A Teacher's Perspective: Bruce Campbell

CREATING THE FUTURE
Perspectives on Educational Change

Compiled and Edited by Dee Dickinson

A TEACHER'S PERSPECTIVE
Bruce Campbell, M.A.

With the relentless demands of daily teaching, educators often weary of new trends and fads in school programs. However, the information currently available from the cognitive sciences is not a slick trend designed for a "quick fix" of a faulty part in an industrial age piece of educational machinery. Instead, groundbreaking research reveals new and fundamental insights into our brain/mind/body system and offers hope for optimizing human learning. As a classroom teacher, I have found it important to devote part of my schedule to keeping abreast of innovations in educational research, theory, and practice. So as to better meet the needs of my diverse students as well as possible, I must be well informed; however, just being aware of the information emerging from the cognitive sciences is not enough. I have found that my teaching has to change in response to what I learn.

Many of the researchers and theorists highlighted in this book reveal new directions for educational practice. The work of Howard Gardner, for example, helps teachers perceive students in new ways, acknowledging children's abilities rather than disabilities. The work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Barbara Clark has implications for lesson and unit planning. Paul MacLean and Marian Diamond provide glimpses into the human brain and suggest ways to optimize learning. Shirley McCune offers a rationale for changing current educational systems to fit our times.
Exposure to such new information provokes numerous questions among educators. What is a meaningful curriculum? What is the best way to present it? How should technology be incorporated? How can higher levels of thinking and problem solving be engaged? How many different kinds of intelligence can be addressed in any lesson? What about individual and cultural differences among our students? How can educators spearhead innovations in school programs and practices? These questions and others appear, at first, overwhelming. And yet instead of giving way to cynicism or resistance, educators can choose to reflect on the implications of such information. We can accept the fact that change is a constant in our professional lives and determine what is possible insights into our brain/mind/body system and for each of us to apply in our classrooms or schools in our continuous efforts to improve the educational experience of our students.

Applying New Theories in a Single Classroom

In an attempt to apply some of the recent research into my own third grade classroom, I developed an instructional model primarily founded upon Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences. My students spend most of the day moving through seven learning centers, each devoted to one of the intelligences identified by Gardner. Curriculum is thematic and interdisciplinary. Following a lecture on the daily theme, students divide into seven groups to begin their center work. For approximately twenty minutes at each center, students learn about the day's topic through a different modality.
For example, in a recent unit on outer space, students focused on comets for one day. In the Building & Moving Center (Kinesthetic Intelligence), students made model comets with sticks, marshmallows and ribbons and then created a dance to illustrate a comet's orbit around the sun. In the Reading Center (Linguistic Intelligence), they read books about comets. In the Math & Science Center (Logical/Mathematical Intelligence), students solved story problems adding numbers for the lengths of comets' tails. In the Working Together Center (Interpersonal Intelligence), each group worked collaboratively at the computer, creating a database file on things in outer space, including comets. In the Personal Work Center (Intrapersonal Intelligence), students wrote comet poems on pieces of paper cut out in the shapes of comets. In the Art Center (Spatial Intelligence), they designed beautiful comets with glue and glitter on graph paper. The parts of their comets had to be labeled and drawn in correct proportion. In the Music Center (Musical Intelligence), each group created a rap song about comets to incorporate some of the facts they had learned. At the end of the day, poems were bound in a class book, raps were shared by each group, art work was hung on a bulletin board, and progress in other centers reviewed.
While the framework for my classroom is founded upon Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences, I have also been influenced by many of the other theorists represented in this book. To begin with, the students are directly involved in the planning process. Malcolm Knowles has clearly described the advantages of self-directed learning; and I have found that, even as young as third grade, students can capably assume partial responsibility for their education. In the above lesson, for example, the comet-shaped poem book, glitter comets, and raps were all student-suggested ideas. Students also have frequent opportunities to develop independent projects. Self-directed learning enhances intrinsic motivation which Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi suggests is crucial in education. The emphasis in my planning is to first stimulate my students' enjoyment of learning and then transmit information. Ironically, academic content is transmitted far more effectively with this focus.
David Perkins talks about the "mindware" of the human intellect. Art Costa stresses the importance of thinking skills. In an effort to incorporate their ideas, I regularly present problems to my students requiring analysis, evaluation, synthesis, and participatory decision-making. Linda Tsantis emphasizes the value and necessity of technological literacy. To engage students in useful applications of available technology, I am establishing a telecommunications project to link my classroom with another in a foreign country. Not only will this enhance reading, writing, and computing skills, it will also introduce my students to children of another culture and value system. Many observers to my classroom comment upon how confident, resourceful, and articulate my students are. Such comments underscore my gratitude to those who have inspired significant changes in my teaching.

Some Research Results in a Classroom Implementing New Theories & Research

To determine whether these instructional changes were achieving significant academic gains, I conducted an action research project in my classroom during the 1989-1990 school year. Just as implementing new educational theory has been a new experience for me, so was conducting a research project! However, with the support of educational faculty at Antioch University Seattle, I enjoyed being a reflective practitioner. Some of the results of the study are listed below:

The students developed increased responsibility, self-direction, and independence over the course of the year. Although no attempt was made to compare this group of students with those in other third grade classes, the self-direction and motivation of these students was apparent to many classroom visitors. The students were skilled at developing their own projects, gathering necessary resources, and making well planned, multimodal presentations.

Discipline problems significantly lessened. Students previously identified as behavior problems showed rapid improvement during the first six weeks of school. By midyear, they were making important contributions to their small groups. And by year's end, they had assumed positive leadership roles, which had not formerly been evident.

All students developed and applied new skills. In the fall, most students described only one center as their favorite one, and the one where they felt most confident. Interestingly enough, the distribution among the seven centers was relatively even. By midyear, most identified three to four favorite centers. By year's end, every student identified at least six centers that were favorites and where they felt skilled. Moreover, all students made multimodal presentations of independent projects, including songs, skits, visuals, poems, games, surveys, puzzles, and group participation activities.

Cooperative learning skills improved in all students. Since so much of the center work was collaborative, students became highly skilled at listening, helping each other, sharing leadership, accommodating group changes, and introducing new classmates to the program. They learned not only to respect each other but also to appreciate and call upon the unique gifts and abilities of their classmates.

Academic achievement improved as measured by both classroom and standardized tests. MAT scores from the previous year's students were above state and national averages in all areas. Retention was high on a classroom year end test of all areas studied during the year. Methods for recalling information were predominantly musical, visual, and kinesthetic, indicating the influence of working through the different intelligences. Students who had previously been unsuccessful in school became high achievers in new areas.

In summary, it is clear that students' learning improved. Many students stated they enjoyed school for the first time. As the school year progressed, new skills emerged. Some students discovered musical abilities, artistic, literary, mathematical and other newfound capacities. Others became skilled leaders. In addition, self-confidence and motivation increased significantly. Finally, students developed responsibility, self-reliance, and independence as they took an active role in shaping their own learning experiences.
I attribute the implementation and success of this program to my being informed about current knowledge relevant to the field of education. It is also interesting to note that the research itself had a very positive effect upon my teaching. As I evaluated incoming data, I often realized there were changes I could make to improve the quality of my program. By conducting action research, teachers have the opportunity to renew themselves professionally.

Conclusion

While the model of instruction implemented in my classroom works well for my students and myself, it is not necessarily an approach appropriate for other educators. It is the responsibility of each of us, however, to become informed of breakthroughs in human learning and teaching, to ask questions about how to apply this information and then develop methods tailored to our classrooms. Today's students are looking ahead to their futures. We will do them a disservice if we educate them in the ways of our past. The increasing diversity of our students and the global shift to the information age demand teaching methods and programs that are relevant for the soon-to-be adults of the 21st century.
By keeping abreast of educational innovation, educators experience self-renewal through our own profession. We feel inspired and energized to change in ways appropriate for our times, and we model for our students the value and necessity of lifelong learning.

About: Bruce Campbell

Bruce Campbell is a classroom teacher at Cascade Elementary School in the Marysville, Washington, School District and a designer/instructor of a summer program for "at risk" secondary students. For a number of years he has pioneered the classroom application of Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences, and as a result has been widely recognized as a consultant in this area. His work illustrates what can happen in the classroom when teachers integrate into their work the ideas presented in this collection.
He has been a presenter at a US Department of Education conference on Gardner's work, and a consultant to Indiana University, which is coordinating a gifted education program applying the Multiple Intelligences model. Numbers of schools in Indiana are currently replicating Campbell's work.
Formerly, he was director and head teacher at Horizon School, an independent elementary school in Mount Vernon, Washington. In that program he created an integrative curriculum for cross-aged classes. He has also taught in the Burlington Little School and the Sedro Wooley Schools, both in the state of Washington.
At the Evergreen State College, Antioch University, and Western Washington University he has presented seminars on both graduate and undergraduate levels. He has been a Team Captain and co-facilitator of the Western Washington Regional Tournament for "Odyssey of the Mind."
He was author and director of children's theatrical performances demonstrating current educational theory and application for two major international educational conferences. He is also the author of Our Only Earth: The Ocean Crisis, published by Zephyr Press and co-author (with his wife Linda MacRae Campbell and Dee Dickinson) of Teaching and Learning Through Multiple Intelligences.
Bruce can be contacted via email at bcampbell@teacher.com.

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