Curriculum Philosophy
My philosophy of education is heavily influenced by Howard Gardner's philosophy of multiple intelligences. Education is not a cookbook; teachers cannot easily follow a step-by-step process to ensure that learning takes place within the classroom in a way that will be effective for all students. A curriculum must embrace different learning experiences, to ensure that all students are reached in a way that suits their learning style (Armstrong 2000). Making use of multisensory learning experiences allows different students to shine in different classroom assignments, and to teach one another as well as simply learn from the teacher.
The idea of making use of creative assignments does not mean that a gifted artist can ignore mathematics. "We are all able to know the world through language, logical-mathematical analysis, spatial representation, musical thinking, the use of the body to solve problems or to make things, an understanding of other individuals, and an understanding of ourselves," but different students have different preferences (Lane 2008). Gardner spoke out against an educational system that believed standardized measures could test student learning in a singular manner. Such tests reinforced the fact that the educational system is heavily biased toward language arts and math, without drawing from the other intelligences that were equally as valuable, philosophically and in life (Lane 2008).
My curriculum planning process
All too often, teachers merely ask 'what must I teach,' rather than 'how should I teach this?' I intend to incorporate multisensory, interdisciplinary learning into my curriculum. For example, to teach the multiplication tables, I intend not only to teach them through reinforcement and by rote, making use of student's logical intelligence, but also to assign word problems to draw upon their linguistic intelligence. This will show them how the concepts operate in the 'real world' in a way that is relevant to their lives.
To help students with strong kinesthetic intelligence understand the concept of multiplication, I could set up hands-on activities that show students how multiplication deals with concepts of objects in 'groups.' Musical intelligence can be deployed through the use of teaching 'times tables songs' and visual intelligence can be stimulated through the use of allowing students to create colorful classroom displays, perhaps even drawing upon student's interpersonal intelligence as well by assigning different teams a single 'table,' like six, to illustrate with pictures.
Although I believe that multiple intelligences can be incorporated into any classroom, with the right degree of creativity on the part of the teacher, I also know that having the resources to make use of computers to create webquests, to have adequate access to art and musical materials, to be able to conduct field trips, and to have a diversity of books, pictures, guest speakers, and hands-on materials will enhance my ability to make use of the multiple intelligence philosophy in my curriculum
How does it fit in with my school?
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