Multiple Intelligences in the Icelandic School System

Primary and secondary
Betty Nikulasdottir, Reykjavik, Iceland

Ever since I came back from my wonderful course at Pilgrims on Multiple Intelligences in the summer of 2000, I have been looking for MI instances in schools and in my teaching. Thus, I got more interested in the policies of the Ministry of Education here in Iceland. I wanted to know if there was anything in the system where I could see Multiple Intelligence at work . This interest was reinforced last summer when we had a Pilgrims trainer, Hanna Kryszewska, for a 4 day workshop using Multiple Intelligence exercises for the classroom. To my surprise I discovered that there were quite a lot of MI being used in schools. Furthermore, the Ministry was rewriting its educational policies and it seemed as if there was a penchant for MI. I don't know if the Ministry called it Multiple Intelligences or something else but the result was that there was more emphasis on individual differences and learning patterns than I expected.
I will explain.

First, a brief summary of the educational system in Iceland.
The School system in Iceland follows the policy of something for everybody. In fact, many years ago the slogan for the Ministry of Education was " School for each and everyone". The main purpose of the Icelandic Educational System focuses on preparing the student for life and work in a modern democratic society. Thus, independent thinking and personal development are of utmost importance regardless of sex, economic status, religion, handicaps and background.
The schools in Iceland are divided into 3 major groups. The primary schools, the lower secondary schools and the upper secondary schools.
The first two are compulsory and the student is 16 years old when he graduates .
On the lower secondary level, along with the traditional subjects such as maths, languages, history, religion, the student also gets instructions in handicrafts such as carpentry, baking, painting, singing, physical education, swimming, story-telling.
When the student finishes his compulsory education at the age of 16, he has a choice of different schools according to his interests. He has a variety of schools that he can choose from. He can choose to go to a vocational school where he will learn electronics, IT, carpentry, dressmaking, hairdressing, etc. In another school he can choose to learn various office jobs, work as clerks, tellers etc. There are, also, music schools where he learns singing or a musical instrument. While a third choice prepares him for university education.
The upper secondary school is a 4 year school that roughly corresponds to the two final years of high school and the first two years of a junior college in the American system. The student is between 16-20 of age and after that he is ready for the University to pursue further education if he so chooses. Education, at this level, is not compulsory. There are many kinds of upper secondary schools which a student is free to choose, such as, vocational schools; schools with heavy emphasis on trades; schools with heavy emphasis on white collar jobs and schools with heavy emphasis on liberal arts. The latter prepare the student for university education. We can see here that the school system in Iceland provides for multiple basic skills. The assumption is that the student is equipped better to meet the life challenges and to make intelligent choices about his life if he pursues studies of his own choice. In order to make an intelligent choice, we should really know who we are before we decide what we want to do. For this purpose, the schools provide a one hour period a week where freshmen students discuss their choices with an adviser.

Here I would like to take a closer look at the curriculum of the school where I teach. This has a 4 year credit based academically oriented curriculum. The student has to complete a certain number of credits each term and, a certain number of credits during the time he is at school in order to graduate.
To begin with, the student has to choose a major so that he can line up his courses according to his interests. My school offers 3 majors to choose from while other schools offer more variety preparing the student for office jobs, etc. My school prepares the student for academic pursuits. There is a core of courses that the student is required to take but that constitutes a small part. The rest of his credits come from different courses of his choice.
There are many courses for the student to choose from. The range is quite wide. Maths, literature, history, geography, arts, drawing and painting, sports, cooking, computers, films, psychology, drama and hard core sciences. In short, there is something for everybody. Thus, the school provides for multiple intelligences
Within the courses, there is considerable freedom although the assumption is that if the student has chosen a particular course, he must be interested in it. The teachers use different teaching methods such as, group work, individual presentations, class essays, home essays, computer work such as webquests and, work based on books, assigned or free choices, lectures, etc.
Again, we can see here that the curriculum in the third kind of school provides for different life skills. Not only that but also, a flexible time period to finish the required credit points. Individuals are encouraged to use their preferred intelligences in learning. And teachers are required to use instructional methods that appeal to different forms of intelligence.
But why are we so interested in MI?
What is it that we are looking for?
How does it help our teaching?
First and foremost, it helps the teacher understand the abilities of the students. But this, in the long run, is mainly for the teacher's benefit. However, I think, from a student's point of view, the most important thing that a student learns is that he becomes aware of the areas of his strengths and weaknesses thus helping him to build his confidence. The student feels good about himself once he has found out what his strong intelligence is.
In this article I would like to share with you all some of the activities that I use in my teaching. Since I teach quite a number of literature classes I will tell you how I use the 8 intelligences in my teaching.

For the verbal/linguistic
I use discussions, imagery, metaphors, fill in conversation pieces, vocabulary building, analyzing poetry,

For the logical/mathematical
I use sequencing of events in a novel or short story; outlining episodes; computer work, such as webquests; critical thinking or text analysis. I am not very sure if logical/mathematical intelligence has a big place in literature except perhaps the sequencing of events in a chronological order. I also make use of math intelligence when we have to convert money. A good example of this is Mr. Darcy's wealth in Pride and Prejudice. The students invariably want to know how rich he is compared to Mr. Bingley. And here our math intelligences come in quite handy as they immediately calculate each young man's wealth and convert it into Icelandic krona.

For Spatial Intelligence I use scrambled events that the students have to put in order; group projects with each group member doing different work; simple guessing games such as, who, what, when; making wall posters based on the scenes from books or poems, drawing of scenes from the books the students read, collages, power point presentations.

For musical/auditory intelligence I use interpreting music into poems or drawings, films, poems, rhythms, sounds and their interpretations. For example, I bring to class the relevant music of the period in which the novel takes place, such as, black music, etc.

For bodily/kinesthetic intelligence I use role playing. These students need to move around and they are happy when certain tasks are assigned to them.

For interpersonal intelligence I use discussions or group work where identification with the protagonist of a novel, personal reflection on the hero's or heroine's behavior, interpersonal reflection and empathizing with the characters are the topics.

For intrapersonal intelligence I use web quests where the student can work by himself., gathering background information, writing newspaper articles, individual presentations, journals, individual projects.

Last but not least is the naturalist intelligence. Here I use leaves, boughs, and, anything that I have gathered during my walks in nature. The students reflect, draw and compose poems or songs using the natural pieces.

As you can see some of the intelligences are more difficult to suit a literature class while others are custom-made for literature classes.
One of my favorite MI activities which I learned from Hanna Kryszewska last summer is the composite animal and its attributes. I think this activity generates so much fun and cooperation in groups. Unfortunately, I still have not been able to figure out how to fit the concept into my literature classes. Had I been a biology teacher that would have been my piece de resistance. If anybody has any ideas please share with us all.
Another instance where I use MI is during assessment. I believe that assessment should not measure one aspect of intelligence only but that it should measure multiple forms of intelligence.
During the term the students in my classes read different books or plays. Each time the students finish a book there is some kind of assessment. I have divided this into different types:
multiple choice; essay writing; analysis of text; identification of texts; answering questions based on comprehension and memory, oral presentations in class; individual discussions with the teacher for a period of 10 minutes; compare and contrast questions; power point presentations; research into various topics. This way I provide for different abilities and skills. If a student is weak in one area he can improve his grade by excelling in the type of assessment that suits him better.
As you can see there is a variety of activities that one can use which suits almost all types of intelligences.. Some fit better than others. I am sure there are many more activities than the ones I mentioned above that would suit a literature class.
These are mine.
What are yours?

References:

The internet
Various handouts during MI courses Betty Nikulasdottir

Please check the Teaching English Through Multiple Intelligences at Pilgrims website.