The development, implementation, and interpretation of children's rhythmic activities using the theory of multiple intelligences

In an effort to produce outstanding modern citizens, Taiwan's educational reforms advocated that the public education system should (1) strive to fulfill the personal needs of all its students, and (2) find more ways for its students to continue on with more advanced studies. Such advocacy emphasizing diverse types of learners' needs calls for a broad interpretation of strengths; such an interpretation can be found in Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences (MI). MI provides a scientifically based, politically acceptable framework for teaching to the diverse capacities of students, yet there exist few studies that emphasize implementing MI theory in musical educational settings. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to (1) develop prototype lessons based on MI theory focusing on rhythmic aspects of musical intelligence; (2) implement the lessons in multiple first-grade classrooms in Taiwan; and (3) interpret students' graphic representations of rhythm.; Participants included 285 first grade Taiwanese students and 9 teachers in Taichung, Taiwan. The core of the activities was focused on one single rhythmic pattern in a Taiwanese chant, the "12 Animal Song." Data included teachers' responses to a survey about the implementation, students' responses to both the group card arrangement and individual drawing activities, and videotapes of 2 classes' engagement in these two activities. The figural and metric typology proposed by Bamberger was used to classify children's graphic representations.; Teachers appreciated that their students enjoyed and deeply engaged in the MI activities. However, some of the teachers did not understand the purpose of the activities. Observations indicated that verbal/nonverbal communication and body movement usually occurred when children were working on the rhythmic task. Contrary to Bamberger's findings, both metric and figural perspectives can be found in children's graphic representations, the metric grouping emerged more often than figural grouping. Implications include (1) providing multiple entry points to learning leads to student engagement; (2) to promote MI-based curriculum, teachers need to be prepared with MI knowledge prior to implementation; and (3) metric understanding may be facilitated by the use of manipulative with complementary elements.