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Introduction

Mentor Teacher Group Guide: Adult Multiple Intelligences

This Mentor Teacher Group Guide was created by the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) and the New Mexico Coalition for Literacy (NMCL) as part of the Connecting Practice, Policy, and Research Initiative (CPPR). It was piloted with five Mentor Teacher Groups throughout the state of New Mexico in the winter of 2002, and the suggested revisions were incorporated into this version. The Guide is part of a national effort to help connect research and practice in the field of adult basic education and adult literacy.

This Mentor Teacher Group Guide addresses Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) and its application in the practice of adult basic education. The readings from Multiple Intelligences and Adult Literacy. A Sourcebook for Practitioners (referred to throughout this Guide as the “AMI Sourcebook”) introduce MI theory and discuss experiences of practitioner researchers as they apply the theory in a variety of adult basic education contexts. This Adult Multiple Intelligences (AMI) study is the first systematic application of Gardner’s MI theory in the adult literacy field. The AMI Sourcebook is an honest report of the successes and challenges of using MI theory to inform instruction and self-reflection among ESOL, ABE, and GED adult learners.

A Mentor Teacher Group is a combination of a Study Circle, where a group of practitioners come together to read articles and talk about theories and strategies on a particular topic, and mentoring, where an experienced teacher comes to each participant’s classroom, observes her teaching, and provides feedback that helps the teacher apply those theories and strategies and learn from her own practice.


Updated 7/27/07 :: Copyright © 2005 NCSALL