is a simple but powerful one: actionsspeak louder than words. As William Bridges(1991), author of Managing Transitions, says, “Lead-ers send many more messages than they realize orintend to. Unless the leader is modeling the behav-ior that he or she is seeking to develop in others,things aren’t likely to change very much” (p. 14).The teachers knew that I was trying new strategiesand that I wasn’t always successful either. Theycould see that I was making new mistakes. Teachers

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must know that we will support them in their suc-cesses and their failures.

What You Measure Is What You Value

The relationship between measurement and valueholds true for students (see Chapter 4), and adults.All of us work to do well on the issues on which wewill be evaluated. If there is a disparity betweenwhat is said to be important and what is actuallymeasured, we respond to what is measured.

Years and schools ago, when I first became aprincipal, I was told that I had two priorities: stu-dent academic achievement and teacher develop-ment. Academics were the highest priority and Iwould be evaluated on how well my students per-formed on standardized tests. Strong staff supervi-sion was also essential and this, too, would factorinto how I would be judged. (I didn’t necessarilyagree with the emphasis on standardized tests butas long as I knew the rules, I figured that I would beOK.)

Imagine my surprise, then, when for the firstthree months of school, the topic most discussed bythe district supervisors in the central office seemedto be whether any parents complained to them. If aparent called the district to complain or even to aska question, the principal of that child’s school heardabout it quickly, loudly, and often. If no one called orwrote to express unhappiness, the principal waspresumably doing a good job. If there was an upsetparent, even one, the principal was doing some-thing wrong. Beyond parent concerns, all the cen-tral office staff ever asked me about was whethermy reports and forms were going to be turned in ontime. There was no discussion of teacher develop-ment and little time was spent on student achieve-ment.

I also recall that each principal had to produce alengthy school-based action plan based on the dis-trict’s objectives. Once the action plan was submit-ted, however, little attention was given to it. In fact,

it seemed that the timeliness of the report was moreimportant than its contents. Principals shared tipsabout where and how to have the documentsquickly copied, but not what might be written onthe pages. Similarly, despite the rhetoric about myfocusing on teacher supervision, no one from thecentral office asked me how often—or even if—Iwas observing teachers. Yet principals were re-quired to give every teacher a written evaluation inFebruary. By the end of February all of the evalua-tions were written, signed by the teachers and me,and submitted to the central office before any of mysupervisors bothered to look at what I had written.And while standardized test scores were impor-tant—they occupied almost all of the dialogue inthe district during the spring—it was clear to methat the supervisors viewed late reports and com-plaints from parents as their most serious concerns.

Consequently, as I look back upon my experi-ence, keeping parents’ complaints to a minimumand submitting reports in a timely manner becamea major focus of my efforts. In fact, our students didachieve and our teachers did grow, but they did soalmost in spite of the central office, not because thestaff actively supported them. The actions of the su-perintendent and the deputies spoke far louderthan their words about what was really valued.

In MI schools, teachers need to know that thefocus is on providing opportunities for students touse all of the intelligences in the classroom. Howthis understanding is communicated—whether itemanates from a professional goal, as describedabove, or is simply discussed in faculty meetings orsought in observations—is less important than en-suring that teachers know what the school valuesand what they will be evaluated on. If, for example,teachers know that their evaluations will be based,in part, on how well they incorporate the multipleintelligences in their classrooms, they will workmore diligently to ensure that this takes place. I amnot suggesting that implementing MI should be the

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only criterion on which teachers are evaluated. Ifusing MI is valued, however, this needs to be re-flected in the messages given to teachers.

The Principal’s Job

All of us like to be liked and all of us want to work inan environment where congeniality (distinct fromcollegiality) is the norm. The principal is in a uniqueposition, controlling scarce resources and offeringboth official approval and sanction, to affect howpeople feel about where they work. Thus it is easyto fall prey to the idea that the principal’s job is tomake teachers happy, and that a happy facultymeans a good school. Presumably, a happy teacherperforms better than an unhappy teacher. But fo-cusing on making everyone happy is an invitationto disaster.

Inevitably, running a school involves makingchoices, decisions that will likely leave someone un-happy. The times when a decision is a win-win forall, when everyone is in agreement and supportiveare too rare. The frequency of win-win decisions canbe increased by soliciting input from the relevant in-dividuals, taking all of the variables into considera-tion, and making fair and consistent decisions. Eventhen, however, a degree of conflict is inevitable.Whether allocating scarce resources or making per-sonnel decisions, the principal will make some peo-ple unhappy. Happiness cannot be the goal; it mustbe a by-product. The principal’s job is to create anenvironment where children and adults learn andgrow. If teachers are growing and learning, theirchances of being happy will increase.

Inherent in the quest for the new, of course, is arejection of the old. And so begins the process ofmaking choices that often sets one camp against an-other. Advocates of the old way of teaching can feelcriticized and rejected, especially if extra re-sources—including time and attention—are givento teachers who are pursuing MI. Making choicesdoesn’t mean being insensitive to people’s feelings.

A principal can—and should—appreciate the dif-ferent ways teachers approach curriculum and in-struction, respect individuality, and be cognizant ofthe different stages teachers are at in their personallives. Nevertheless, the principal’s job is to take astand and make decisions based on what is good forthe students.

Although not every solution will make every-one happy, some conflicts can be avoided or amelio-rated by soliciting opinions in a way that bringspeople on board. Decisions made in isolation, eveninformed or good decisions, are not as strong asthose that have been discussed with others. Discus-sions must be conducted in a way that lets teachersknow they are being asked to contribute ideas, notmake a decision. Seeking ideas from the staff notonly generally improves the quality of the decision,it almost always increases its acceptability.

Perhaps the most difficult decision a principalmust make is when to let a bad teacher go. Weshould not allow poor teachers to remain in ourschools. We wouldn’t go to a mediocre dentist or toa car mechanic who was barely adequate, so whyshould we ask parents to trust their children toteachers who continue to perform less thanadequately? Almost all educators would agree withthis statement, yet whenever someone is dismissedor a contract is not renewed, many faculty membersseem to close ranks and identify with the teacherwho was let go, even if they complained about theindividual the previous week!

To some degree this sort of unquestioning sup-port comes from normal human compassion andempathy, but it is also endemic in a profession inwhich such actions are all too rare. The seemingsubjectivity of the teacher evaluation process, rein-forced by the need for confidentiality to protect boththe employee’s and employer’s rights, means thatmuch of the information on which decisions aremade must be unknown to the public. Privacy hasthe potential to create professional paranoia among

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the faculty. Despite how well they perform, theirpositive relationship with the principal, or their ten-ure status, some teachers are prone to ask “Am Inext?” The happiness scale in any school dropswhen hard decisions are made, even when they af-fect the worst teachers in the building.

Regardless of how clear and easy these kinds ofdecisions are in the abstract, they are hard decisionsto make and stand by. And having made one suchdecision, it is even harder to make another, knowingwhat is ahead. If a principal is guided by happinessas a goal, decisions are made based on what is easyand what is least likely to upset the organizationalapplecart. Although such decisions may make lifeeasier for many, the students lose. By focusing oncreating an environment where everyone grows,students and teachers will be successful and happi-ness will come.

Perception Is Reality

All of us act on our perceptions; we respond to thereality that we define and see. That should be obvi-ous. What is less obvious to many of us, however, isthat others’ perceptions are not the same as ours. Alltoo often these differences, sometimes very logicallybased differences, do not surface until they are partof a disagreement. By then, what started as smallmisunderstandings or predictable differences havebecome entrenched positions and major conflicts.

This is not to suggest that people should nothold different perceptions or that the goal should befor everyone to see everything the same way. Thereis a special richness that comes from the under-standing and consensus derived from an exchangeof disparate opinions. Whatever the outcome orproduct that is fashioned, it will be stronger if theprocess took into consideration a variety of percep-tions.

Sometimes the different perceptions are obvi-ous from the beginning, as when people have op-posing values or beliefs. Even people who share the

same basic educational philosophy may have radi-cally different perceptions. There are many reasonswhy this is so. In part, our background and cultureinfluence how we view situations and what opin-ions we hold on issues. Surfacing these differencesand finding common ground is a much stronger ap-proach than pretending that they do not exist. Associety and our work environments become moreracially, ethnically, culturally, and socioeconomi-cally diverse, we must learn to anticipate differ-ences and handle them in a positive manner.

We should also expect people to look differ-ently at issues as a result of the job they hold. Whileteachers and principals all want students to suc-ceed, they are likely to have different opinionsabout the need of the principal to play the role of astrong school disciplinarian or the need for teachersto submit weekly lesson plans. Teachers may wantthe former and principals the latter!

Years ago, when I was teaching, I rememberdreading December because I knew that my classwould need an inordinately large amount of prepa-ration for their role in the evening holiday show.Sure, the kids enjoyed it and parents looked for-ward to the evening, but I felt as if the preparationwas detracting from time I wanted to spend moreproductively, focusing on the 3 Rs. As a result, I didwhat was necessary and no more. (It embarrassesme to admit that I did not then see how the holidayshow could play into my students’ strengths andhelp them grow. My only defense is that this waslong before the concept of MI was recognized!)

Then I became a principal in another school dis-trict. I remember eagerly looking forward to theholiday program. I saw it as a positive way to bringparents into the school. But the faculty was far lessenthusiastic! Their attitude puzzled me and for ananosecond I wondered, “Why don’t these teachersunderstand?” Then it dawned on me that I had heldexactly that view a couple years earlier. Each posi-tion has some merit in this example; each was a

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function of the occupational roles people play,which powerfully influence how they perceive thesame situation.

Similarly, my ill-fated attempt to introduce theMI Profile (see Chapter 7) manifested this same di-lemma at New City School. In the minds of teach-ers, they were going to be asked to identify astudent’s level of proficiency in each of the intelli-gences. They naturally felt accountable, evenfor—especially for—the intelligences in which theyheld little or no expertise. In my mind, using the MIProfile was a way to help teachers use the intelli-gences and monitor student progress. Because I wasnot holding conferences with parents, I did not feelthe same level of accountability—and vulnerabil-ity—that the teachers did.

People act on their perceptions; thus, it is im-portant that perceptions be shared. Otherwise, wetoo easily assume that everyone is on the samepage—until things go awry and communicationbreaks down. Once people stop communicating,distrust grows and people begin to attribute nega-tive motives to one another. At best, inefficiency re-sults. At worst, communication breaks down andrelationships dissolve. People see those who do notshare their views as adversaries.

What can be done? It is important to legitimizethe natural and appropriate differences and percep-tions that exist by creating an environment whereall opinions are valued and respected. I have foundthe extensive use of surveys to be helpful in thisprocess. I periodically survey faculty members andparents to see how they view certain issues. Thedata from the surveys serve as my reality check, al-lowing me to see how others perceive issues. NewCity parents are sent surveys (through the mail witha stamped, self-addressed envelope enclosed) whenthey first enroll their children at New City andagain each spring. An example of the spring parentsurvey is shown in Appendix D. At times I havesent surveys that focus on particular issues or

events (e.g., after parent-teacher conferences, Port-folio Night, and our progress report).

I periodically survey the faculty to ask for theiropinions and perceptions. Each spring I ask them togive feedback to me and my assistants, letting usknow how we are doing our jobs. Here again, it isimportant that I know their perceptions of theschool and our performance. Although it isn’t al-ways easy to hear what is said, it is important that Ilisten.

Finally, my favorite example of how percep-tions differ—in this case how we see ourselves asradically different from how others see us (and real-ity)—comes from In Search of Excellence (Peters &Waterman Jr., 1982):

In a recent psychological study, when a randomsample of male adults were asked to rank them-selves on “the ability to get along with others,”all subjects, 100%, put themselves in the topone-half of the population. Sixty percent putthemselves in the top 10% of the population,and a full 25% ever so humbly thought that theywere in the top 1% of the population.

In a parallel finding, 70% rated themselvesin the top quartile, top one-fourth, in leadership;only 2% felt that they were below-average asleaders.

Finally, in an area where self-deceptionshould be hard, for most males at least, 60% saidthat they were in the top quartile, top one-fourth, in athletic ability; only 6% said they werebelow average.

Until I read that, I had thought I was athletic.

Your Decisions, My Decisions,Our DecisionsMore and more we learn that teams are more pro-ductive than individuals, that collaboration is thename of the game. Today every manager worth hersalt believes that employees should be empowered,knows that decision making is best when it is

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shared, and understands that a productive worksetting is one where ideas are solicited from all lev-els of the hierarchy. These guiding principles are noless true in schools.

In schools that value collaboration, teachers aremore likely to feel a sense of ownership about theirjobs. They offer suggestions and try to become partof the solution. That is the good news. The bad newsis that this kind of employee involvement and em-powerment carries with it a potential unanticipatedcost. Unless it is done carefully, including teachersin the decision-making process can cause major riftsbetween teachers and principals. And often it is the“best” principals, those who are the most inclusiveand value this kind of teacher involvement, whohave the most difficulties.

Realistically, despite the flattening of the hierar-chy for certain decisions and procedures, some is-sues remain the responsibility of the principal (orother administrator). Certainly hiring and firing de-cisions fall here; so, too, do some budgetary deci-sions and many decisions about parent relation-ships. These will vary by school, of course, but whatwill not vary is that some decisions must remainwith the principals.

As a result, unless managers—in this case, prin-cipals—are very clear about who has what respon-sibility for which decisions, and unless they makethat distinction known to everyone involved—inthis case, teachers—they are likely to have difficul-ties with teachers who feel that they were not heardsimply because they did not get what they wanted.The distinction between making suggestions andhaving responsibility for making decisions can befuzzy in the best of situations. It is easy for someonewhose opinion is solicited to feel that she is beingasked to make the decision. As managementreaches out to include more employees in the circleof who’s heard, teachers who have previously notexercised judgment on areas outside of their locusof control are now being asked their opinions about

schoolwide procedures and policies. Teachers whohaven’t been part of the decision-making processmay believe that they are being asked to make thedecision when, in fact, they are being asked to pro-vide suggestions to the decision makers who willultimately make the decision. Because teachers dealdirectly with students and their parents, the focus ofthe school’s efforts, this confusion of roles is exacer-bated and teachers are likely to feel that their opin-ions are the right decisions.

Given that ideas from teachers are essential toschool improvement efforts, determining how toempower teachers and solicit their opinions with-out creating misunderstandings and hard feelingsis important. At first glance this task might seemeasy, after all, principals simply need to make clearthe distinctions between making suggestions andmaking decisions. The difficulty lies in doing sowithout damaging relations with the staff.

Inevitably, the principal wants teachers to feelthat they are equal partners at the decision-makingtable, especially in an MI school where success de-pends on all faculty members working together ascolleagues. But having invited the teachers to sharetheir opinions and letting them know that they areimportant members of the process, it can be difficultfor the principal to remind them that “the sugges-tions are yours; the decision is mine.” Principals arelikely to feel that this kind of reminder is counter-productive to the teachers’ feeling of worth and em-powerment, no matter how well it is said.

As a consequence, principals are likely to glossover the fact that they are requesting suggestionsonly and fail to note that the decision remains theirs.Consciously or subconsciously, they want the teach-ers to feel that everyone stands together, more orless, as equal members of the decision-making pro-cess. This tendency is reinforced when the principalfeels that the teachers will give her the suggestionsshe wants, giving her license to make the same deci-sion that she would have made by herself.

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Too often the principal asks for ideas or re-quests comments, feeling confident that teacherssee things as she does. Having earlier failed to dis-tinguish between offering suggestions and havingresponsibility, she listens and nods appropriately asthe teachers share their perceptions. If, in fact, theteachers and principal do see things the same, shedoes not see it as important or necessary to pointout who owns the authority for making the deci-sion. Although the responsibility for the decisionwas hers, she can seemingly share her authoritywith the teachers because they are in agreement.

That is not always the case. Sometimes it be-comes clear that teachers are seeing things differ-ently than the principal, who nonetheless continuesto listen quietly. Her purpose is to be sure they havethe opportunity to contribute ideas, and she is do-ing that. She thinks there is no reason to disagree orpoint out areas where perceptions differ. “It is toobad that they see things differently,” she thinks toherself, “but I’ve asked for their ideas, and now thatI have them, I will consider all the information andmake my decision.”

The principal thinks that she has done whatwas expected and been a collaborative team mem-ber. She asked for ideas, she listened, she consid-ered, and she decided; after all, the responsibility formaking the decision is hers. But the teachers will seethings differently when they learn that her decisionruns counter to the suggestions they provided.They will feel that they were asked for their opin-ions and then were ignored. Worse, they will feelthat they were made to feel part of the decision-making process, but were used as part of a charade.“The principal doesn’t care what we think,” a teachermay say. “She just asks our opinions so she can sayshe did so, and then do whatever she wants.”

Although there is always a danger of employ-ees feeling ignored or disenfranchised when theirrecommendations are not followed, the potential in-creases when principals do not clearly explain what

they are—and are not—asking of the teachers andwhy they are asking it. When asking for the opin-ions of employees, managers also have a responsi-bility to help the employees understand who hasthe decision-making authority and why sugges-tions from others are being sought.

The phrase “your decisions, my decisions, ourdecisions,” can be a useful tool for helping employ-ees at all levels of the organization understand thedifference between offering suggestions and havingresponsibility. It can serve as a shorthand way of re-minding everyone of the need to be clear about whoholds the decision-making responsibilities in asituation before opinions are sought and the deci-sion is made. Before requesting recommendationson a particular issue, and on a few occasionsthroughout the year, school leaders need to makeclear the difference between providing feedbackand making decisions.

All employees need to understand that thereare several kinds of decision-making responsibili-ties in any organization:

• Your Decisions are those that individual em-ployees or work groups can make on their own;they are the decisions delegated to them by man-agement and for which they have responsibilityand accountability. How rooms are set up or deco-rated, how lessons are taught, and dealings with in-dividual students fall here. In an MI school, teachershave even more latitude regarding these decisions.At New City, which yearlong themes are chosenand how intelligences are incorporated into instruc-tion are good examples of “your decisions.”

• My decisions are the decisions of the principalalone (or the principal and her leadership team); theprincipal may—in most cases, should—solicit feed-back, but making the actual decision and the re-sponsibility for it reside with her. Personnel deci-sions and some budget decisions are definitelyadministrative responsibilities. So, too, are manydecisions that focus on communication with par-

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ents about student progress; in MI schools, such adecision might be deciding whether to administerstandardized tests. As another example, a few yearsago I refused to acquiesce to strong faculty senti-ment that all the narrative pages on our report card(progress report) be condensed and placed in onearea. I had talked to enough parents to know thatthis change would be viewed very negatively, as adiminished commitment to giving students indi-vidual attention and respecting all of the intelli-gences (even though this was not the motivation orsentiment of the faculty).

• Our decisions are joint decisions; they are deci-sions the principal and teachers reach together,through consensus, and for which responsibility isshared. In MI schools, how the intelligences are ad-dressed schoolwide, whether there is a Flow Room,and how students are evaluated regarding the intel-ligences would fall here. The decision not to use theMI Profile was “our decision” at New City.

The potential for conflict and dissension is ripewhen decision-making boundaries are unclear. De-spite the many benefits of including teachers in thedecision-making process, unless both teachers andprincipals are clear about when teachers are offer-ing suggestions and when they have responsibilityfor decisions, much confusion and distrust can becreated. The situation is particularly dangerouswhen principals wrongly assume that teachersshare their perceptions. Given the difference in rolesand responsibilities, few teachers—even the bestones—are likely to have the global view that theprincipal does. Similarly, few principals will have ateacher’s perspective from the classroom and stu-dents’ point of view. These differences are both logi-cal and appropriate, but this doesn’t diminish thepotential for conflict. On the other hand, principalswho understand this tension can avoid ill will bymaking the parameters clear as they ask for recom-mendations, being clear about where the ultimatedecision rests.

✦ ✦ ✦

For Faculty Discussion1. Ask teachers to think of the teacher who made adifference in their life and to write the person’s ini-tials. Then ask, “What did that person do to makesuch an impression on you?” After giving everyonea minute or two to think about this question, havesmall groups discuss the characteristics of thesespecial teachers.2. Share a time when you have made a mistake andlearned from it, not repeating the error and movingahead.3. On what formal criteria are teachers evaluated inyour school? On what informal criteria are teachersevaluated?4. Discuss issues on which teachers and principalsshould view things differently due to the differentpositions they occupy in the organization. Whatcould be done to minimize the potential for conflict?

Steps to Implement MIJust as each school is different, so is each MI journey.There are however, some steps that may be helpfulin any pursuit of MI.1. Teachers and administrators—either the entirefaculty or a committee—should talk about risk tak-ing. What can be done to help people make newmistakes?2. At least one of teachers’ annual goals should in-clude some aspect of MI implementation. It mightbe as generic as using more MI in the classroom oras specific as focusing on the teacher and her stu-dents developing a particular intelligence or two.3. Administrators should share the “your decision,my decision, our decision” model with the faculty,looking at previous decisions and identifying theappropriate category. (If this seems very hard to do,the administrator might begin the dialogue with agroup of seasoned teachers, those with whom she ismore comfortable discussing such issues.)

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W H A T ’ S N E X T ?

T H E F U T U R E

O F M I

Speculating about the future of MI in schools is pre-carious at best. In 1980, who could have accuratelyguessed what role technology would play in manyschools today? After all, just 20 years ago personalcomputers were virtually unheard of. I rememberbuying state-of-the-art Commodore 16K PET com-puters for New City School in 1982. We wereamazed at their power; today my 5-year-old wrist-watch has more memory than those computers.Who would have projected such advances in tech-nology? Indeed, projecting into the future in anyarena is difficult; that is what makes a pennant raceinteresting and the stock market nerve-racking!

Looking into the future in education is chal-lenging because, whether we like it or not (and weprobably don’t), educators often play reactionaryroles. That is, we react to pushes and pulls fromother sectors of society. Presidents, governors, orcommissioners hold press conferences deploringlow levels of student achievement, and schoolsscramble to react. New laws create competitionamong schools, or increase graduation require-ments, or mandate a certain kind of test, and educa-tors develop programs to respond. Lay people runfor school board by proclaiming that they are forthis or against that and once elected, they begin toinfluence policies and practices. These kinds of ini-tiatives—pushing for a certain curriculum, longerschool year, or higher test scores—aren’t necessarily

pernicious; they do, however, mean that the goalsand means of schooling are often initiated bynoneducators and come to us enmeshed in politicalbattles. Looking ahead at how schooling mightchange and thinking about how MI might fit intothe future effectively means looking at how societymight change.

That society will change is beyond doubt. InLeading At the Edge of Chaos (1998), Daryl Connersays, “Regardless of how ready people are to face it,more change is moving toward us at greater speedand with more complicated implications than wehave ever seen” (p. ix). Predictions are always tenu-ous because there are no guarantees. That caveataside, however, there are some things that we canpredict, changes that will affect schools and the useof MI:

• Continued technological advances will be thenorm. The power of computers will continue to in-crease while their cost decreases. More uses will befound for technology, from using GPS (Global Posi-tioning Satellites) in farming equipment and rentalcars to the development of jogging shoes with com-puter chips that monitor speed, length of stride, andbody weight to adjust the cushion in the soles. Howwe communicate and access information willchange, too. More than 500 million e-mail messagesare sent each day, for example, and a collection ofevery issue of National Geographic on CD-ROM fits

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9

in a container the size of a shoe box! Sooner than wecan imagine, a computer—or computer equiva-lent— will be on almost every student’s desk. Whatwe don’t know are the many ways they will beused.

• Racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity will increase.Projections based on immigration policies and birthrates indicate that by the year 2050 there will bemore racial “minorities” than “majorities” (Cauca-sians) living in the United States; the present racialmajority will become the minority. Neighborhoodsand workplaces are becoming increasingly diverse.Although most of our parents lived and workedwith people of the same race and background, ourstudents are more likely to live and work with peo-ple of different races, cultures, and ethnic back-grounds. Diversity means that the ability tounderstand and work with others, especially otherswho are different from us, is an essential skill.

• The free market, consumer-driven model will be-come more pervasive in many organizations, includingschools. The deregulation of businesses that began inthe 1980s is beginning to affect how education is de-livered to “customers” (parents and students). As inother businesses and industries, more energy willgo into advertising and marketing, in this case pro-viding information about the relative quality ofeducational programs. Information will enable par-ents to make decisions about how schools are or-ganized and, indeed, which schools they wish theirchildren to attend.

We already see evidence of the free market ineducation. Pick up any educational journal ornewspaper and you’re likely to see an article aboutcharter schools, voucher plans, or some other formof site-based management in which decisions aremade at the school level and parents have a role ingovernance. While these approaches differ, whatthey share is placing more decision-making powerabout the schools children attend in the hands oftheir parents.

How we respond to change determineswhether the change is positive. Given the inevitabil-ity of change, it is incumbent that we be as proactiveas possible and anticipate how it affects us. Consid-ering all of these changes—in technology, in demo-graphics, and in increased expectations fromparents and the community—it is even more im-portant that we develop students who know how to

– identify problems,– use their intelligences to solve problems and

create products,– demonstrate their understanding in a variety

of ways, and– work with others, including people who are

both similar to and different from themselves.

And as we face increasing and new forms ofcompetition from charters, vouchers, and homeschools, it is even more important that educators

– personalize education and work to individu-alize instruction;

– enable students to develop and use their areasof strength;

– view students’ parents as partners and edu-cate them, too;

– offer an environment that supports facultycollegiality and growth; and

– are able to demonstrate that students are pre-pared for the future.

The good news is that using MI supports edu-cators and students as they strive for these goals.That is not to say that only MI schools can addressthese needs and prepare students for the future; ob-viously there are many different high-quality waysto design curriculum and organize instruction.Given the assumptions of MI theory, however, itsuse increases the likelihood that each student’sneeds and abilities are recognized and met in apragmatic way.

In MI schools, children are offered different

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W H AT ’ S N E X T ? T H E F U T U R E O F MI

ways to learn prescribed curriculum and meet aca-demic goals. In MI schools, a focus is placed on bothunderstanding the problem and understandingoneself. In MI schools, the faculty works and learnstogether. No, we cannot be sure what the future willhold. I do believe, however, that students in schoolsthat embrace MI have a better chance to succeed inthe world of the future because they are developinglifelong learning skills.

The Evolution of MIIn a variety of countries, cultures, and contexts,teachers and administrators see MI as a way to in-crease their students’ chances for success. A littleover 15 years after the initial publication of Frames ofMind, hundreds of thousands of copies have beensold. But that is only the beginning.

A cottage industry of MI practitioners andproducts now exists. Scores of books and videosabout MI and its implementation are available.Type “multiple intelligences” on a search engineand the results will be thousands of references.Nearly every educational conference features oneor more presentations about MI. As one exampleclose to home, the New City School has sponsoredthree MI conferences and all three have been soldout months in advance. More than 45,000 copies ofour faculty’s MI books have been sold, and theyhave been adapted for sales in Australia, New Zea-land, and South America. In my position as coordi-nator of the ASCD Multiple Intelligences Network,each year I hear from hundreds of educators fromacross the country and around the world, in varyingstages of MI implementation.

There is every reason to believe momentumwill continue building for MI. Helping students useall of their intelligences to learn agreed-upon skillsand attain state, district, and school goals makes agreat deal of sense. Indeed, the MI picture is a rosyone.

But as the use of MI in education continues, itwill evolve. How MI is used in 2009 will be quite

different from how it is used in 1999. Evolution hap-pens with every innovation, but it is even morestriking when practitioners have as much latitudeas they do with MI. In thinking about the future, Ihave tried to identify areas where natural evolu-tions and logical steps will take place.

Assessment, Genuine Understanding,and MIWhen used properly, MI widens the lens that weuse to look at students. We see them as more thanchildren whose intellect can be measured with a pa-per and pencil test. Instead, we recognize studentswho possess many different intelligences, who havedifferent arrays of strengths, and who use thesestrengths to learn and show what they understand.

There will always be a place for standardizedtests, but the use of authentic assessments and port-folios will increase. Students who create projects orpresent exhibitions can show that their understand-ing goes beyond rote recall, and in doing so they cancapitalize on their stronger intelligences. This “per-formance perspective” approach to assessment iscaptured by Blythe: “understanding is a matter ofbeing able to do a variety of thought-provokingthings with a topic, such as explaining, finding evi-dence and examples, generalizing, applying, analo-gizing, and representing the topic in new ways”(1998, p. 12). Students who can draw from all oftheir intelligences are more likely to find ways todemonstrate their understanding. As more authen-tic assessment and performance assessments areused, the line between assessment and instructionbecomes blurred because good assessment is an in-tegral part of instruction and good instruction is anintegral part of assessment.

Grant Wiggins’(1998) recommendation to use“backward design” in instructional planning sup-ports the idea of blending assessment and instruc-tion. Rather than beginning planning by focusingon what is to be covered, Wiggins says that we needto begin by determining what students need to

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know and how it can be measured. In other words,how will we know what they know? Once we knowour desired end, then we can work backward toplan the actual lesson or unit. This kind of evalua-tive thinking leads to student performances using avariety of intelligences. These performances aremeasures of what students know and don’t justforce students’ understanding through a linguisticfilter by relying on oral or written responses.

Portfolios support the use of MI and vice versa.Over time teachers will move from viewing portfo-lios as simple collections of student work to recog-nizing how they can be used to monitor studentprogress and development. Portfolios play an im-portant role in helping develop the intrapersonal in-telligence because students learn to understandthemselves from reviewing their portfolios. And, aswe look to the future, technology will reshape whatwe incorporate into portfolios—digital cameras andscanners will allow us to capture nearly every kindof student performance.

I would be remiss if I did not again cautionagainst the seemingly inevitable desire, once havingembraced the concept of MI, to measure and labelstudents in each of the intelligences. If measuringskill or acumen in the intelligences has a purposeand results in teachers understanding the best waysto reach students, then it is worthwhile. But meas-urement for measurement’s sake, with no practicalutility, serves no good purpose and may, in fact, beharmful. At a minimum, it wastes time and re-sources with no appreciable benefit.

Community Partnerships and MI

The emphasis on students demonstrating whatthey have learned by presenting their projects, exhi-bitions, and portfolios to various audiences may re-sult in schools working more closely with thecommunity. It makes sense to invite parents andmembers of the community to see these perform-ances of understanding. This not only raises the bar

a bit for students, encouraging them to do their bestin preparing for an unknown audience, it also en-ables those who do not have children in the schoolsto appeciate what students are learning. Workingwith the community becomes even more importantas accountability in schools becomes an issue.Schools can work more closely with the communitythrough apprenticeships, which are a great way forstudents, particularly older ones, to learn skills andunderstand expectations. After all, the ultimate per-formance of understanding is an authentic one inwhich the judges are people who work in the field.Everyone benefits when students take classes whilealso working side by side with architects, musi-cians, park rangers, graphic designers, lab techni-cians, and physicians’ assistants.

Adult Learning and MI

There is no reason to limit the use of MI to elemen-tary and secondary schools. Many colleges and uni-versities offer courses about how to teach using MI,and at least one institution takes an MI approach inteaching its students. Under the leadership of GregMiller, the University of Rio Grande (in Rio Grande,Ohio) offers a master’s program designed for teach-ers, museum educators, and others who wish to usean interdisciplinary approach to teaching. The pro-gram’s core courses, one half of the program, em-phasize using MI in teaching, and the rest of thecourses have a Fine Arts concentration. Students ex-perience a variety of art, music, dance, and theatercourses with an emphasis on how the process of en-gaging in and appreciating the various forms of arthelps them learn. Nationally recognized artists visitthe program, and students take a weeklong trip “tothe arts” by visiting cultural centers in London,New York, Madrid, Paris, or Rome (at the students’expense). While in these cities, students attend con-certs and the theater, go to jazz clubs, and visit mu-seums.

Over time, as universities begin to enroll

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students who used all intelligences in learning inelementary and secondary schools, it is only logicalthat they will continue to use MI as a strategy intheir university studies. As in many secondaryschools, however, the discipline-based orientationof many faculty members may slow the use of MI inpost-secondary education.

Learning Disabilities and MI

As the use of MI becomes more commonplace inschools, children who found only frustration willbegin to experience success. We will see that al-though the term “learning disabled” is applied tostudents, sometimes it is really the school that hasthe difficulties. As Thomas Armstrong (1994) pointsout, when schools offer only one way for students tolearn, it is the school that is learning disabled (al-though the students pay the price). Too often educa-tors have been more concerned with creatingnarrow academic hierarchies than meeting stu-dents’ needs. Sadly, as Joe McDonald says in Redes-igning School (1996), “throughout the twentiethcentury, we have asked [students] to be academicbecause we intended to sort them on the basis oftheir response” (p. 11).

While the range and degree of learning disabili-ties is wide, the use of MI can help many youngsterswho have been labeled “learning disabled” findsuccess. To begin with, an MI approach is student-centered, rather than curriculum-centered. Usingtactile methods to help students learn and allowingstudents to show their understanding by using theirspatial, artistic, or bodily-kinesthetic intelligencesare strategies that teachers who work with theseyoungsters have found helpful. For example, stu-dents can learn spelling words by manipulatingcut-out letters in addition to hearing and sayingsounds, by rapping sounds to correspond to lettersas they are spelled, or by drawing letters in sand.Unfortunately, the classes in which students designand build rockets, dissect frogs, fashion clay to

capture emotion, or choreograph dance are oftenlimited to the “gifted” students, those who havescored above an arbitrary level on a standardizedintelligence test. Yet it is often the “learning dis-abled” students, those who are not strong in thescholastic intelligences, who would benefit mostfrom these kinds of experiences.

The congruence between using MI and meetingthe needs of students who learn differently is a goodone: teachers who use MI must understand howtheir students learn and, knowing that, tailor cur-riculum and instruction. All children benefit fromthis approach and attitude, but perhaps none morethan the student who encounters difficulties whentrying to learn primarily through the linguistic andlogical-mathematical intelligences. Traditionallythese students’ motivation and love of learning be-come casualties in a setting where their intelligencesare not valued.

Using MI is not a panacea for students whohave difficulty learning. Some successes will occurwhen an MI approach is used with students whohave difficulties. But simply using MI does not re-solve learning disabilities or negate the need forteachers to delve more deeply into their students’understanding. Sally Grimes, of the Cape CodeEducation Center, says, “MI approaches are oftenenthusiastically embraced by these [learning dis-abled] students for they address some of the criticallearning issues and open the doors to learning forthem. However, the success only scratches the sur-face in the case of the truly learning disabled be-cause the teacher lacks an in-depth understandingof why the methods are working for the student,how best to maximize such methods, and the inten-sity and duration of certain aspects that are neededin some instances.”

A related concern is that as MI is used success-fully to help students with learning disabilities, itmay become viewed primarily as a tool for studentswho are having difficulties. Although the use of MI

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implies neither a lack of rigor nor a backing awayfrom high academic standards, those who do notunderstand MI may not accept the idea that MIgives students different tools to learn. The creativityfound in an MI approach and students’ increasedopportunities for success may cause some people towant to see MI as only benefitting those who havedifficulty learning. Parent education about MI (de-scribed more fully in Chapter 2) is an integral part ofimplementing MI and preventing such misconcep-tions.

The Arts and MI

By definition, believing in MI means valuing thearts. After all, an MI approach places the musical,spatial, and bodily-kinesthetic intelligences on a parwith the linguistic and logical-mathematical intelli-gences. As MI gains acceptance and is used moreroutinely, we should see fewer distinctions betweenthose classrooms where the arts are valued andthose where the arts are viewed as an extra. Mostteachers will not have as high a level of knowledgeor skill in these intelligences as the music, art, andphysical education teachers, but they can still en-sure the presence of these intelligences in their class-rooms and encourage students to use them to learnand show what they understand. At an MI school,balanced budgets aren’t achieved by sacrificing thearts. When schools sacrifice the arts, they really aretelling many students that how they learn isn’t veryimportant.

Valuing and emphasizing the arts will make adifference for students. At New City, I don’t expectthat this will lead to more of our students becomingadults who make their living as artists, though thatis certainly possible. I do expect that our studentswill continue to value the arts for the rest of theirlives. As a result, I am confident that when com-pared with students who did not attend an MIschool, more of our students will pursue art as anavocation and spend many hours painting

landscapes, playing the clarinet, or creating potteryin the basement. I am sure that more of our studentswill visit museums and galleries, attend sympho-nies and dramatic presentations, and go to danceconcerts. In short, they will enjoy life more. If MIhad no other effect—and clearly it does—this,alone, would be a good argument for its use.

We need to recognize that the arts play an im-portant role in our society. They tell stories, theycapture and communicate emotions, and, as thisbook recounts, they can be used as tools for learn-ing. But none of these is more significant than thepleasure the arts can give us. Alone among the spe-cies on this planet, we have the ability to create andenjoy art; infusing the arts into education, using thearts, helps all of us tap into our human potential.

The Personal Intelligences and MIAs noted in Chapter 6, I believe that one of the mostsignificant contributions of MI theory is the identifi-cation and prominence that it gives to the two per-sonal intelligences. By defining “people skills” asintrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences—knowledge of self and understanding of others—Gardner has given us a model and a vocabulary forexploring these skills as part of the education pro-cess. The significance of this model should not beoverlooked, because before we can begin to solveproblems we must have a common vocabulary tocommunicate. Without a proper vocabulary, it is im-possible to see and make sense of patterns or rela-tionships; without adequate terminology, a studentwho continues to make the same mistakes is simply“not trying.” But with the right vocabulary we cantalk about the student’s lack of intrapersonal intelli-gence and begin to work on developing it so that hecan learn from his mistakes. Put another way, “Onlywhen data have been assigned meaning do they be-come useful information” (Conner, 1998, p. 20).

The public’s enthusiasm for Daniel Goleman’swork on emotional intelligence only serves to rein-force the importance of the personal intelligences.

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That said, in many schools the step to formally ad-dress the personal intelligences through curriculumand in assessment remains a big one. Here, as inmany other areas, I believe that education will fol-low the lead taken by business. A spate of booksand articles about emotional intelligence(Gardner’s personal intelligences) in the workplacecan be found on bookstore shelves and in journal ar-ticles. As businesses become cognizant about theimportant role that the personal intelligences playin organizational success, the need for schools toprepare students appropriately becomes clearerand the push for appropriate instruction louder. Asa consequence, more educators will begin to seethat they have a responsibility for helping studentsdevelop their personal intelligences.

The Teacher’s Role and MI

Along with seeing MI as a way to help more stu-dents succeed, the other reason that educators havebeen so receptive to the theory is that it validatestheir role as professionals. Using MI is at the otherend of the spectrum from working with “teacher-proof” materials that direct teachers’ every action.Using MI is also a way to respond to the continued“dumbing down” of textbooks. Teachers who useMI develop curriculum and assessment tools andare creative in their pedagogy. And teachers whouse MI usually do so with others, working andlearning as colleagues. In this way, implementingMI becomes a route to developing or extending pro-fessionalism among teachers.

MI often works best in schools that embracesite-based management, where the decisions thataffect the students and faculty at a particular schoolare made by those who work in that school.Whether the school is a charter school, independentor religious school, or a public school that has beengranted significant autonomy, the best implementa-tions of MI come about when an entire faculty can

work collaboratively as professionals to fashionstrategies that fit their school’s context and culture.

Not a Quick FixDespite the many virtues of MI and the incredibleenthusiasm with which educators have embracedit, real questions remain about how widely it will beused. Successfully implementing MI is challengingfor many schools because it requires more time, en-ergy, and creativity from teachers; new assessmenttools and techniques; and a coordinated effort toeducate parents. Using MI is challenging because itcauses us to question many of the traditional as-sumptions we have held in looking at who is smartand what should be taught in schools.

Our strengths are our weaknesses, and it isthese virtues that give me some concern about thefuture of MI in schools. Unfortunately, in educationwe often veer to solutions that are simple, quick,and easy— attributes that don’t describe the use ofMI in any school. As I look to the future, then, I donot envision MI school systems, an abolition ofstandardized tests and traditional report cards, ortextbook companies going out of business. And thatmay be OK. The test of the merit of MI should not behow many teachers use it or in how many schools itcan be found. Although increased use of MI is desir-able because it means more students can benefitfrom it, expecting it to be used pervasively is simplynot realistic.

That said, the momentum of MI seems inexora-ble. When I look to the future, I see educators—ateacher here, a school there, a pocket of teachers inthis school, a group of schools in that district—un-derstanding that MI can be a tool that helps morechildren grow. Sure, bringing MI into the classroomcan make our roles more professional and using itcan help us grow and learn with our colleagues. Butmost important—and most exciting—using MIgives us more ways to help our students learn.

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A F T E R W O R D :

E X C E L L E N C E v E R S U S

P E R F E C T I O N

Years ago at a principals’ seminar, the topic for a Fri-day afternoon presentation was “How I relievestress in my life.” As you might imagine, the roomwas packed. I was on the panel with several otherprincipals. Our task was to share our strategies forstress reduction. Several ideas were offered, fromengaging in physical recreation to teaching gradu-ate classes. Finally, the last panelist, a high schoolprincipal, began to speak. In a low voice he said, “Ikeep my stress manageable because I recognize thedifference between excellence and perfection.” Hepaused and the room was suddenly alive. Everyperson edged forward in the chair and every per-son’s eyes were riveted on the speaker. (I felt thesame way and then thought, “Boy, I’m glad I’m notfollowing him!”)

He continued, “I believe it is important that mystudents bus their tables and put their trays awayafter they have eaten.” At this there were looks ofsurprise, a few smiles, and even a guffaw or two.“Stop,” he said with some indignation, “I’m seri-ous.” The room hushed again.

“You may think this is being nitpicky or that it’sa minor issue, but it’s not. I believe that teachingkids responsibility is maybe the most important les-son we offer. Plus, my students generally comefrom upper-income families and the cafeteria staff islargely minority. What’s the message when theywalk away and leave their trays, making otherspick up after them?”

By now he had the audience’s full attentionagain. “We talk about this and work at it and I canget 96 percent of my students to put their traysaway. That’s good, no, that’s excellent. But it’s notperfection! And I want 100 percent of the trays putaway,” he continued, his voice rising.

“But I’ve come to realize,” he went on, “that bystriving for 100 percent, by pushing to get perfec-tion, I turn the place into a prison. Students, faculty,and staff are uncomfortable and the cafeteria isn’t apleasant place to be. And in doing this I create an in-credible amount of stress for myself, not to mentioneveryone around me. So I’ve learned to be satisfiedwith excellence. You know, 96 percent of the trays be-ing put away is excellent. It’s just fine.”

The room was quiet for several minutes. Ofcourse, the point was much larger than puttingaway cafeteria trays. Each of us was lost in reverie,thinking of those situations in our own schoolswhere we’ve pushed for perfection, where excel-lence just wasn’t good enough. Like this principal,I’m sure, we were realizing that there is a cost thatcomes from striving to attain perfection, and that itisn’t always worthwhile to push beyond excellence.

When I returned to school on Monday I con-vened my administrative team and told them thisstory. It had the same powerful effect on them. Webegan to talk about issues on which we had falleninto the “excellence versus perfection” trap, beingsucked into pushing harder and further, seeking the

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PERFECT solution. Alas, there was no shortage ofexamples! I also shared this story with the faculty.Again, each of them could think of a time whenthey had crossed that line and the price of perfectionwas too high.

I have shared this story of excellence versusperfection many times in lots of different settings. Itapplies not just to schools but to organizations of allkinds and even to personal relationships. Yet I findit particularly relevant when thinking about theevolution of an MI school. Because there is no one,right way of implementing MI, whatever is beingdone can be done better. Or it can be done more

efficiently. Or it can be done better and moreefficiently! The list of possibilities is endless—andby definition, perfection can never be realized. As aresult, frustration and stress can become perpetualhandmaidens in the MI journey. After all, while it ispossible to get all of the cafeteria trays put away, it isnot possible to realize perfection in implementingMI. The MI journey is an endless one. As wecontemplate ways in which MI can be used to helpstudents learn, we need to consciously rememberthat there is no perfect destination, that the best wecan hope for is a journey of excellence.

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A P P E N D I X A

MI Inventory

Use this inventory as a tool to facilitate discussion about MI. Faculty members may use this inventory to reflect on their per-sonal MI profile as well as how MI-friendly they make their classrooms.

PERSONAL INVENTORY1. What intelligence(s) do you use to relax? Circle those that you use in your spare time.

LINGUISTIC LOGICAL-MATHEMATICAL SPATIAL MUSICAL

BODILY-KINESTHETIC NATURALIST INTERPERSONAL INTRAPERSONAL

2. Write yes or no after each of the following questions.

Do you enjoy learning new words?

Does learning a musical instrument come easily to you?

Do you notice architectural details?

Do you balance your checkbook?

Do you often find yourself making the same mistake?

Can you name the kinds of trees on the block where you live?

Are you physically active? Do you exercise regularly or play a recreational sport?

Do you have the music on when you drive, work, or read?

Do you write letters to people who live in town?

Do you like to spend time alone, thinking and reflecting?

Do you have a hobby that requires skill with your hands, like knitting or woodworking?

Do you have hobbies in which you create art?

Are you someone to whom others turn for advice?

Do you prepare your own taxes?

Is spending time outdoors something you value?

Do you find things boring unless there are others around?

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3. If you are at a lecture, what would be most likely to help you remember the content?

Use numbers to indicate preference, 1 = most likely, 5 = least likely.

a. If you take notes by hand or on a laptop computer

b. If you draw a mind-map

c. If you doodle, drawing images while listening

d. If you talk with someone immediately afterward to share what is said

e. If you create a mnemonic device to capture the main points

4. When giving someone who is new to town directions to a restaurant, you would

a. Draw a map

b. Write a narrative description

c. Explain using lots of hand gestures

d. Have them call the restaurant and ask how to get there

CLASSROOM INVENTORY1. Write the initials of the 3 smartest students in your class(es) this year: , , .

What makes them smart?

2. Think over the past week of your teaching. In your lessons, how often have students been able to use the followingintelligences to gain or learn information:

Never 1–3 or more 4 or more

linguistic

logical-mathematical

spatial

musical

bodily-kinesthetic

naturalist

interpersonal

intrapersonal

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3. Think over the past week of your teaching. In your lessons, how often have students been able to use the followingintelligences to share or report information:

None 1–3 4 or more

linguistic


spatial

musical

bodily-kinesthetic

naturalist

interpersonal

intrapersonal

4. When you report student progress to parents, either in a report card, at a parent-teacher conference, or by the work thatyou send home to be perused, which intelligences are reflected?

Rarely Sometimes Often

linguistic


spatial

musical

bodily-kinesthetic

naturalist

interpersonal

intrapersonal

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A P P E N D I X A

5. How often are students given options, ways to use different intelligences, to complete an assignment?

Rarely Sometimes Often

linguistic


spatial

musical

bodily-kinesthetic

naturalist

interpersonal

intrapersonal

6. Considering your answers to these questions, students with which intelligences are most likely to succeed in your class-room?

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A P P E N D I X B

Sample Progress Report

NEW CITY SCHOOL • 5209 Waterman Avenue • St. Louis, MO 631085th Grade PROGRESS REPORT

NameAttendance: Absent TardyTeachers:

INTRAPERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Reporting Period:Can self-assess; understands and shares own feelings 1 2

I. CONFIDENCE• Is comfortable taking a position different from the peer group• Engages in appropriate risk-taking behaviors• Is comfortable in both leader and follower roles• Copes with frustrations and failures• Demonstrates a positive and accurate self-concept

II. MOTIVATION• Demonstrates internal motivation• Is actively involved in the learning process• Shows curiosity• Shows tenacity• Exhibits creativity

III. PROBLEM SOLVING• Shows good judgment• Asks for help when needed• Can generate possible hypotheses and solutions• Shows perseverance in solving problems• Accepts and learns from feedback

IV. RESPONSIBILITY• Accepts responsibility for own actions, practices self-control• Accepts responsibility for materials and belongings• Handles transitions and changes well• Accepts limits in work and play situations• Uses an appropriate sense of humor

V. EFFORT AND WORK HABITS• Participates in activities and discussions · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·• Works through assignments and activities carefully and thoroughly · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·• Keeps notebook, desk, and locker/cubby organized · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·• Completes homework assignments on time · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·• Has age-appropriate attention span · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·• Works independently· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·• Follows written and oral directions · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·• Listens attentively · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·• Proofreads carefully· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·• Uses time effectively · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

Key: ED = EXCEEDING DEVELOPMENTALEXPECTATIONS

DA = DEVELOPING APPROPRIATELYAC = AREA OF CONCERN# = NEEDS ADDED ATTENTION

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NEW CITY SCHOOL • 5209 Waterman Avenue • St. Louis, MO 631085th Grade PROGRESS REPORT

INTERPERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Reporting Period:Can successfully interact with others 1 2

I. APPRECIATION FOR DIVERSITY• Makes decisions based on appropriate information, rather than stereotypes• Understands the perspectives of others, including those of other races and cultures• Shows concern and empathy for others• Respects the individuality of others

II. TEAMWORK• Cooperates with peers and adults• Works at conflict resolution• Behaves responsibly in groups• Demonstrates an ability to compromise• Expresses feelings and gives feedback constructively and appropriately

Copyright � 1998 by The New City School, Inc., St. Louis, Missouri

COMMENTS:

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A P P E N D I X B

Name LINGUISTIC INTELLIGENCE

5th Grade

Fall Spring

PRESENTATIONGoal: to communicateinformation clearly

NY D A E

/ = Not assessedat this time



• does not use appropriatevolume, and presentation isdifficult to hear• does not use visual aidswhen they are required, oruses aids of poor quality• looks away from audienceor down at paper• exhibits little understand-ing of topic• lacks preparation and/ororganization• ideas are difficult to follow• is uncomfortable in front ofaudience

• uses appropriate volumesome of the time• uses visual aids some ofthe time• makes eye contact inter-mittently• sometimes exhibits clearunderstanding of topic• sometimes shows prepara-tion and/or organization• progression of ideas lackscontinuity• is beginning to exhibitpoise

• projects clear speakingvoice• uses relevant visual aidseffectively• maintains eye contact• exhibits clear understand-ing of topic• shows preparation and or-ganization• demonstrates fluid pro-gression of ideas• exhibits poise with peers

• engages and holdsauidence through voice leveland expression• enriches the presentationwith visual aids• engages and holds audi-ence through eye contact• makes complex issue un-derstandable• information presented isconcise and pertinent• fields questions from theaudience with ease• is poised with nonpeergroups

MECHANICSGoal: to communicateeffectively in writtenform

NY D A E


• does not understand sen-tence structure• rarely writes in paragraphform, which includes indent-ing, writing a topic sentenceand writing supporting de-tails• uses correct capitalizationincluding for geographic re-gions and countries• makes frequent errors inpunctuation• has multiple spelling errorsincluding 5th grade corewords• cannot edit• does not understand whata thesis statement is

• writes in complete sen-tences but has frequent run-on sentences• writes in paragraph form,which includes indenting,writing a topic sentence andwriting supporting details• uses proper capitalization• uses correct punctuation atthe end of a sentence, com-mas in a series and in com-pound sentences, and usescorrect punctuation in dia-logue• spells with few errors indaily work• misses some errors whenediting• is able to construct a thesisstatement with assistance forthe purpose of essay writing

• writes in complete sen-tences with varied sentencestructure• writes well-developedparagraphs (indenting, topicsentence and supporting de-tails)• uses correct capitalizationconsistently• demonstrates an under-standing of the proper use ofcolons and semi-colons• is able to incorporate spell-ing and vocabulary words inhis/her writing• edits for mechanics/proof-reads with few mistakes• is able to construct a thesisstatement for the purpose ofessay writing

• able to utilize differentwriting styles• uses transition sentences toconnect paragraphs• uses a variety of punctua-tion regularly and correctlyto produce a particular style• searches for and uses newvocabulary in language andwriting• edits in a way not only tocorrect but to enhance writ-ten work• shows clear relationshipsbetween introduction, bodyand closing in written pieces

EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE—WRITTEN

EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE—ORAL

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5th Grade

Fall Spring

CONTENTGoal: to communicateideas effectively invarious forms

NY D A E



• rarely responds to feed-back on written work bymaking appropriate changes• rarely conveys ideasclearly for varied purposes(business letter, essay, shortstory)• rarely supports thesisstatement with appropriateand logical details• does not incorporate de-tails, dialogue and similes toexpland writing• rarely edits for clarity

• sometimes responds tofeedback on written work bymaking appropriate changes• sometimes conveys ideasclearly for varied purposes• incorporates logical andappropriate details in crea-tive and essay writing• sometimes edits for clarity

• responds to feedback onwritten work by making ap-propriate changes• conveys ideas clearly forvaried purposes (businessletter, essay, short story)• supports thesis statementwith appropriate and logicaldetails• writes creatively using de-tails, dialogue and similes• edits for clarity

• initiates feedback frompeers and adults• thesis statement is sup-ported logically, thoroughlyand creatively• uses an extensive reper-toire of techniques to expandwriting• after editing, writing isclear and precise

PROGRESSIVELANGUAGE—WRITTEN


COMPREHENSIONGoal: to understandwhat has been readusing age-appopriatematerials

NY D A E


• rarely notes supporting de-tails• makes literal interpreta-tions• recounts details but is un-able to identify main idea

• identifies supporting de-tails• makes inferences/drawsrealistic conclusions withprompting• has difficulty summarizingthe main idea

• consistently identifies sup-porting details• makes inferences/drawsrealistic conclusions• summarizes the main idea

• compares supporting de-tails from various stories tohelp illustrate a point• uses analogies to illustrateinferences and conclusions• summarizes the main ideawhen it is not clearly stated

RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE—READING

LITERARYTECHNIQUESGoal: to identify liter-ary elements in con-text effectively

NY D A E


• is unable to identify liter-ary elements in context

• occasionally identifies liter-ary elements in context

• consistently identifies liter-ary elements in context

• transfers literary elementsto other disciplines

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A P P E N D I X B


5th Grade

Fall Spring

STUDY SKILLSGoal: to use resourceseffectively

NY D A E


• does not use initiative orhas no idea where to go tolocate needed information• cannot take notes

• asks where to go to locateneeded information• tends to copy informationdirectly from sources

• obtains useful informationfrom a wide variety ofsources• takes notes and completesan outline independently

• takes initiative to locateand share information• takes notes and uses a vari-ety of outlines to independ-ently organize thoughts

COMMENTS:

Effort in developing Linguistic Intelligence: READING: AC DA EDWRITING: AC DA ED

AC = Area of ConcernDA = Developing AppropriatelyED = Exceeding Developmental Expectations

Teacher


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5th Grade

Fall Spring

NUMBER ANDCOMPUTATIONCONCEPTSGoal: to exhibitpractical and concep-tual understandingof numbers and com-putation

NY D A E


STATISTICSGoal: to exhibitpractical and concep-tual understandingof statistics

NY D A E



• does not know multiplica-tion and division facts to 144• inconsistently multiplies a3-digit number by a 2-digitnumber, or divides with a 2-digit divisor• does not understand theconcept of adding and sub-tracting fractions with unlikedenominators• inconsistently multipliesand divides fractions• inconsistently adds andsubtracts decimals• does not understand therelationship between frac-tions and decimals• sees no relationships be-tween percents and frac-tions/decimals• does not understand theconcept of prime numbers• does not understandsquare numbers and otherpowers

• knows multiplication anddivision facts to 144 but can-not meet time standard• multiplies a 2- and 3-digitnumber by a 2-digit number,and divides with a 2-digit di-visor with a model• using a model, adds, sub-tracts and compares fractionswith unlike denominators,proper and improper frac-tions, mixed numbers• multiplies and dividesfractions using a model• adds and subtracts deci-mals, and inconsistentlymultiplies and divides deci-mals• converts fractions to andfrom decimals using a model• explores the concept ofpercent in relationship tofractions/decimals• begins to develop an un-derstanding of prime num-bers and prime factorization• begins to show an under-standing of square numbersand other powers

• knows multiplication anddivision facts to 144 withspeed and accuracy• multiplies a 3-digit numberby a 2-digit number, and di-vides with a 2-digit divisorwith accuracy• adds, subtracts and com-pares fractions with unlikedenominators, proper andimproper fractions, mixednumbers• begins to demonstrate un-derstanding of multiplyingand dividing fractions• adds, subtracts, multipliesand divides decimals• begins to convert fractionsand decimals independently• begins to understand theconcept of percent in rela-tionship to fractions/ deci-mals

• knows multiplication anddivision facts to 144 withspeed and accuracy (morethan 36/minute)• multiplies and divideswhole numbers with multi-ple digits accurately• adds and subtracts frac-tions and mixed numberswith unlike denominators tosolve problems in the realworld• multiplies and dividesfractions/mixed numbersaccurately• adds, subtracts, multipliesand divides decimals tosolve problems in the realworld• interchanges fractions anddecimals• interprets percent as ameans of comparison ofquantities of different sizes,and as a rate of change• understands prime num-bers and prime factorization• understands powers


• does not understand whatis measurable• cannot create/interpretstatistical information• solves problems that in-volve collecting and analyz-ing data with assistance• cannot recognize statisticalterms

• collects, organizes and de-scribes data in various forms(tables, charts and graphs)with assistance• constructs, reads and inter-prets displays of data with amodel• solves problems that in-volve collecting and analyz-ing simple data• recognizes statistical terms

• collects, organizes and de-scribes data in various forms(tables, charts and graphs)• constructs, reads and inter-prets displays of data• formulates and solvesproblems that involve col-lecting and analyzing data• demonstrates an under-standing of statistical terms(means, median, mode) onteacher-created projects

• collects, organizes, andanalyzes complex data• constructs, reads and inter-prets displays of complexdata• initiates and recognizes theusefulness of statistics ineveryday life• manipulates data

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A P P E N D I X B


5th Grade

Fall Spring



• attempts to determine thesurface area of 2-dimensionalobjects• calculates perimeter andcircumference inaccurately• rarely identifies acute, ob-tuse and right angles• chooses inappropriatetools for measuring surfacearea, mass and volume• identifies some polygons• does not recognize sym-metry, congruency and simi-larity

• determines the surface areaof 2-dimensional objects ac-curately• calculates perimeter andcircumference with direction• sometimes identifies acute,obtuse and right angles• chooses appropriate toolsfor measuring surface area,mass and volume with direc-tion• identifies, describes andcompares some polygons• recognizes symmetry, con-gruency and similarity• identifies line segment, rayand line

• determines the surface areaof 2-dimensional objects andrectangular prisms accu-rately• calculates perimeter andcircumference• identifies acute, obtuse andright angles• effectively uses appropri-ate tools for measuring sur-face area, mass and volume• identifies, describes andcompares polygons• identifies and creates sym-metry, congruency and simi-larity• identifies and creates linesegment, ray and line

• identifies, compares andclassifies 3-dimensional fig-ures (prisms, pyramids,polyhedra)• uses perimeter and circum-ference to solve problems• uses a protractor to createacute, obtuse and right an-gles• is comfortable using toolsto explore new situations• identifies polygons andunderstands the relationshipbetween them (a square is arhombus, a rectangle, aquadrilateral, a parallelo-gram, and a polygon• understands symmetryand explores transformationsof geometric figures• transfers concepts to otherareas

NY D A E

GEOMETRYANDMEASUREMENTGoal: to exhibitpractical and concep-tual understandingof geometry andmeasurement


COMMENTS:

Effort in developing Logical-Mathematical Intelligence: AC DA EDAC = Area of ConcernDA = Developing AppropriatelyED = Exceeding Developmental Expectations

Teacher

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New City School PERFORMING ARTS Progress Report

Grade 5th Teacher: Diane DavenportName Date: December 1997

Theme:Making Connections is the theme in Performing Arts this year. Many of the intelligences are used in exploring the elementsthat connect the arts disciplines of creative movement, drama and music.

The students are involved in experiences related to the concept of expression. Music, drama and creative movementare modes of expression. Many of the intelligences are used as the students explore different types of theater. The studentsare preparing for performances of Sneetches and Romeo and Juliet. The students have also viewed performances of live thea-ter.

INTRAPERSONAL DEVELOPMENTCan self-assess; understands and shares own feelings

SKILLS ASSESSMENT*This skill has been introduced but not assessed at this time.

CONFIDENCEEngages in appropriate risk-taking behaviors.

MUSICIs able to sing songs in harmony.

MOTIVATIONIs actively involved in the learning process.

Is able to read two-part rhythm scores.

PROBLEM SOLVINGShows good judgment.

Is able to identify complex differences in tempo,rhythm and melody.

RESPONSIBILITYAccepts responsibility for own actions andmaterials.

CREATIVE MOVEMENTDemonstrates tension and relaxation.

EFFORT and WORK HABITSFollows written and oral directions.

“Warms up” appropriately for dance and move-ment activities.

INTERPERSONAL DEVELOPMENTCan successfully interact with others.

DRAMADemonstrates awareness encounters.

APPRECIATION FOR DIVERSITYRespects the individuality of others.

Can re-enact a scene or story, changing it in someway.

TEAMWORKCooperates with peers and adults.

Key: AC = Area of Concern • DA = Developing Appropriately • ED = Exceeding Developmental Expectations# = Needs Added Attention


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A P P E N D I X B

New City School BODILY-KINESTHETIC/PHYSICAL EDUCATIONProgress Report

Grade 5th Teacher: Lauren McKennaName Date: May 1998

Theme:The Bodily-Kinesthetic program will help students acquire the skills, knowledge and motivation to incorporate physicalactivity into their daily lives.



CONFIDENCEEngages in appropriate risk-taking behaviors. Number of Pull-ups at one time:

MOTIVATIONIs actively involved in the learning process. Number of Chin-ups at one time:

PROBLEM SOLVINGShows good judgment. Flex Arm Hang: min. sec.

RESPONSIBILITYAccepts responsibility for own actions andmaterials. Flex Chin Hang: min. sec

EFFORT and WORK HABITSFollows written and oral directions. Mile Time: min. sec.






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New City School LIBRARY Progress Report

Grade 5th Teacher: Nancy SolodarName Date: May 1998

Theme:The goals of the library program are threefold: to foster curiosity and a love of books and reading; to teach information liter-acy; and, to promote the growth and development of each child’s sense of personal responsibility. Awide variety of readingmaterial from various cultures and disciplines is available to students for leisure reading and research. Library skills aretaught to enable the students to access print and non-print materials, evaluate these materials, and draw conclusions.

The fourth grade students have been working intensively on their library skills with special emphasis on how to usethe card catalog, almanac, specialty dictionaries and atlases. Effective and efficient use of reference sources requires prob-lem-solving skills and the determination to follow through. Lots of practice is needed before these skills, which are so nec-essary for future school work, are mastered. The students will continue to improve their research skills in 5th and 6th grade.



CONFIDENCEEngages in appropriate risk-taking behaviors. Respects library materials and equipment.


Shows respect for opinions and ideas ofclassmates.

PROBLEM SOLVINGShows good judgment. Uses the card catalog.

RESPONSIBILITYAccepts responsibility for own actions andmaterials. Uses the almanac.

EFFORT and WORK HABITSFollows written and oral directions. Uses the atlas.

INTERPERSONAL DEVELOPMENTCan successfully interact with others. Uses specialty dictionaries.

APPRECIATION FOR DIVERSITYRespects the individuality of others. Uses non-print reference materials.




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A P P E N D I X B

New City School ART/SPATIAL Progress Report

Grade 5th Teacher: Betsy WardName Date: May 1998

Theme:The spatial theme for this year is THE BODY. Integral to both the conception and execution of art since the dawn of creativeexpression, the human body seemed an obvious and exciting focus for our art explorations.



CONFIDENCEEngages in appropriate risk-taking behaviors. Responds to a variety of art resources.


Exhibits knowledge of different artists andcultures.

PROBLEM SOLVINGShows good judgment. Uses art vocabulary effectively.


Offers and accepts ideas and criticisms in a posi-tive/productive manner.


Enthusiastically pursues 2- and 3- dimensionalwork.


Manipulates tools and mediums carefully andsuccessfully.


Shows originality and creativity in self-expression.


Demonstrates initiative and responsibility forclean-up processes.



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New City School SCIENCE Progress Report

Grade 5th Teacher: Susie BurgeName Date: May 1998

Theme:Classification: Ordering the World Around Us. Our year-long goals are found in four areas: Content, Skills, Responsibility,and Diversity. In content, we will be studying classification of plants and animals, laws of motion and energy, and geology.In skills, we will be learning and using science process skills and classroom study skills. Students will learn to take respon-sibility for their own learning and will also learn about people who have made contributions to science.

The fifth graders have been studying physics and geology this spring. The students learned about Newton’s laws ofmotion as they designed their own race cars from milk cartons. They had to manipulate only one variable at a time as theyexperimented, measured and averaged their results. From energy of motion they moved to electrical energy. They builtparallel and series circuits, and incorporated them into their own model houses.

In geology, they have studied the interior of the earth, continental drift theory, volcanoes and earthquakes. The stu-dents have obtained information from the Internet about daily earthquake occurrences, and plotted them on maps usinglatitude and longitude. They learned about forces shaping landforms, and used flowcharts to identify rocks.



CONFIDENCEEngages in appropriate risk-taking behaviors. Can compare and contrast.

MOTIVATIONIs actively involved in the learning process. Classifies.

PROBLEM SOLVINGShows good judgment. Records data accurately.

RESPONSIBILITYAccepts responsibility for own actions andmaterials. Creates and reads graphs.

EFFORT and WORK HABITSFollows written and oral directions. Takes notes in outline form.

INTERPERSONAL DEVELOPMENTCan successfully interact with others. Comes to class prepared.

APPRECIATION FOR DIVERSITYRespects the individuality of others. Uses equipment appropriately.


Homework completed on time: %Average homework score: %Test and quiz average: %



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A P P E N D I X B

New City School SPANISH/ESPANOL Progress Report

Grade 5th Teacher: Zully KusterName Date: May 1999

Theme:This semester we delved deeply into a study of the country of Uruguay and the Uruguayan culture. We cooked some typi-cal dishes, such as scones (biscuits) and tortas fritas (fried bread), while exploring some other traditions, such as drinkingmate (herbal tea). A major focus of this theme study was for the students to learn that although our cultures are different inmany ways, they are alike in so many other ways.

As part of our theme study we watched a video about Uruguay and read about the geography, economics and humanresources of this country. The students also worked on projects ranging from cooking typical dishes to others that explainedthe patriymbols. We used these opportunities for the students to compare their life in the United States with one that a typi-cal Uruguayan 6th grader would experience.

In addition to this focus on Uruguay, the students also explored the Spanish language learning vocabulary related tosports, time, feelings, and different stores in which they might shop.



CONFIDENCEEngages in appropriate risk-taking behaviors.

Exhibits knowledge of Spanish-speaking culturesintroduced in class.

MOTIVATIONIs actively involved in the learning process. Shows interest in learning Spanish.

PROBLEM SOLVINGShows good judgment. Exhibits knowledge of vocabulary.







Copyright � 1999 by The New City School, Inc., St. Louis,

A P P E N D I X C

Sample Worksheets

This appendix contains several worksheets you may wish to consider as you work through implementing MI.

End-of-Year Questionnaire

Directions

1. Turn the tape recorder on. Press PLAY and RECORD at the same time.

2. Say your name and today’s date.

3. Read each question aloud and answer it as honestly and completely as you can. Remember to speak clearly and answer

all parts of each question.

1. What do you think is the most important math skill you learned this year? Why do you think it’s most important?

2. What do you think is the least important math skill you learned this year? Why do you think it’s least important?

3. In what areas have you shown the most growth this year? Explain.

4. What math skills do you hope to continue to improve next year? Explain.

5. What have you learned about yourself as a mathematician this year? Explain.

98

Portfolio Peek

Name: Date:

Before you open your portfolio, how do you feel about portfolios?

Open your portfolio. Look through the contents. Enjoy your work. Then answer these questions.

1. What do you notice about your portfolio?

2. Is there any intelligence represented with more samples than another intelligence?List the intelligences that have the most samples.

3. What do you think this means about you?

4. Are there any intelligences for which you do not have any samples in your portfolio? List these intelligences.

5. What new insights do you have about yourself?

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A P P E N D I X C

Progress Report Reflection

Name: Date:

1. What two areas have improved since the first grading period?

Why?

2. What two areas do you want to work on for the next three months?

Why?

3. What would be a good topic for me to discuss with your parents at our conference?

Because?

4. What is something you want to accomplish before the end of this year to be ready for the next grade?

Because?

100


Presentation Reflection

Name: Date:

Your presentation will be judged on the following criteria:

Spoke loudly and clearly

Made eye contact with the audience

Showed poise and used self control

Presented accurate information using note cards

Used two to five minutes for the presentation

Think about this information as you watch the videotape of your presentation. Then complete the following sections.

A. List three things you did well during your presentation.

1.

2.

3.

B. List three areas you want to improve during your next opportunity to give a presentation.

1.

2.

3.

C. Give one strategy that you will use to help yourself make these improvements.

101

A P P E N D I X C

Working with a Partner

Name: Date:

Circle the answer that best answers each statement.

1. My partner and I worked well together. Always Sometimes Never

2. We both shared ideas. Always Sometimes Never

3. We tried to solve problems. Always Sometimes Never

4. We used good effort. Always Sometimes Never

5. We are proud of the work we did. Always Sometimes Never

Write a sentence or two to fill out the following statements.

6. Here’s an example of something we did well:

7. Here’s an example of something we will work on the next time we have partners:

102


How Are We Doing?

Group: Date:

Give two examples for each statement.

1. We each contributed ideas often, sometimes, not very much.

2. We listened to each other often, sometimes, not very much.

3. We encouraged each other often, sometimes, not very much.

4. We built on each other’s ideas often, sometimes, not very much.

copyright 1994, New City School

103

A P P E N D I X C

A P P E N D I X D

Spring Parent Survey

Dear Parents,

Children learn best when the school and home work together. An important part of that working together, that partner-ship, is two-way communication. New City does, I think, a good job of communicating to you: You receive weekly lettersfrom your child’s teachers and from me, there are newsletters and annual reports, along with other mailings. In addition,our halls and walls abound with samples of student work and information for you.

But, as good as it is, that is one-way communication, us to you.

For our children to learn best, we need to hear from you. That already happens in a variety of ways, but each year I try toformally capture your feelings and thoughts: What do you value most at New City? In what areas do we need improve-ment?

It is very important that you take the time to share your thoughts with us. Even if you have done this ten (!) times before,your thoughts are important. To facilitate your response, we have enclosed a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Pleasecomplete and return this survey by June 1. If you have more than one child at New City, please return a survey for eachchild as their experiences will be somewhat different. If you choose to return only one survey (for multiple children), pleaseindicate the various grade levels of your children. And, of course, please indicate if you would like a personal responsefrom me.

In advance, thank you for your thoughts!

Sincerely,

Thomas R. Hoerr, [email protected], [email protected]

104

Spring Parent Survey

Please return by June 1

Name (optional)

Check here if you would like a personal response from Tom.

Child’s grade: 3/4 4/5 5/6 6/7 7/8 8/9 4th 5th 6th

Including this year, how many years have you had 1 child or more at NCS?

1. Why are you at New City School? Please rank the reasons, 1 = most important.

a. Strong academic program

b. Focus on the personal intelligences, nurturing environment

c. Family Support program

d. Valuing of racial and socioeconomic diversity

e. NCS location

f. Lower cost than most other independent schools

g. Other factors? Please list and prioritize:

2. Which of the factors listed in question 1 are essential? Place a star by each factor that you consider essential in your choos-ing NCS.

3. Please give three words that describe the strengths of NCS.

4. Please give three words that describe the weaknesses of NCS.

Please circle the response that most closely captures your feelings. Narrative comments and clarifications are alwayswelcome!

5. My child’s individual needs have been met.

6. Tom has been friendly and supportive.

7. I understand how the use of multipleintelligence theory helps my child.

Please share your thoughts with me.

8. If you could change one thing about NCS, what would it be?

9. Other thoughts, questions, or observations?

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A P P E N D I X D

strongly agree agree disagree strongly disagree



R E S O U R C E S

Many web sites contain information about MI. Aparticularly interesting web site is Harvard ProjectZero’s Project SUMIT (Schools Using Multiple Intel-ligence Theory), directed by Mindy Kornhaberhttp://pzweb.harvard.edu/sumit. The site fea-tures a compilation of schools using MI and it alsolists more than 40 schools using MI in differentways. Other web sites that I recommend are theProject Zero web site http://pzweb.harvard.edu/and www.newhorizons.org. The web site http://www.ascd.org/pubs/el/sept97/sept97.html fea-tures the multiple intelligences theme issue of Edu-cational Leadership.

In addition to the books listed in the Referencessection of this book, I would also recommend Dis-covering the Naturalist Intelligence by Jenna Glock,Susan Wertz, and Maggie Meyer (Tucson, AZ:Zephyr Press, 1999), Teaching and Learning ThroughMultiple Intelligences by Bruce Campbell, LindaCampbell, and Dee Dickenson (Needham, Heights,MA: Allyn & Bacon, 1996) and Seven Pathways ofLearning: Teaching Students and Parents About Multi-ple Intelligences by David Lazear (Tucson, AZ:Zephyr Press, 1994). Also, Gardner’s 1993 book,Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice (NewYork: Basic Books) is worth reading.

I also highly recommend his newest book, The

Disciplined Mind (New York: Simon & Schuster,1999). More pragmatic than his previous works, inthis book he specifically looks at how curriculumand instruction should address students’ under-standing of truth, goodness, and beauty. Gardnerrevisits MI in Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelli-gences in the 21st Century, a book scheduled to bepublished in fall 1999.

In addition, I would be remiss if I did not men-tion the two books created by the New City Schoolfaculty: Celebrating Multiple Intelligences (St. Louis,MO: 1994) and Succeeding with Multiple Intelligences(St. Louis, MO: 1996).

As the facilitator of the ASCD Multiple Intelli-gences Network, I have heard from thousands ofeducators who are either interested in using MI orare using MI. Hundreds of educators travel fromaround the country, sometimes from around theworld, to visit New City School each year (morethan 700 educators came to see us in the 1998–99school year). We have hosted three MI conferences,attracting people from across the country and ourfaculty has sold thousands of books about our workwith MI. For more information on the ASCD Multi-ple Intelligences Network, to arrange visit, or to aska question, contact me at [email protected] or [email protected].

106

R E F E R E N C E S

Adizes, I. (1988). Corporate lifecyles. Englewood, NJ: Pren-tice Hall.

Angelou, M. (1970). I know why the caged bird sings. NewYork: Random House.

Armstrong, T. (1994). Multiple intelligences in the classroom.Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Barth, R. (1990). Improving schools from within. San Fran-cisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Beals, M. (1994). Warriors don’t cry. New York: PocketBooks.

Bennis, W. (1997). Managing people is like herding cats.Provo, UT: Executive Excellence Publishing.

Blythe, T. (1998). The teaching for understanding guide. SanFrancisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Bridges, W. (1991). Managing transitions. Reading, MA:Persus Books.

Coles, R. (1997). The moral intelligence of children. NewYork: Penguin Group.

Conner, D. (1998). Leading at the edge of chaos. New York:John Wiley & Sons.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of opti-mal experience. New York: Harper & Row.

De Paoloa, T. (1978). The popcorn book. New York: HolidayHouse.

Dyson, E. (1998). Release 2.1. New York: Broadway Books.Early, G. (1994). Daughters. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.Faculty of the New City School. (1994). Celebrating multi-

ple intelligences: Teaching for success. St. Louis, MO:The New City School.

Faculty of the New City School. (1996). Succeeding withmultiple intelligences: Teaching through the personal in-telligences. St. Louis, MO: The New City School.

Fullan, M. (1990). Staff development, innovation, and in-stitutional development. In B. Joyce (Ed.), Changingschool culture through staff development. Alexandria,VA: ASCD.

Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple

intelligences. New York: Basic Books.Gardner, H. (1991). The unschooled mind. New York: Basic

Books.George, J. (1972). Julie of the wolves. New York: Harper Col-

lins.Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. New York: Ban-

tam Books.Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence.

New York: Bantam Books.Goleman, D. (1998, November-December). What makes a

leader? Harvard Business Review 76(6), 92–102.Goodwin, D. (1994). No ordinary times. New York: Simon

& Schuster.Hallowell, E. (1999, January-February). The human mo-

ment at work. Harvard Business Review 77(1), 58–66.Krechevsky, M., Gardner, H., & Hoerr., T. (1994). Compli-

mentary energies: Implementing MI theory from the laband from the field. In J. Oakes and K. H. Quartz (Eds.),Creating new educational communities: Schools andclassrooms where all children are smart. National Societyfor the Study of Education Handbook

Lambert, L., Walker, D., Zimmerman, D., Cooper, J., Lam-bert, M., Gardner, M., Slack, P. (1995). The constructiv-ist leader. New York: Teachers College Press.

Lightfoot, S. L. (1983). The good high school. New York: Ba-sic Books.

McDonald, J. (1996). Redesigning school. San Francisco,CA: Jossey-Bass.

Moyers, B. (1989). Aworld of ideas. New York: Doubleday.Paley, V. (1979). White teacher. Cambridge, MA: Harvard

University Press.Peters, T., & Waterman, R., Jr. (1982). In search of excellence.

New York: Harper & Row.Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline. New York: Doubleday.Sternberg, R. (1988). The triarchic mind. New York: Viking.Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by design.

Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

107

A B O U T

T H E

A U T H O R

Thomas R. Hoerr has been the director of the NewCity School in St. Louis, Missouri, since 1981. In1988, the New City faculty began implementing thetheory of multiple intelligences (MI). Hoerr haswritten extensively about the educational applica-tions of the theory of multiple intelligences and theimportance of collegiality, and he often presentsthese topics at schools and conferences. Prior to lead-ing New City School, Hoerr taught in two school dis-tricts and was an elementary school principal in theschool district of University City in St. Louis.

For 15 years Hoerr taught graduate-levelcourses to prospective school administrators. In

addition, he designed, coordinated, and taught inthe Management Program at Washington Univer-sity in St. Louis. Hoerr describes his experience atWashington University as particularly rich becausehe was able to look at leadership and managementin other sectors and in several profit and nonprofitorganizations, and can apply the lessons to educa-tion. Hoerr holds a Ph.D. in Educational Policy-making and Planning from Washington University.

Hoerr can be contacted at New City School,5209 Waterman Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63108 USA,or by e-mail at [email protected] or [email protected].

108

I N D E X

Adizes, Ichak, 52administration. See also principal

support of faculty by, 58, 64Armstrong, Thomas, 77arts

importance of, 77progress report for, 92, 95

ASCD. See Association for Supervision and CurriculumDevelopment

assessment, x, 13–14, 24–32choices in, 24–25community and, 25, 32of faculty, 65–66faculty and, 25future of, 74–75intake conference, 14–15, 32line between curriculum and, 24parents and, 25, 31–32portfolios and. See portfoliosprogress reports, 26–7, 28f–29fprojects, exhibitions, and presentations, 14, 25–26report cards, 26–27, 28f–29freporting of, 25school and, 25school displays, 27–31standardized tests and, 25

misuse or overuse of, 1–2parent knowledge about, 31–32

students and, 25types of, 24

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development(ASCD)

MI Conference of, 11Multiple Intelligences Network of, 106

authentic assessment, 74awareness phase, of MI implementation, 54, 55f

backward design, 74–75Barth, Roland, 18Bennis, Warren, 53–54Binet, Alfred, 1

bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, 77definition of, 4fdevelopment of, 6fexamples of, 6fpeople exhibiting, 4fprogress report for, 93

book groups, faculty, 22Boston Veterans Administration Medical Center, 2brain research, development of MI and, 2Bridges, William, 53, 64

Cape Cod Education Center, 77Celebrating Multiple Intelligences: Teaching for Success (Faculty of

the New City School), 15changes, responses to, 73classroom

MI in, 34–37personal intelligences in, 45–48

Coles, Robert, 3, 51collegiality, 8-9, 15, 17–23

curriculum and, 19–21difficulty of achieving, 17–18importance of, 58observation and, 21–22planning and, 22reciprocal teaching and, 22reflection and, 22as route to MI, 18school design and, 17–18school organization and, 18sharing about students and, 18–19

committees, faculty, 22, 59–60community

assessment and, 25, 32involvement in MI programs, 75

computers. See technologyConner, Daryl, 72constructivist classrooms, 63–64Corporate Lifecycles (Adizes), 52courtship phase, of MI implementation, 55f, 56curriculum, 12–13

109

Page numbers followed by f indicate a reference to a figure, page numbers followed by n indicate a footnote.

development of, 19–21incorporating MI in, 33line between assessment and, 24

curriculum-based learning centers, 34curriculum mapping, 59

Davenport, Jeremy, 9decision-making

by administration, 66collaborative, 68–71my decisions, 70–71our decisions, 71your decisions, 70

The Disciplined Mind (Gardner), 106diversity

among faculty, 66–67growth of, 73at New City School, 51

Dyson, Esther, 63

emotional intelligence, 44-45, 77–78Emotional Intelligence (Goleman), 3, 38–39, 42, 44empathy, 44end-of-year questionnaire, 98–103excellence, vs. perfection, 79–80exhibitions. See projects, exhibitions, and presentationsexploration phase, of MI implementation, 54, 55fExtended Day Program, at New City School, 40

facultyadministrative support of, 58assessment and, 25assessment of, 65–66, 66–67collegiality of. See collegialitycommitment to MI, 58committees of, 22, 59–60decision-making by, 68–71development of, 58differing perceptions among, 66–67divisions among, 11goal-setting by, 64importance of, xiinservice training for, 58–59intelligences of, 19-20, 21, 48–49leadership of, 62learning from mistakes, 63–65observation by peers, 21–22peer support, 58personal intelligences of, 48–49planning by, 22privacy of, 66–67reflection by, 22relationship with principal, 66–67role in MI program, 78sharing about students, 18–19support for MI, 60–61

faculty book groups, 22

failure, feelings of, 9–10feedback, from peers, 45–48The Fifth Discipline (Senge), 52financial considerations, 60flow room, 37–39foreign language, progress report for, 97Frames of Mind (Gardner), 2, 7, 8–10free market, 73full-speed ahead phase, of MI implementation, 55f, 56

Gardner, Howard, v–vi, 2–3, 7, 43gifted students, 77goal-setting, 64Goleman, Daniel, 3, 38–39, 42, 44, 48The Good High School (Lightfoot), 21Grimes, Sally, 77Guilford, J. P., 3

Hallowell, Edward, 41–42Harvard Project Zero, 106human moment, 41–42

independent schools, pressures on, vii–viiiindividuality, 12, 19In Search of Excellence (Peters & Waterman, Jr.), 67inservice training, 58–59instruction

effects of MI on, 12–13thematic, 36–37

intake conferences, 14–15, 32intelligence-based learning centers, 34–36intelligence quotient (IQ)

history of, 1misuse or overuse of, 1–2

intelligencescriteria for, 3Gardner’s definition of, 2varied definitions for, 3

interpersonal intelligence, 77–78connection to intrapersonal intelligence, 43–44definition of, 4fdevelopment of, 7f, 45examples of, 7f, 42people exhibiting, 4frole of, 43

IQ. See intelligence quotient

Johnson, Samuel, x

Key School, 5, 11Kornhaber, Mindy, 106Kuhn, Thomas, 7

leadership, 62Leading At the Edge (Conner), 72learning centers

curriculum-based, 34intelligence-based, 34–36

110


curriculum (continued)

learning disabilities, 76–77learning pods, 39library progress report, 94Lightfoot, Sara Lawrence, 21linguistic intelligence

definition of, 4fdevelopment of, 6fexamples of, 6fpeople exhibiting, 4fprogress report for, 87–89standardized tests and, 2

logical-mathematical intelligencedefinition of, 4fdevelopment of, 6fexamples of, 6fpeople exhibiting, 4fprogress report for, 28f–29f, 90–91standardized tests and, 2

Managing Transitions (Bridges), 53, 64Math Inventory, 45, 47fMcDonald, Joseph P., 18, 77MI. See multiple intelligencesMI Inventory, 81–84Miller, Greg, 75MI Profile, 53, 68mistakes, learning from, 63–65Moral Intelligence (Coles), 3The Moral Intelligence of Children (Coles), 51morals, personal intelligences and, 48, 51multiple intelligences (MI). See also New City School, MI at

adult learning in, 75–76arts in, 77assessment and. See assessmentbreakdown of, 4f, 6f–7fin classroom, 34–37commitment to, 58community and. See communitycurriculum and. See curriculumeffects on school change, xevolution of, 74exposure to, 33of faculty, 19–20, 21faculty and. See facultyfuture of, 72–78implementation of, 5, 52–61

awareness phase, 54, 55fcourtship phase, 55f, 56exploration phase, 54, 55ffull-speed ahead phase, 55f, 56MI learning community phase, 55f, 57phases of, 54–57, 55f, 60regrouping phase, 55f, 57roadblocks phase, 55f, 56

individuality in, 12, 19instruction and, 12–13labeling of, 33, 75learning disabilities and, 76–77

myths about, 33–34observation and, 21–22obstacles to, 52–54parents and. See parentsschoolwide, 37–40student choice in, 12, 34student understanding of, 34surviving or thriving with, 57–60theory of, 1–7, 2–3weaknesses or strengths in, 9–10, 36, 43

Multiple Intelligences Network, 106musical intelligence, 77

definition of, 4fdevelopment of, 6fexamples of, 6fpeople exhibiting, 4f

naturalist intelligence, 3ndefinition of, 4fdevelopment of, 6fexamples of, 6fpeople exhibiting, 4f

New City School, vii–viii, xi, 8–16diversity in, 51Emotional Intelligence and, 44–45faculty committees in, 59–60faculty tenets of, 8Frames of Mind and, 8–10inservice training at, 58–59length of school day or year at, 40MI at

assessment and, 13–14collegiality and, 15curriculum and, 12–13development of, 5, 8–10, 10feffects of, 12–15faculty divisions and, 11gathering support for, 10–11instruction and, 12–13obstacles to, 52–54parents and, 53portfolios and, 52–53, 61red chairs at, 51relationships with parents and, 14–15thematic instruction and, 36–37

portfolio reflection sheet from, 27, 30fprogress report from, 26–27, 28f–29f, 85–97

No Ordinary Times (Goodwin), 42

observation, faculty collegiality and, 21–22optimism, 10organizations, evolution of, 52, 54

paradigm shift, 7parents

assessment and, 25, 31–32difficulties with, 53

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I N D E X

multiple intelligences (MI) (continued)

personal intelligences and, 48relationship with school, 14–15, 27in school building, 27–31

parent survey, 104–105parent-teacher conferences, 27PEPs. See projects, exhibitions, and presentationsperceptions, 66–67perfection, 79–80performance assessment, 74performing arts, progress report for, 92personal intelligences, 77–78. See also interpersonal intelligence;

intrapersonal intelligenceclassification of, 44in classroom, 45–48emotional intelligence and, 44–45, 77–78of faculty, 48–49importance of, 41–51parents and, 48reciprocity of, 43–44technology and, 41–42value/morals and, 48, 51

Personal MI Profile, 45, 46fphysical education, progress report for, 93planning, by faculty, 22population, diversity of, 73Portfolio Peek, 99portfolios, 14, 27

difficulties with, 52–53future of, 74, 75at New City School, 61organization of, 59reflection and, 27, 30f

Presentation Reflection, 101presentations. See projects, exhibitions, and presentationsprincipal

decision-making and, 66, 68–71evaluation of teachers by, 65role of, xi, 60, 66–67

privacy, of faculty, 66–67Progress Report Reflection, 100progress reports, 26–27

sample, 28f–29f, 85–97projects, exhibitions, and presentations (PEPs), 14, 25–26, 36Project Zero/Project SUMIT, 106

reciprocal teaching, 22Redesigning School (McDonald), 18, 77reflection

by faculty, 22flow room and, 38portfolios and, 27, 30fin presentations, 101in progress reports, 100by students, 45–48

regrouping phase, of MI implementation, 55f, 57relationships, ability to handle, 44report cards, 26–27, 28f–29f

reporting, of assessment, 25resources, 106responsibility, of students, 79risk-taking, 17roadblocks phase, of MI implementation, 55f, 56role models, 39Roosevelt, Franklin D., 42

Salovey, Peter, 44school

design of, 17–18displays in, 27–31effect of assessment on, 25organization of, 18

school day or year, length of, 39–40science, progress report for, 96self-awareness, 44self-motivation, 44Senge, Peter, 18, 52, 60Spanish, progress report for, 97spatial intelligence, 77

definition of, 4fdevelopment of, 6fexamples of, 6fpeople exhibiting, 4fprogress report for, 95

Spring Parent Survey, 104–105standardized tests, 25. See also assessment

cost of, 2misuse or overuse of, 1–2parent knowledge about, 31–32reliability of, 2validity of, 2

Sternberg, Robert, 3stress reduction, 79Structure of Intellect, 3The Structure of the Scientific Revolution (Kuhn), 7students

assessment and, 25choices in MI programs, 12, 34faculty sharing about, 18–19in independent schools, viiilabeling of, 33, 75peer feedback and, 45–48portfolios and, 27reflection by, 45–48responsibility of, 79understanding of MI, 34

Succeeding with Multiple Intelligences (Gardner), 43Succeeding with Multiple Intelligences: Teaching Through the

Personals (Faculty of the New City School), 15surveys, on perceptions, 67

Talent Committee, at New City School, 9, 11Talents Classes, at New City School, 40teachers. See facultyteam teaching, 15, 64. See also facultytechnology, 41–42, 72–73

112


parents (continued)

thematic instruction, 12–13, 13f, 36–37time, for student reflection, 45–48Triarchic Theory of Intelligence, 3

University of Rio Grande, 75

values, personal intelligences and, 48, 51

weaknesses, recognition of, 9–10, 36, 43web sites, 106Wiggins, Grant, 74–75Working with a Partner, 102–103Working with Emotional Intelligence (Goleman), 48

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I N D E X

Related ASCD Resources: Multiple Intelligences

AudiotapesAuthentic Assessment Using the Multiple Intelli-

gencesHow Multiple Intelligences and Learning Style Fit:

The Research and Practical ApplicationsMultiple Assessments for Multiple Intelligences by

Beth SwartzMultiple Intelligences—Putting a Theory into Prac-

tice by Helen Flamm, Connie Canter, ErnestFlamm, & Carolyn Wheeler

Multiple Intelligences Team Building and ClassBuilding

On Multiple Intelligences and Education byHoward Gardner

Teaching for Understanding Through MultipleIntelligences by Geni Boyer

Teaching Thinking to Multiple Intelligences andDiverse Student Populations by Richard Strong

CD-ROMsExploring Our Multiple Intelligences

Online CoursesMultiple Intelligences Professional Development

course

Print ProductsASCD Topic Pack—Multiple IntelligencesMultiple Intelligences and Student Achievement: Suc-

cess Stories from Six Schools by Linda Campbelland Bruce Campbell

Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom by ThomasArmstrong

VideotapesThe Multiple Intelligences Series by Bruce and

Linda Campbell

For more information, visit us on the World WideWeb (http://www.ascd.org), send an e-mail mes-sage to [email protected], call the ASCD ServiceCenter (1-800-933-ASCD or 703-578-9600, thenpress 2), send a fax to 703-575-5400, or write to Infor-mation Services, ASCD, 1703 N. Beauregard St.,Alexandria, VA 22311-1714 USA.

Becoming a Multiple Intelligences School from the Books in Action Video SeriesIn this video filmed at New City School, you’ll see firsthand some of the effective practices described in thebook Becoming a Multiple Intelligences School, including how multiple intelligences theory guides curricu-lum, instruction, assessment, the parent-teacher relationship, and teacher collaboration. Author andschool director Thomas R. Hoerr takes you to classrooms and faculty meetings where teachers use multi-ple intelligences perspectives to plan lessons and improve student achievement. Becoming a Multiple Intelli-gences School, ASCD videotape, 15 minutes. Stock no. 400213

Special Books-in-Action Bundle. Perfect for facilitating group discussion and learning. One video-tape with 10 copies of the book Becoming a Multiple Intelligences School. Stock no. 700218

About ASCDFounded in 1943, the Association for Supervisionand Curriculum Development is a nonpartisan,nonprofit education association, with internationalheadquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. ASCD’s mis-sion statement: ASCD, a diverse, international commu-nity of educators, forging covenants in teaching andlearning for the success of all learners.

Membership in ASCD includes a subscriptionto the award-winning journal Educational Leader-ship; two newsletters, Education Update and Curricu-lum Update; and other products and services. ASCDsponsors affiliate organizations in many states andinternational locations; participates in collabora-tions and networks; holds conferences, institutes,and training programs; produces publications in a

variety of media; sponsors recognition and awardsprograms; and provides research information oneducation issues.

ASCD provides many services to educa-tors—prekindergarten through grade 12—as wellas to others in the education community, includingparents, school board members, administrators,and university professors and students. For furtherinformation, contact ASCD via telephone:1-800-933-2723 or 703-578- 9600; fax: 703-575-5400;or e-mail: member@ascd. org. Or write to ASCD, In-formation Services, 1703 N. Beauregard St., Alexan-dria, VA22311-1714 USA. You can find ASCD on theWorld Wide Web at http://www.ascd.org.

ASCD’s Executive Director is Gene R. Carter.

1999–2000 ASCD Executive CouncilPresident: Joanna Choi Kalbus, Lecturer in Educa-tion, University of California at Riverside, Red-lands, California

President-Elect: LeRoy E. Hay, Assistant Superinten-dent for Instruction, Wallingford Public Schools,Wallingford, Connecticut

Immediate Past President: Thomas J. Budnik, SchoolImprovement Coordinator, Heartland Area Educa-tion Agency, Johnston, Iowa

Bettye Bobroff, Executive Director, New MexicoASCD, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Martha Bruckner, Chair and Associate Professor,Department of Educational Administration and Su-pervision, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Ne-braska

John W. Cooper, Assistant Superintendent for In-struction, Canandaigua City School District, Canan-daigua, New York

Michael Dzwiniel, High School Chemistry Teacher,Edmonton Public Schools, Edmonton, Alberta,Canada

Sharon A. Lease, Deputy State Superintendent forPublic Instruction, Oklahoma State Department ofEducation, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Leon Levesque, Superintendent, Lewiston SchoolDistrict, Lewiston, Maine

Francine Mayfield, Director, Elementary School-Based Special Education Programs, Seigle Diagnos-tic Center, Las Vegas, Nevada

Andrew Tolbert, Assistant Superintendent, PineBluff School District, Pine Bluff, Arkansas

Robert L. Watson, High School Principal, Spearfish40-2, Spearfish, South Dakota

Sandra K. Wegner, Associate Dean, College of Edu-cation, Southwest Missouri State University,Springfield, Missouri

Peyton Williams Jr., Deputy State Superintendent,Georgia State Department of Education, Atlanta,Georgia

Donald B. Young, Professor, Curriculum Research& Development Group, University of Hawaii,Honolulu, Hawaii

Becoming a Multiple Intelligences School

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Transcript of Becoming a Multiple Intelligences School