Below are some extracts that I hand picked from a book by Howard Gardner entitles Multiple Intelligence
Assessment and Beyond: Beyond Assessment: The Aims and Means of Education
“I have sought to provide some degree of focus by insisting on four elements:
(1) the goal of an education that is geared to understanding;
(2) a stress on the cultivation of performances of understanding, which can be assessed primarily in context;
(3) a recognition of the existence of different individual strengths; and
(4) a commitment to mobilize these productively in the education of each child.
To orchestrate these different elements into a seamless educational regimen is no mean task; but there are promising signs abroad that progress can be made, and that we can secure and education that celebrate our common heritage as human beings, the particular cultural backgrounds from which we come, and the ways in which each of us stands out as an individual”
(Page 207)
“Imagine an educational environment in which youngsters at the age of 7 or 8, in addition to – or perhaps instead of – attending a formal school, have the opportunity to enroll in a children’s museum, a science museum, or some kind of discovery center or exploratorium. As part of this educational scene, adults are present who actually practice the disciplines or crafts represented by the various exhibitions…”
(p 198)
“On the one hand, youngsters live in a time of unparalleled excitement, where even the less privileged are exposed daily to attractive media and technologies….
On the other hand, science museums and children’s museums have become the loci for exhibitions, activities, and role models drawn precisely from those domains that do engage youngsters….
If we are to configure an education for understanding, suited for the students of today and for the world of tomorrow, we need to take the lessons of museum and the relationship of the apprenticeship extremely seriously.”P 200
What kind of knowledge is required in schools
“It is in rich, situation-specific contexts that intelligences are typically and productively deployed.”
“The kind of knowledge required in workplaces and in one’s personal life usually involves collaborative, contextualized, and situation-specific thinking (Gardner, 1990; Resnick, 1987; Rogoff and Lave, 1984)”
“Schools do provide some group activities, but students are usually judged on their individual work. By contrast, in many social and occupational settings, one’s ability to communicate effectively and work productively with others is critical to a successful outcome.”
“A comprehensive effort to enhance a student’s “school intelligences” must address at least several factors:
- Conditions particular to the environment
- Students particular skills
- Measurement tools to measure achievements”
“Our underlying premise was that students who thrive in school need to learn, apply and integrate both academic knowledge about subject domains and practical knowledge about themselves, academic tasks and the school system at large.”
The infusion curriculum
“An infusion approach” rather than teaching students how to be practically intelligent in school through a separate “stand alone” set of lessons, we infuse these themes throughout the course of students’ daily work in the major subject matter areas or disciplines.”
The Practical Intelligence for School (PIFS) Projects
1- Choosing a project
a. “Understanding projects”
b. “Choosing a Project Appropriate to You”
c. “Planning a Project Appropriate to the Audience and Resources”
2- Principles
a. Practical intelligence skills are most fruitfully nurtured in domain-specific contexts
b. Taught concepts are most effectively implemented when used in service of a particular purpose
c. Students acquire knowledge best when it is related to their own sets of abilities and interests.
d. Practical intelligence skills are most powerfully integrated when presented in both scholastic and real-world contexts
e. Self-monitoring helps students to take responsibility for their own learning.
Evaluation of PIFS Units
1- Do students understand the issues addressed in the project and why they are important (Definitional component)
2- Task completion assessment as students are asked to either start or complete a task, or perhaps to work through a problem area (Task component)
3- Reflecting on the nature of the process or skills involved in the particular tasks. Students are asked to evaluate whether their performances were successful, and if not, how they could be revised or improved (metatask component) Approaching School Intelligently: Practical Intelligence at the Middle School Level: A New Conception of Intelligence (p121)
Assessment and Beyond:
“Rather than being imposed “externally” at odd times during the year, assessment ought to become part of the natural learning environment.”
“As much as possible it should occur “on the fly”, as part of an individual’s natural engagement in a learning situation. Initially, the assessment would probably have to be introduced explicitly; but after a while, much assessment would occur naturally on the part of student and teacher with little need for explicit recognition or labeling on anyone’s part. Assessment and Beyond: Assessment in context: the Alternative to Standardized Testing: General feature of a new approach to assessment
How to Achieve and Demonstrate Understanding
“Upon closer examination, it is clear that understandings can only be apprehended and appreciated if they are performed by a student”
“Students need to begin to “practice” these performances from the first days of class. And by the same token, students ought to become partners in the process of assessmsnet as soon as possible.”
“An individual is most likely to achive a satisfactory life – to make a contribution to society and gain self-esteem – if he or she finds vocational and avocational niches that complement his or her own aptitudes.” Beyond Assessment: The Aims and Means of Education
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment