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Reprints From The Professional Skier

Fall 1997 - "Multimodal Lessons Engage Multiple Intelligences" by Mariam Sodergren

This article is reprinted from The Professional Skier. All copyrights apply. Please see our copyright and disclaimer notice page.

Editor's note: Mariam Sodergren and her husband, Mike, were among the 18 people who lost their lives July 30 at the Thredbo ski area in Australia when a landslide buried the area lodge and an employee housing unit. The editorial staff was in the process of developing this article with Mariam when the tragedy occurred and would like to dedicate this piece in memory of Mariam and her many contributions to ski instruction.

Astute teachers realize that multi-modal teaching is a great way to deliver information to students. They awaken children's young, impressionable minds by reaching beyond the text and the blackboard, thus enhancing both retention and comprehension.

In 1983 a prominent psychologist named Howard Gardner proposed the existence of at least seven basic intelligences, challenging the commonly held belief that intelligence can be objectively measured and reduced to a single number or IQ score. He sought to broaden the scope of human potential by proposing the idea that intelligence hinges upon one's capacity for solving problems and fashioning products in a context-rich and natural setting.

Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences focuses on mental processes or "thinking skills." Its philosophy represents an attitude toward learning in which fundamental principles are adapted to suit a variety of educational settings. Gardner's theory is not a rigid program of fixed techniques and strategies.

According to Gardner, there are "many kinds of minds," i.e., there are a number of ways to process information. Intelligence occurs in different parts of the brain. We understand, learn about, and know our world through a variety of sources and means. Each "intelligence," or way of understanding concepts and solving problems, can be found in every culture. Although the actual existence of each intelligence is universal, certain skills are more highly developed in some cultures and within some distinct groups that are part of a given culture.

By the time children start school, they usually have established ways of learning that resemble some intelligences more than others. The theory of Multiple Intelligences; celebrates all the student's learning potential instead of trying to decide to which exclusive learning group the student belongs.

The components of the multiple intelligences are as follows. Although they are identified individually here, they rarely function exclusively of each other.

Each person has capacities in all seven intelligences, but how they function together is unique to each individual. For the instructor, the challenge is to apply this theory of cognitive functioning to the ski lesson. The theory of Multiple Intelligences provides a way for all educators to reflect upon their best teaching methods and understand why these methods work (or why they work well for some but not for others). It also helps instructors expand their current teaching repertoire to include a broader range of methods, materials, and techniques for reaching a wider or more diverse range of learners.

A typical lesson presented many different ways provides a sample of how the model works. The task: to introduce a wedge to a group of six to eight year olds. (Because it's difficult to single out one of the intelligences when presenting new information, the directions that follow often incorporate more than one of them.)

a Demonstrate the wedge without talking about it to tap the children's visual-spatial intelligence.
aHave the students draw large triangles on the snow with their fingers, then ask them to stand on the sides of the triangle while wearing skis to enlist their visual-spatial and bodily-kinesthetic intelligences.
aWhile the students are wearing skis, first have them stand in a parallel ski position and ask them what shape that position resembles (e.g., an "11," the trunk of a Christmas tree, or the sides of a house). Then ask the children to jump into the wedge position and describe what that position resembles (e.g., a triangle, roof, or Christmas tree). Ask them what that position feels like. This item exercises the verbal-linguistic, visual-spatial, and bodily-kinesthetic intelligences.
aAsk the students to jump back and forth between the parallel ski and wedge positions. What sound do the skis make as they move across the snow? Have the children jump back and forth between the two positions to a rhythmic beat to engage the musical-rhythmic intelligence.
aHave the students help each other to tap the interpersonal intelligence. For example, if one student is having trouble making the wedge shape, ask another student who is doing it well to teach the one having trouble.
aTo enlist the intrapersonal intelligence, ask the students whether they thought they were able to successfully form the wedge.
aDescribe the shape of the wedge, how to perform it, and its purpose or function to exercise the children's logical-mathematical intelligence.
aAnother way to engage the students' logical-mathematical intelligence would be to ask them, "If the skis are pointed straight down the hill, what do you think happens? Why? If they are pointed in with the tips toward each other, what do you think happens? Why?" By questioning the students, the teacher is hoping that the students' deductive reasoning abilities will lead them to develop a cause-and-effect under standing of how their skis work.

A multimodal lesson environment is one in which instructors continually shift their methods of presentation, for example, from linguistic to spatial, from logical to bodily-kinesthetic, or from rhythmic to intrapersonal, etc. The multimodal lesson often combines intelligences in creative ways and must be fundamentally structured to accommodate the needs of different kinds of learners. Because skiing involves all the intelligences in one way or another, it is imperative that the teacher tap into all seven areas during the lesson to ignite children's intelligence.

Children come to the ski hill with traditional classroom experience where nearly 70 percent of a teacher's presentation is consumed by "teacher talk" (Armstrong 1994). "Teacher talk" occurs when the teacher talks at the students--giving instructions or lecturing. Although "teacher talk" is a viable teaching technique, it may not be the advisable choice when an instructor wishes to change students' performance behaviors during a typical ski lesson.

To develop the curriculum for an effective ski lesson, the instructor should consider the desired lesson objectives and structure the lesson to provide information to all the multiple intelligences. No single set of teaching strategies will work best for all students at all times, therefore, the instructor should be prepared to use a diverse mix of strategies.

Lessons presented with only one or two of the intelligences in mind will not ensure that all of the students' needs are being met. One learning style may help only part of the class, leaving the rest of the students out of touch. Conscientious instructors who use a multimodal approach to each topic reinforce comprehension of the material as the students receive the information and are able to respond to it emotionally and physically.

The creative lesson is both exciting and rewarding for the teacher as well as the student. Having the capacity to wrap the material around the students and literally envelope them in it is very intoxicating. This is why good teachers teach!

To excel in the field, a ski instructor must be committed to teaching in various modalities. With a school system that favors students who relate most readily to the verbal-linguistic and logical-mathernatic modalities, it is imperative that ski educators remove themselves from this confinement and challenge themselves to find new ways to deliver their message. They must literally become the information.

Mariam Sodergren spent the past 10 years as a supervisor and staff trainer for the Alpine Meadows ski school in California. She was a Level III certified alpine instructor and a former member of the junior Education Team (JETs).

Bibliography

Armstrong, Thomas. 1994. Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom. SkyLight Publishing: Arlington Heights, 111.

Lamar, David. 1994. Seven Pathways of Learning. Zephyr Press: Tucson, Ariz.

Lazear, David. 1991. Seven Ways of Knowing. SkyLight Publishing: Arlington Heights, 111.