Differentiation and Multiple Intelligence Theory

Over the past two weeks, I have had the privilege of being invited to numerous classrooms to watch many of the innovative pedagogies being used by our fantastic teachers. One lesson that I would like to highlight in this post was a review activity that I witnessed in Mrs. Cowherd's fourth grade class.

At the conclusion of a language arts unit on commas, linking verbs, etc., she developed a review activity which provided the opportunity for kids to review with an activity that was designed for their particular intelligence. She had previously untilized a tool to determine each student's dominant intelligence based upon the Multiple Intelligence Theory of Howard Gardner. She then provided various options for the review activity, which allowed each student to review in a manner aligned to his/her dominant intelligence.

It was amazing to watch how each and every student (and I mean every student!) was engaged in the activity. The students were so engaged because the activity was differentiated so that each student could realize success. Multiple Intelligence Theory provides a fantastic framework for differentiating instruction.

NCLB and the recent changes to IDEA, which mandates the RtI process, have resulted in an increased focus on differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction allows the teacher to meet the various learning styles and levels of students within the same classroom. Such a concept is much different than the traditional "batch" instructional model that has traditionally been used in public schools. As we all struggle to adopt a more "student-centric" approach to educating today's youth, the revisiting of Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory could be a very useful tool.

I would be anxious to know what your thoughts are on Multiple Intelligence Theory and differentiated instruction. I would also be interested in what other methods you use to differentiate instruction in your classroom.