Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences and Kagan Cooperative Learning

  Hello everyone,

This week's post is going to be related with  Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences as well as about Cooperative Learning and Kagan’s structures.

At the beginning when I start to read about these revolutionary learning strategies  called Kagan cooperative learning I thought it was one more program to add like many others that teachers have to deal with, like multiple intelligences ,project based learning ,character development, social skills etc but then i recognized that in fact it was an easier way to deliver the program that they are already required to teach. Through Kagan structures teachers can make all these lesson based approaches part of what they will teach.

Students make 20%of our population but they are 100%of our future.

We need to consider our needs as a society ,and curriculum even though it is created by policy makers ,is needed to upgrade and to change structures of learning .Social and emotional skills are crucial life and workplace skills .So students don’t just have to learn about social skills but they need to acquire them and using Kagan structures they learn how to work as a team and practice those skills everyday making them part of their character for the rest of their life.

Furthermore we all are used to traditional classes where teacher asks a question and most motivated and highest achieving student raise the hand and teachers are calling them and after that  teachers pass to other questions thinking that all the students are getting it but in fact they don’t .Teachers don’t know what all students are thinking and what they know .So while traditional way of teaching leads to this, Kagan strategies leads to a more fun and engaging learning.Students can develop empathy and relation skills and also no more program for teachers.

Students work and think creatively ,critically and with the ability to connect.

What I really liked from Kagan strategy was inside –outside circle .All students are engaged ,you can quickly check who is understanding and who is not and you don’t have to wait to somebody answer the question while everybody is sitting around waiting to listen the answer or wait for their turn .Alao it is a way that allows students to have different partners and every one is going to learn something and share it with others. It is a fresh ,fun and easy way to deliver any content.

I am planning on using on my future classroom, and I hope you do too.

So like Kagan structures that makes learning process fun ,help  students be more productive , help them overcome many difficulties with ability to connect and even facilitate teachers work ,we have other examples that show us that we need to work smart not hard .Countries like Finland are doing impressive things .They have shorter school days ,Teachers have a decent wage ,homework is non-existing and they are focused on collaborative learning.Their educational systems outperforms better than any other country in the world.

So there is no need to stand in front of 20 kids,each one having different strength ,different needs ,different gifts and you teach the same thing the same way. It is like going to the doctor and he gives you the same prescription for different illnesses you have .We know that no two brains are the same and also we know that everyone possesses all eight  intelligences so all teachers have to do is to make them develop those abilities they already have.

As a conclusion i would like to share with you guys a video that shows some element you should take into the consideration if you choose to use inside-outside circle.