The Workshops
Mr. Kumar and his colleague Ms. Kaufman had just attended a workshop on adapting instruction to children’s learning styles. Ms. Jacobson and her colleague Mr. Lee had just attended a workshop on adapting instruction to cover Gardner’s nine intelligences, or frames of mind. The four met in the teachers’ workroom and began to discuss what they had learned.
“Well,” said Mr. Kumar, “this certainly explains why some students seem to want to sit and listen to me talk, while others like to be more actively involved. Maria obviously is an executive type; she likes lectures. Alexander, on the other hand, must be legislative. He just loves to work on projects and can’t stand it when I tell him how to do things.”
“No, I don’t think so,” Ms. Jacobson replied. “I think Maria’s high in verbal intelligence. That’s why she can make sense out of your lectures. She writes well, too. Alexander likes to do things with his hands. He’s higher in spatial and bodily–kinesthetic intelligence.”
“No, no, no,” Mr. Kumar responded. “Learning styles explain their differences much better. Here, look at this.”
At that point, Mr. Kumar showed Ms. Jacobson the handouts from the workshop he and Ms. Kaufman had attended. Mr. Lee took out the handouts from the workshop that he and Ms. Jacobson had attended. They began comparing notes. All four of them recognized students consistent with information described in the handouts.
Ms. Kaufman became visibly upset. “You mean they’re telling us that we have to adapt our classrooms to the students’ personalities now, too?!” she exclaimed. “Just when I thought I had it all figured out. Used to be we just had to consider IQ. Now this. We have 25 kids in our classes. How can we possibly adapt to all these differences? What are we supposed to do—have 25 different lesson plans?”

1		What are the issues in this case?
2		To what extent should teachers adapt their instruction to the strengths, learning styles, and personalities of their students? Why?
3		What will you do in your classroom to accommodate individual differences such as students’ intellectual strengths, learning styles, and personalities?
4		What other individual differences might you be called upon to accommodate? How will you do this?