Weber, Ellen. (2005). MI Strategies in the Classroom and Beyond: Using Roundtable Learning. Reviewed by Glenn Rideout, King's University College, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Weber, Ellen. (2005). MI Strategies in the Classroom and Beyond: Using Roundtable Learning. Boston, MA: Pearson. Pp. x + 182 $29.99   ISBN 0-205-40825-7 Glenn Rideout King’s University College Edmonton, Alberta, Canada July 15, 2005 Most educators will be aware of Howard Gardner’s (1985; 2000) ‘multiple intelligences’, ‘ways of knowing’, and ‘points of entry’. Many American educators will also recall A Nation at Risk…, the federally commissioned report by Gardner (David), Larsen, Baker, et al. (1983)), that followed the success of the Russian space program. This report called for a return to educational basics, a focus on core subjects, and a rejection of progressivist influences in American schools. In MI Strategies in the Classroom and Beyond: Using Roundtable Learning, Ellen Weber brings the focus clearly towards the progressivist Howard Gardner, towards valuing multi-intelligenced students at the secondary and post-secondary level, and away from the traditionalist David Gardner, away from “top-down, factory-like institutions” and the traditional view of education. In so doing, she exposes the cross-purposes of traditionalists and progressivists, and identifies a “new paradigm” of education. “Ordinary classrooms” are eschewed in favour of “caring community”. Weber sets out “two main purposes” for MI Strategies…. Firstly, “It provides practical, hands-on classroom activities and lesson plan suggestions”. Secondly, “Each chapter emphasizes lessons that will access your students’ brainpower in new ways. These lessons are related to a current learning theory through practical Five Steps to Smart strategies” Weber proposes a methodology for using these “classroom activities” to access “your students’ brainpower”. “These lessons are related to a current learning theory through practical Five Steps to Smart strategies”. Five steps, the guideposts of MITA (Multiple Intelligence Theory to Achievement) are listed. Four accompanying tables are intended to clarify application of the five steps in relation to Academic Standards, Social Interaction, Environment, and Roles. The five steps are contextualized in “three C’s for brain-based learning”, and then the reader is off on what is presumed to be an exploration of “brain-based learning” in a roundtable learning approach, as mediated by the five MITA steps. As a student of Howard Gardner’s work, I enthusiastically highlighted introductory statements concerning the integration of Gardner’s intelligences via the MITA process. In addition to those above, for instance, the author states in the section entitled Weber’s Five-step Plan: “My MITA program is steeped in current theories about the mind and about learning but also provides practical ideas for creating vibrant roundtable learning environments…the practical program described in this book is original…” Yet as I read on, I found only rare reference to MITA. Further, explicit application of MITA steps never materialized. There was no AHA! There is validity in the approach taken in this book regarding learning circles, roundtables, and so on, but the MITA program and its concepts, so heavily emphasized in the book’s introduction, are never expanded upon, or applied in ways that distinguish the MITA approach. Instead the reader is left with what at times seems like an ad hoc collection of commentary on the value of involving students in learning communities, interspersed with suggestions for classroom activity. Weber focuses on the value of student-centered, risk-taking, (diversity of) outcomes based, question-oriented education. The purposes of the book are laudable; it attempts to point teachers to a better way, one in which students retain excitement about learning as they experience the impact of knowledge and understanding on both their personal circumstances and the conditions of their local and global communities. A theoretical framework for this approach to learning is identified. Brain-based learning rests in the work of Gardner and Vygotsky, who, according to Weber, provide a foundation for a new (constructivist, progressivist) paradigm of learning. Weber does not acknowledge the firestorm of controversey raised by opponents of the shift away from the traditionalist approach to education, perhaps best characterized in the work of Bagley (1938), Bloom (1997), and Hirsch (1996). The strength of this book is its ample provision of meticulously designed activities for the classroom that further the brain-based learning circles and roundtable approaches. For instance, In Chapter 1, guidelines for establishing ‘tone’ in learning circles include a number of talking and listening strategies. Chapter 2 provides guidelines for structuring a high involvement unit on (for example) Brazil, where all eight of Gardiner’s intelligences are incorporated. Chapter 3 includes a Venn diagram representation and description that would be particularly useful in establishing work group roles, where student capacities are recognized and appreciated. Chapter 7 provides guidelines and practical examples for building objectives for roundtable learning. A second strength is the emphasis on ‘two-footed questions’. These ‘subject matter linked to personal experience’ questions are presented as a key component of the constructivist approach where students’ understandings of the world are the result of the interaction of newly acquired knowledge with personal circumstances. Similar to the ‘anchor’ and ‘add’ dialogic approach prominent in the work of Jane Vella (2002), Weber is clear that the motivation for learning must come from within the individual, and as such, students must always be encouraged to integrate subject matter and personal experiences. Several problems with this work emerge as one moves into the text. A whole set of terms, perhaps explained in Weber’s earlier work, but not here, identify student activities and classroom functions. Readers may find this disconcerting. For example readers must rely on context and intuition to piece together working definitions for terms such as ‘roundtable’, ‘learning circle’, and brain-driven activity and entities such as ‘brain-friendly communities’, ‘brain-friendly classes’, ‘brain-based learning’, ‘brain-based tactics’, and ‘brain-compatible settings’. The lack of reference citations will be of concern for many readers. The phrase “Research suggests…” is prominent throughout, but citations are rare in these contexts. Since educators may see concepts and practice espoused in this book as foundational to their evolving pedagogy, citations that will both assure the reader of the veracity of research claims, and as a resource for additional reading, are necessary. There are significant claims made by the author (“In…this book, you will discover…what you are born to do in life, and then you can adjust the circumstances of your life based on new or suppressed talents you will uncover. You will …discover pathways past stress and depression”) These claims need to be backed up by something other than the author’s assertion. In setting the stage for various neuroscientific claims made throughout the book, Weber states that she “does not intend this to be a textbook in neuroscience”. Fair enough, but when, for instance, claims are made that “In brain-compatible circles…cortisol, a hormone creating a sense of unease, spills into the brain whenever fear or uncertainty characterizes learning.”, or “brain chemicals seep through clefts in the brain and convert to electrical impluses, which impact what you learn…”, readers would benefit from knowing the source of this information. Organization is a problem throughout this book. It is often difficult to discern the unifying points of each chapter, even though the introduction to most chapters includes a statement of its key focus. More often than not, it is difficult to find the connection between these statements and the content of the chapters. While the information, and especially the activities, provide many workable solutions for building community in the classroom, confusion arises when the author does not clarify what the chapter material has to do with its stated aims. In the case of the activities, for instance, the reader may benefit more from a complete appendix listing of activities for learning circles and community building. A significant number of editing errors detract from the book’s readability. There are references to surveys to follow that do not, incomplete sentences, unconventional grammar, nonsensical word combinations, and incomplete paragraph editing. These editing errors occur frequently enough throughout the text (three times within four pages in one instance) to cause irritation (and confusion) for the reader. Were the purposes of this book accomplished? The first (provide practical, hands-on classroom activities and lesson plan suggestions) has been achieved. Every reader with intentions of bringing a higher degree of ‘brain-related activity’ to the classroom will benefit from these suggestions. The second goal (access your students’ brainpower… through practical Five Steps to Smart strategies) has not been accomplished. The Five Steps are framed in the introduction, but not applied in the text. There may, however, be another measure of success for this text. Weber states in her second last paragraph: “If you have become more interested in how certain practices capitalize more on students’ brainpower than others, and if you have added those practices to your own roundtables, then this book did all I could have hoped!” If, in retrospect, this is Weber’s true purpose, then most will likely accord a high degree of success to part one of this statement. They will likely have ‘become more interested’. In time, I suspect, many will also have ‘added those practices’ as they continue to build classroom communities. References Bagley, W. C. (1938). An essentialist’s platform for the advancement of American education. Educational Administration and Supervision, 24, 241-256. Bloom, A. (1987). The closing of the American mind. Toronto, ON: Simon & Schuster. Gardner, D. P., Larsen, Y. W., Baker, W. D., Campbell, A., Crosby, E. A., Foster, E. A., Jr., & Francis, N. C. (1983). A nation at risk: The imperative for educational reform. (ED 226 006). Washington, DC: National Commission for Excellence in Education. Gardner, H. (1985). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Harper Collins. Gardner, H. (2000). The disciplined mind. New York: Penguin Books. Hirsch, E. D. (1996). The schools we need: And why we don't have them. New York: Doubleday. About the Reviewer Glenn Rideout is an Assistant Professor of Education, The King’s University College, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He teaches courses related to classroom management, evaluation, and educational administration. His areas of interest include educational and organizational paradigms, educational change, pre-service teachers philosophical orientations, multiple intelligence theory, and pupil control ideology. Copyright is retained by the first or sole author, who grants right of first publication to the Education Review.