Let's visit three schools. As we walk from classroom to classroom in the first school, we see students working on a variety of projects. In one room, a mural is in process; in another, a group of learners is building a bridge with various materials. Throughout the school, we see student work. In the library, many students' completed projects are on display. Sometimes we observe learners working together, other times alone. Older students are often working with younger ones. With some work, students are following structured directions; other times, they seem to be creating as they go along.
In the second school, groups of students are working at various learning stations. Some are sitting quietly, listening to tapes or working on written materials; others are playing games; still others are doing experiments and recording responses. The complexity of the tasks varies by age of the students and the content they are studying. In one classroom, the students are involved in a class meeting to discuss plans for their work at the centers.
In the other school, the visual displays make it immediately clear what content each class is studying. One primary grade is learning about desert animals. In an intermediate grade, the students are studying the culture of China. In another class, students are working on measurement. From classroom to classroom, we note a variety of group structures. Some students are working with a partner, some in small groups, and others in a large group with a teacher or older student directing the activity. In many classrooms, music is playing. Artwork is displayed throughout the building.
Three schools and three pleasant learning environments—with many common features: In each school, we find students actively involved in their learning, teachers talking with learners and with one another to make decisions and solve problems, students learning in a variety of ways, multiple resources available, displays of students' artwork, curriculum related to interests of students, parent volunteers working with learners, and regular assessment of the students' work as an integral part of the learning. When we talk to parents, they tell us about their satisfaction with their children's academic successes and with the emotional support the students feel at each school.
What is the mission of each of these schools? What are the goals and the beliefs? What was the catalyst for their particular approaches to learning? In one school, the teachers have studied and worked together to apply the theory of multiple intelligences; in another school, teachers are applying theories of learning styles; and in the third school, the teachers apply theories of brain-based education. Can you tell which school is committed to which of these theories by the descriptions of the visits?
Areas of Overlap
If we visited each of the schools for a longer period of time and talked with the teachers in depth, we would hear both similarities and differences in their beliefs and practices. Multiple intelligences, learning styles, and brain-based education have particular theoretical constructs, research bases, and applications. These fields are distinct and separate from one another in some ways, but in the practical environment of the school classroom, which calls for the application of the theories, the outcomes look strikingly similar.
Educators who believe in the concepts of learning styles, brain-based education, and multiple intelligences bring an approach and attitude to their teaching of focusing on how students learn and the unique qualities of each learner. Each of these theories offers a comprehensive approach to learning and teaching, not a one-shot program. Each can be a catalyst for positive student learning. Each forces us to examine our values about people, learning, and education to make the hundreds of daily decisions that put beliefs into practice. What are some of the commonalties of brain-based education, learning styles, and multiple intelligences? I propose six areas of overlap.
Each of the theories is learning and learner-centered. The learner is the most important focus of the educational system. In an appropriate way, students are the center of attention. Schools that are learner-centered focus their energies on helping all students to be successful learners. They weigh decisions about structure, rituals, routines, class composition, curriculum content and materials, and assessments and evaluation for their effect on the learners. Conversations center on learning. Outcomes emanate from the learners' needs and interests. Curriculum is organic, not preset to be covered in a specific time. The learning process is the dominant focus.
The teacher is a reflective practitioner and decision maker. In order to appropriately apply learning styles, multiple intelligences, and brain-based education, teachers must understand the theories, continue to study them, reflect upon them, and make appropriate applications for their own students and their own situations. The principles of the theories are a rationale for decisions and a catalyst for continual examination of schooling practices. Teachers have frequent and challenging conversations about their work.
The student is also a reflective practitioner. Students talk about their own learning and are active in the planning and assessment of the learning process. They are engaged in exploring, experimenting, creating, applying, and evaluating their ways of learning, as well as interacting actively with the content and concepts they are studying.
The whole person is educated. Teachers pay attention to the cultural, physical, social, and emotional life of the learner as well as to his or her academic life. Each of the theories promotes personalization of education by connecting the student's total life to the learning in the classroom. Educators acknowledge developmental stages and consider them in instructional and curriculum decisions. Respect for every individual is paramount and is evident in the climate of the school, including its management and its discipline procedures. When a child has a learning problem, comprehensive knowledge about the student becomes the basis of a solution.
The curriculum has substance, depth, and quality. Basic skills are treated seriously and frequently learned in the context of appropriate applications. Schools spell out high and sometimes uniform standards for learning outcomes, but they consciously avoid standardization of curriculum and methodologies. Proponents of brain-based education, learning styles, and multiple intelligences convincingly demonstrate that accommodating the students' learning strengths and individual intelligences and attending to ways the brain absorbs and processes information result in more effective learning.
Each of these theories promotes diversity. It is a core principle in each theory that individuals are unique and that this uniqueness has an effect on students' various ways of learning. Teachers and students celebrate and foster diversity.
Common Cautions
Each of these theories also offers similar cautions. None pretends to be the single panacea to educational dilemmas. Proponents of learning styles, multiple intelligences, and brain-based education acknowledge the importance of good, solid teaching skills. Those practicing these theories neither discard research nor the wisdom of the past. Rather, they integrate current promising practices into the applications of the theories.
Each theory also, while it presents specific terms, labels, and vocabulary, cautions against simplistic applications of those terms. The original researchers of the theories continue to explore and develop their ideas and they warn against trivial quick-fix practices in the name of the theory.
Finally, none of the original theories aims to be a cookbook approach to teaching. When a theory about how people learn turns into a standardized program, it is a contradiction in both philosophy and practice.
The bottom line is that learning is a complex process and students learn in various ways. The teacher who acknowledges and actively responds to these truths will facilitate learning success for more learners. The theorists and promoters of brain-based education, learning styles, and multiple intelligences can contribute to effective applications by pointing out the complimentary aspects of their work. The primary message should be the need for serious understanding of the learner and the learning process.
Currently, too many students are not learning successfully in our schools—for a whole variety of reasons. Application of the theories of multiple intelligences, learning styles, and brain-based education offers more students the opportunity to succeed by focusing attention directly on how they learn. This priority is long overdue in our schools. We would be wise to keep the common principles of the theories of multiple intelligences, learning styles, and brain-based education in mind and not let competitiveness and differences among vocabulary and specific applications threaten the positive impact for teachers and students.
