"Alpha children wear gray. They work harder than we do, because they're so frightfully clever. I'm really awfully glad I'm a Beta, because I don't work so hard. And then we are much better than Gammas and Deltas."

In this quote, from his classic Brave New World, Aldous Huxley presents us with a world in which every individual is "tracked" into a certain group, a group from which there is no potential for movement. The fact that the Huxley's children are, in fact, genetically engineered (or cloned) is relevant to this essay. Unfortunately, the education process which Huxley theorizes for the four groups is one which I recently have seen at work in several modern classrooms--one which teaches (and tests, and grades) to a theoretical (and nonexistent) "norm".

As human beings, most of us feel that we share a number of "common" traits--one of these being the ways we acquire knowledge. We may recognize, intellectually, that there are different styles of learning but at the same time we have a problem (if we are visual or verbal learners) understanding why others can't seem to grasp subjects by reading and discussing them. On the other side of this argument is the person who may have a problem composing an analysis of a "simple" poem but can not comprehend why seemingly intelligent people fail to understand the necessity of "tuning up" an internal combustion engine (much less find learning how to do it extremely challenging.)

As English teachers, most of us realize (intellectually) that writing is a skill which must be learned, practiced, and refined. What many like Teacher Addams (not his/her real name) do not truly understand, however, is that students--even the motivated students--have underlying issues--call them talents and biases--which impact their ability to perform as writers in a classroom environment. Many of these are commonly discussed in education theory and classroom management seminars-- peer pressure, home or family background, physical (or psychological) disability, health, language skills . . . the list grows daily. But far less often discussed is the fact that each student and the teacher each has his or her own style of learning. On our side of the desk, this translates into the likelihood we will teach to our style of learning--in English, predominantly verbal-linguistic.

Which is what I observed in four different learning environments--two high school composition class, an evening remedial class for working young adults, and a middle school English class. In each case, good teachers were trying to reach out to willing students, but appeared to be reaching about sixty-five percent at best. Three of the classrooms were well ordered examples of what classrooms should be (if there is any such thing). But in a fourth classroom, it was as if chaos had been given reign. Students were working everywhere and on half a dozen projects. One was working on learning lines from Shakespeare while walking around the perimeter of the room. It was, the teacher explained, a free-for-all session. Everybody was "doing their own thing", with the only restriction being that they had to be working on material relevant to that class.

And everybody was working!

One out of four talented, dedicated teachers had set aside the traditional ideas of classroom management and was blazing a new path. She understood that everyone learns differently, and was willing to give up a measure of control to let them learn the way they learn best. (She also confided to me later that she was, herself, an intrapersonal learner with a strong kinesthetic influence. Yes, she knew about Gardner's theories.

Perhaps one of the reasons why this subject is avoided is that there are no "quick fixes", no easy by-the-numbers ways to reconcile the idea of managing a classroom with allowing a group to go off in one corner while someone else is walking around reciting (quietly) lines from Julius Caesar. There is no set formula to teach people how to deal with the problems of differing learning styles in the same classroom.

So dedicated teachers find themselves groping for solutions that will help them help their students; less dedicated teachers very quickly find other (often better paying) lines of work.

Digressing for a moment, while observing the four classes which I had the opportunity to visit I found all of the four teachers strong in their command of the language and in their ability to teach the subject. Each displayed their own style and personality and in each class there was some level of learning taking place. One was concentrated on individual writing, a second and third were working with discussion groups while the fourth displayed the seeming free-for-all. But in the fourth class there was something missing--visible boredom. Everybody was busy; busy learning about the language and what can be done with it; busy exploring the wonders of English in their own most comfortable fashion.

Like the 16,260 defined colors and shades of colors, every one of us has a unique mix of verbal, logical, spatial, and perhaps interpersonal learning styles. This mix is part of the characteristics referred to by educators as an educational modality. It is one of the things which makes each of us unique human beings and adds interest and color to our lives.

Howard Gardner's seven learning modalities are:

This is probably the most pervasive of the human intelligences. It is the foundation of almost all human communications and is most important tool in the educators kit. It is, at the same time, both the most important method of passing knowledge and the biggest barrier to understanding. It is also the most universal of the human characteristics--that of a spoken (usually accompanied by visible and recordable symbols) language. Verbal-linguistic is considered the dominant modality for orators, writers, politicians, poets, and (fortunately or unfortunately, depending on a student's modality) most teachers.

Considered by many as the second most common intelligence, this is the style of thought which organizes, categorizes, and classifies information. It builds knowledge based on previously observed and accepted facts. It is the foundation of the "scientific method" of observation, recording, hypothesis, testing, documentation, and duplicability. It is also the foundation of all modern technology and our 20th century civilization.

This is probably the last of the intelligences covered by most intelligence testing. It's most important characteristic is the ability to visualize--to see "in the minds eye." This is the modality of the minute observer, the artist, the designer, and (along with the mathematical-logical) the architect. Where the logical-mathematical mind sees "what is . . .," the spatial mind sees "what might be . . .." It is the kind of intelligence which Michelangelo defined when asked how he could create such beautiful sculpture.

The presence of spatial intelligence is critical in designing everything from packages and containers to airplanes and rockets. The designer must be able to see how the item he or she is creating will fit into, connect to, or enclose those parts of the world to which it is related.

Most people think of music and rhythm as something to be learned rather than used as a learning tool. But how many children have learned the sequence of the alphabet by singing it. A B C D E F G, H I J K LMNOP . . .. And how many days are there in a month? Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November . . .. These are mnemonic tools which appeal to the Musical side of our intelligence. The musical learner is the kind of person who will tap a pencil on the desk or paper when deep in concentration.

Musical intelligence is one of the reasons why Lewis Carroll's nonsense rhymes from Alice in Wonderland, the intense emotion of Samuel Taylor Coldrige's Ryme of the Ancient Mariner, and Shakespeare's plays and sonnets are easier to commit to memory than the Periodic Table, the Equation for Binomial Equations or the English (foot, pound, second) measuring system.

Anyone who has learned Morse code will tell you it is easier to remember the code in the pattern E, I, S, H, 5, T, M, O . . . than it is in alphabetic sequence. Musical learners, by the way, are also going to be the best telegraphers and radio code operators because they acquire and integrate the code's rhythm and pattern more rapidly.

The ancient cultures of Greek and Rome saw little separation between the condition of the mind and the condition of the body, while many of the far eastern cultures and philosophies are built around the idea that the body is the teacher of the mind. Western cultures during the middle ages, however, culminating with Rene Descartes famous "I think, therefore, I am" in the 16th century, separated the body and the mind. They practiced educating one to the edification of the soul and suppressing the other as an enemy of salvation. Bodily-Kinesthetic (B-K) intelligence, however, may be (as it is conceived by some education theorists) the second-most important of the learning skills. As a matter of interest, there is an entire school of educational theory which maintains that suppression of the kinesthetic (hands-on or 'touchie-feelie') side of education actually impedes overall learning ability. This theory goes so far as to propose that interference with the natural development sequence of psycho-motor skills may be a major cause of many learning disabilities. Dyslexia, for example, is linked to early interruption of the 'crawling' stage. One of the characteristics of the bodily-kinesthetic learner is the need to 'get in touch' with the subject. An individual, for example, who has trouble identifying rocks or certain kinds of geological formations from their descriptions--and even from pictures--may suddenly find them perfectly clear when able to handle samples or get 'nose-to-nose' with the formation.

Another characteristic is the need to be in motion, B-K learners move quickly and often seemingly without reason. Some research points to a frequent misdiagnosis of bodily-kinesthetic intelligence as Attention Deficit (Hyperactive) Disorder (ADD / ADHD). Remember that ADD/ADHD is a physiological disorder which should be diagnosed by a physician or trained professional. The average teacher, and even most school counselors, can only express a reasonably-well-informed opinion on the disorder. In the case of a B-K, treatment by substance may actually aggravate the situation--and everybody involved in it!

The interpersonal learner may also be seen as a disruptive influence in a traditional classroom. This is the individual whose education comes through open interaction with other people. Social activist and Nobel Prize winner Jane Addams, for example, found herself bored and exhausted after a lecture or a museum tour, but was invigorated by long days of grueling work with the poor and underprivileged. Addams, like most highly-visible activists, drew her knowledge, strength, and vitality from the people with whom she worked. She was not only a leader, but a motivator. She was known for not talking a lot but for possessing an amazing intuitiveness for people and their feelings. The interpersonal learners are described in the field of parapsychology as empaths. They are extraordinary leaders because of a sixth sense about people and their motives.

As one would suspect from the identifying term, the intrapersonal learner is almost the exact opposite of the interpersonal learner. The intrapersonal person works and learns best in near isolation. There are several reasons for this, not the least of which is that the intrapersonal individual has difficulty focusing when in the midst of a group. In a group, the intrapersonal is usually the active follower--and an extremely valuable asset when the group is trying to get things done. But this same characteristic of group activity might cause individuals to be seen as "slow" in a traditional classroom. They are constantly active and willing to help others, but never seems to have time to get their own work finished.

This may be the reason that one student member of one of the initial IVE research groups recently observed: "We take these kinds of tests every year in our English classes, but nobody ever does anything with them." In talking with teachers, however, their answer is that they do use these results personally, in their classrooms, to help develop learning plans--within the established lesson frameworks of course--to fit individual students.

Additional references, study materials, planning guides and lesson plans.

Student Classroom Activities

Selected Publications from Teacher-Researchers.
Project summaries and reports by IVE-conscious teachers.

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