About Me

One of the measures of success of Intelligent Worksheets will be that the words "About me" on the menu will have been replaced by the single word, "About". I hope that many people will eventually be contributing their own stories and teaching materials to this site.

Because I am starting something new here, on my own, people will naturally want to know something about me.

After attending schools in the Marshall Islands, Japan, Spain and Germany I came to the UK at the age of nine. A "top-class" but in many ways extremely unhappy and damaging education there kindled in me a lifelong interest in understanding what needs to be done for education globally to be humanized.

Since retiring from my work as a professor at Meiji University in 2022, I have had time to begin to reflect on my lifetime in education, on my research writings and my experiences as a teacher. It is clear to me that the problems in Japanese education are not fundamentally different from those in other countries.

In the area of English language teaching in Japan, there has always been a huge gap between what goes on in mainstream classrooms and the academic world of applied linguistics. An academic needs to publish papers in order to be promoted, and it is easier to publish if you mark yourself out as a specialist, and busy teachers cannot be expected to put all the different pieces of the puzzle together themselves.

What is needed in education — and this is true especially in a time of turbulent change — is systemic or integrative thinking.

As it grows, you will find in this web site, that the processes and the content are consistently and naturally interwoven in a way that is rare in education. 1 + 1 = 11.

I have an unusually vivid memory of my own educational experiences, going all the way back to nursery school. Some of the study materials in Intelligent Worksheets are autobiographical stories that illustrate the principles of education talked about on the Education for this Moment page. Many people have told me that my stories have resonated with them and helped them to better understand their own educational experiences. Some of these stories will likely make you laugh. Some may bring tears to your eyes. Together they help to bring into focus the possibilities for bringing renewed energy to education.

When we are not afraid to let people see who we really are and choose not to hide behind our social role or status — in my case that of a retired professor — life becomes more interesting and we are in a much better position to help each other.

Visit these pages for more information about the thinking behind Intelligent Worksheets:

Mission Statement

🪔The Mission of Intelligent Worksheets is to support English language learners and teachers — in Japan and elsewhere — with study materials and activities that are effective, engaging and above all ENLIVENING. The materials here reflect an approach to language learning — and to education in general — that prioritizes the QUALITY of EXPERIENCE

Intelligent WorksheetsKevin Mark

What is “Intelligence?”

🔑Intelligence is knowing how to use what one has to enjoy and appreciate life and to see oneself in others. 🔑 This definition is simple, but not simplistic. As one of the key principles in Educational Design, it transcends and includes the notion of “multiple intelligences,” which has been a welcome

Intelligent WorksheetsKevin Mark

Education for This Moment

🔑Design Principles In this moment we have the possibility, as individuals and as fellow citizens of this Earth, to choose the world we want. 🔑1 CHOOSE to use your innate strength and intelligence to be AWAKE to the fact that we are ALIVE NOW. Waking up to life opens the

Intelligent WorksheetsKevin Mark