This article was wrote by David Howland who contiributed it to ASCD Muliplle Intelligences Network Intelligence Connections （Volume 16,August
17, 2009）.If you have a further interest to ASCD MI network, please write to Dr.Thomas Hoer at trhoerr@newcityschool.org.

 

MI in Japan

MI as a Curriculum Unifier
By David Howland

I teach in the elementary division of a small international K-12 school in Yokohama, Japan. The school is undergoing a great deal of transition now, and when I arrived at the start of this academic year, it was apparent to me that the curriculum required the most immediate attention. Naturally, MI came to mind as the most direct and efficient way to join together rather disparate elements of our students’ learning experience.

As it stood, there were texts for the core academic subjects math and language arts, but there were only guidelines in the form of precedents set the previous school year for special subjects like music, art and physical education. There was in place, however, the International Primary Curriculum（IPC）, an MI-based program for integrating learning, particularly-but not exclusively-science and social studies. This was my point of departure for
integrating my curriculum.

Using the IPC as a pivotal point, I began to align all our subjects with the program, not only thematically, but with an eye to activities that reflected MI learning. I made sure to include a variety of MI approaches to the concepts and skills my students needed to know. For instance, my students not only studied the parts of a butterfly, they also learned about design and color schemes from wing patterns as they made their own butterflies and interpreted migration patterns through movement activities.
They not only added and subtracted fractions, but they learned musical notation, took musical dictation and learned about the division of a musical measure and phrase. They mimed and acted math story problems and learned about the human muscular system during swimming class.and art class. They loved it.

They never quite knew what was coming next, and they enjoyed that sensation. I enjoyed the curriculum design with the knowledge that I was “wilding the tame” （in the words of Harvard University’s Project Zero director David Perkins） with peace of mind that my classroom was a tapestry of consistent and colorful fibers, both enjoyable and pedagogically sound.

Whenever I questioned my own design and direction, I had only to look to Gardner and Armstrong for answers. Whenever I questioned the quality of my students’ learning, I had only to look into their portfolios for proof of what they knew and how they knew it. And whenever a colleague, parent or administrator asked me what was happening in my classroom, there were samples of learning activities everywhere in the room for them to experience.

The school year is in its final moments, and as I reflect on how I pulled it together, I am more indebted to MI than ever before. My plan for the immediate future is to extend the design of this year as a framework for learning throughout the school. With the help the school community and colleagues in the Japan Multiple Intelligences Society （JMIS）, this is a very attainable goal.
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David Howland is an arts-based learning specialist, a professional musician, and a composer. He currently lives in Japan and works at Yokohama International Christian Academy. He is an avid traveler and collector of musical instruments. He attended Project Zero in 2004 and is active in the Japan MI Society. He can be reached at expressunltd@hotmail.com.