Educating for Multiple Potentials

The concept of multipotentiality or “the art of being good at many things at the same time” is not a new term. There is a small bit of research in the field of gifted education out there (and growing) about how kids and even adults, work through this multifaceted path of life. It’s the epitome of getting outside of the dotted lines- maybe that’s why it’s so appealing to me in the first place. But being gifted with multipotentiality doesn’t always feel good or make for an easier path throughout life. In fact, according to Judy Galbraith in her 1985 article, The Eight Great Gripes Of Gifted Kids, one of the many feelings of being good at many things is that these kids “feel overwhelmed by the number of things [we] can do in life”.

It’s no wonder, then, that kids who are good at doing many things have a difficult time answering the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Emilie Wapnick begins her TedTalk with this same question. Emilie also states many of us were asked this question repeatedly growing up starting as early as age 5. I was asked that question many times, as were you I’m sure. Something about that question and my subsequent answers throughout my life always bothered me. Why do I have to choose just one thing to be good at? Why can’t I be good at and do many things? But also, How do I manage to do all of the things I want to do during my lifetime? Is there enough time?

Have you ever really listened to a child who answers the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” with a multi-occupational answer? I live with one such child. A few minutes ago, my son would have answered this question with, “A baseball player, astronaut, comic book writer, video game designer.” The order of these occupations has changed in recent weeks, however, these four occupations have held true- for now. I love these answers for him- all of these answers. As his parent, it gives me insight into what he is thinking about, how he views his personal skills, and where his interests lie. He takes this question seriously and wants to answer it well to show others what he perceives he is good at. But you should see the faces of some of the people outside of our immediate family who listen to him respond with multiple answers- if he even has the courage to say this to them.

They pause. Smile. And slightly chuckle.

At the risk of being snobby, I’m not sure what the reasoning was for asking this question. If it was just to pass the time, generate a laugh, or think the answer was “cute” I guess that’s fine for many five-year-olds. However, none of these responses by other people validate of his feelings of self-worth. Nor are any of them helpful for him to see himself as a person who successfully chooses many different occupations throughout his/her lifetime. In fact, these responses make my son embarrassed to say anything at all about what he sees himself achieving during his lifetime-even though he knows it’s polite to answer this question when it is asked of him. And then when he does answer the question and receives a laugh for his answers, I watch him struggle to backtrack to one of these occupations to appease the person who asked this silly question in the first place. I also watch as his face scrunches and his brow furrows because choosing one occupation is painful and when he says only one,  he fears he hasn’t selected the “right” one and he wonders, what will become of the others? 

My son takes this question seriously because what the person who asks him what he wants to be when he grows up doesn’t know, is that my son has taken the time, energy, and space to dive very deeply into all of these occupations. And as his parent, I too have gone down, around, and through all of these paths with him- namely because I have to take him to the baseball lessons, walked around the space museum in various states with him, supply the art products for the comic book construction, and research the best yet most cost effective gaming computer.

My son’s multipotential answer is serious. Please respect that for him. He’s not wrong, or bored, or weird. He’s serious about being many things during his lifetime. And that should be ok.

Emilie calls someone who is highly interested in many things is called a multipotentialite. They explains how multipotentialites are those who don’t want to fit into the cultural framework of making one thing your life’s work- forever. Emilie says a person can have many interests and creative pursuits for their lifetime like those who lived during the Renaissance period.  And those who do, share 3 superpowers:

1. We have the ability to synthesize ideas from many different fields and angles to create new ideas that no one has considered.

2. We learn at a rapid pace, dig deep, and try new things often because our interests change so rapidly. But our past knowledge and skills can be used to continue our new pursuits.

3. Finally, we possess adaptability. We can be whomever we need to be depending upon the situation we are in. We’re like chameleons- and we are survivors for it.

Now that I’ve covered what multipotentiality is, provided an example of who does this, how being a multipotentialite allows a person to think outside of the dotted lines, and the three superpowers a multipotentialite has, how does being a multipotentialite relate to education? Teachers have probably the most culturally, racially, and academically diverse students in their classrooms since the beginning of modern schooling right now. Further, we have surpassed the notion that we are preparing our current students for 21st century skills and jobs unknown. We are in the 21st century and every day new jobs are being created in response to the many questions and challenges facing our world today.

As a result of education and schooling being situated in these two spaces, our students have to understand and learn how to put different and many topics, ideas, and content knowledge areas together to ask the questions and challenge what is happening in the world to work toward possible solutions (if there are any- or maybe they don’t solve the problem but figure out a way to work towards a different, more appropriate problem… I digress). Teachers must teach the many components of Language Arts instruction but also show students that learning about the various Language Arts components, doesn’t stop at 10:35am each day. Multipotential learners need to be taught to use Language Arts tools in math class to solve algebraic equations, in history class to determine why wars begin among peoples, and in science class to figure out new ways to supply the world with quality drinking water. The ultimate goal is for all students to be taught how to be multipotentialites. At the very least, students need to know how to put many topics and ideas together to come up with something…else. And to know that collectively identifying, using, manipulating, and synthesizing many ideas together is ok and not weird or uncomfortable.

Adults should stop asking children, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and instead begin asking, “What problem(s) do you want to solve?” Those of us who identify as multipotentialites will thank you.

 References 

Galbraith, J. (1985). The eight great gripes of gifted kids: Responding to special needs. Roeper Review: A Journal on Gifted Education, 8(1), 15–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/02783198509552920

 Emilie Wapnick’s TedTalk link:

https://www.ted.com/talks/emilie_wapnick_why_some_of_us_don_t_have_one_true_calling

And her book:  “How to Be Everything: A Guide for Those Who (Still) Don't Know What They Want to Be When They Grow Up” https://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Everything-Guide-Those/dp/0062566652

Educational Debate: Word Walls and Sound Walls

As an elementary school teacher, I was given a lot of instruction (mainly on-the-job-training) regarding teaching students to read. Even as a novice teacher, I knew that teaching students to read well was the most important part of the school day- every day. I recall during more than one parent conference and open house night stressing the importance of “learning to read” in first grade so that the following school years could be spent “reading to learn.” 

Current literature on reading instruction indicates multiple strategies including the Word Wall and a newer and different strategy, the Sound Wall as effective teaching and learning strategies for elementary students. This brief will discuss each type of wall, some positives and pitfalls of each, and present questions teachers can consider when selecting a Word Wall, a Sound Wall, or both for their classrooms.

The Word Wall

One of the many teaching and learning strategies I was taught to incorporate into my reading instruction was the Word Wall. According to Patricia Cunningham (2012), who is credited with also inventing the Word Wall, “The Word Wall is an area in the classroom where words are displayed -– but not just any words -– truly important ones. They are systematically organized and a tool designed to promote group learning.” Word Wall words are placed in alphabetical order. The Word Wall is designed to help students identify and use words in their reading and writing across all content areas. In my classroom, we had a general Word Wall using a combination of words from the Dolch (Dolch, 1948) and Fry (Fry, 2005) lists. However, teachers can also create Word Walls using content area vocabulary from math, science, and/or social studies.

Why use a Word Wall? 

Word Walls aid students in developing both phonics and spelling skills (Reading Rockets, 2018). Students use the Word Wall to visualize spelling patterns and relationships between words with similar roots and sounds. Word Walls also help students achieve fluency (Callella, 2001) or the ability to read orally with speed and efficiency, including word recognition, decoding, and comprehension (Chard & Pikulski, 2005; Pumfrey & Elliott, 1990). Finally, Word Walls help students independently learn the spelling of words contained on the Wall without the assistance of a teacher (Dastyck, 2007). Instead of having to ask the teacher to spell every word, students have a constant visual reference in their classroom to refer to when reading or writing. 

The Sound Wall

Recently I became aware of another reading teaching tool: the Sound Wall. A Sound Wall is a visual representation of the different sounds or phonemes heard in English speech. This representation is grouped by sounds and the manner in which a human mouth and tongue forms those sounds. Because a sound cannot be written, letters are used to represent the sounds. There are two versions of the Sound Wall: a Consonant Sound Wall and a Vowel Sound Wall. A Consonant Sound Wall is organized by the way the consonant sound is being articulated or formed by the tongue, mouth, and jaw. This Wall shows groups of sounds with pictures of mouths to assist students in learning how to form the sounds as well as recognize words where the sound is occurring. A Vowel Sound Wall is also organized by the place of articulation and is visually represented in the shape of a “V” or a valley.  This “V” shape is similar to the change in position of the human mouth and jaw when producing the different vowel sounds. 

Why use a Sound Wall? 

Humans learn to speak before reading and writing making the process of learning language sounds and sound production important. Research suggests that early childhood educators should be specifically aware of and trained to properly teach English language sounds, specifically phoenomes (Phillips, Menchetti, & Lonigan, 2008). Readers make connections between print patterns and phonological information already stored in the brain in order to make meaning of a word they are reading (Moats, 2010). Therefore, teaching phonemes first may be more helpful to teach before teaching sound-letter correspondence later made into words.

Positives and Pitfalls

Although Word Walls incorporate many of the words students see and need to master during their emerging reading and writing instruction, research states it may be “developmentally inappropriate to expect kindergartners and first graders to use the word wall to support them” (Frost, n.d.). Without knowledge and understanding of sound production, young students may be unable to use the Word Wall as intended: to locate and use words. 

Something else to consider regarding Word Walls and Sound Walls is the teaching strategy’s point of view (Reading Rockets, 2018). Word Walls can be more teacher-centered as the words placed onto the Wall are presented to the students by the teacher. I’d argue that a simple restructuring of the Word Wall to include student input could negate this argument. To many, Sound Walls are more student-centered because they work directly with how a student makes a sound with their own mouth, rather than spell a word (a more complicated task that requires letter and print knowledge). This argument is especially valuable when teaching how to read or write a word that breaks the rules- like “knee” or “right”. Categorizing words by how they sound rather than how they are spelled may make more sense to young learners. 

Questions to Consider

Using my previous knowledge of Word Walls and incorporating newly acquired knowledge of Sound Walls, I have questions about using either or both strategies in today’s educational context. These questions are also ones you may consider for your classroom.

First, whenever I was confronted with a “new” teaching strategy, I always asked myself this: “Is this strategy good for students?” It seems like a simple question but one I found, over the years, to be a powerful indicator of what took place in my classroom. Let’s put this question to the test. 

Is the Word Wall good for students? I’d argue yes, if the students have an average level of understanding of English sound to print match and the Word Wall is referenced, manipulated, used, and celebrated often in the classroom. The constant interaction with a Word Wall encourages student learning as well as focuses the Word Wall on the students, thus becoming a less teacher-centered learning strategy. 

Is the Sound Wall good for students? Again, I’d argue yes, as a Sound Wall assists students greatly with sound formation and recognition, the building block to better readers and writers. Because the Sound Wall uses basic sound knowledge, something the human brain thrives upon, it helps students increase their word knowledge from the ground up and becomes a strong student-centered learning tool.

Still considering which Wall to put up? Think about what is most effective for your students. One year, many of my students had excellent sound to letter recognition skills. Therefore, the Sound Wall, had I known about it then, might not have been as effective and usable for these students because the knowledge did not propel their reading and writing development forward. Another year, I had 6 students in first grade who didn’t know all of their letter sounds and struggled with sound-to- letter matching. In this instance, a Sound Wall could have proved useful. 

Second, during our current pandemic environment and educators and students returning to classrooms wearing masks, I wonder about the effectiveness of a Sound Wall. How can a teacher accurately show and assess tongue, mouth, and jaw placements when they are covered? This is a challenging task without the occasional removal of the mask during this teaching time. On the contrary, a Word Wall does not require extensive facial recognition and assessment making the current pandemic less of an issue.

In the end, why do teachers have to choose one Wall over another? Why not consider what students need and match the Word and/or Sound Wall accordingly? Maybe teachers can consider having both in their classrooms or opting for Word and Sound Walls to be portable and individually placed in manilla folders on students desks. This way, the learning can be differentiated and tailored to student needs.

In the words of Maya Angelou, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” Current research indicates teaching reading is complex and involves the implementation of multiple teaching strategies. Consider your decision on using a Word Wall, a Sound Wall, or both based upon what is good for your students and their learning needs so they (and you) can do better.

 References 

Callella, T. (2001). Making your word wall more interactive. Huntington Woods, MI: Creative Writing Press, Inc. 

Chard, D., & Pikulski, J. (2005). Fluency: Bridge between decoding and reading comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 58, 510-519.

Dolch, E. W. (1948). Problems in Reading. Champaign IL: Garrard Press.

Fry, E. B. (2005). “Phonics: A Large Phoneme-Grapheme Frequency Count.” Journal of Literary Research.

Pumfrey, P. D., & Elliot, C. D. (1990). Children’s difficulties in reading, spelling, and writing. Bristol, PA: The Falmer Press.