|
Multiple intelligences Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D. |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
The theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University. It suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead, Dr. Gardner proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults. These intelligences are:
Dr. Gardner says that our schools and culture focus most of their attention on linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence. We esteem the highly articulate or logical people of our culture. However, Dr. Gardner says that we should also place equal attention on individuals who show gifts in the other intelligences: the artists, architects, musicians, naturalists, designers, dancers, therapists, entrepreneurs, and others who enrich the world in which we live. Unfortunately, many children who have these gifts don’t receive much reinforcement for them in school. Many of these kids, in fact, end up being labeled "learning disabled," "ADD (attention deficit disorder," or simply underachievers, when their unique ways of thinking and learning aren’t addressed by a heavily linguistic or logical-mathematical classroom. The theory of multiple intelligences proposes a major transformation in the way our schools are run. It suggests that teachers be trained to present their lessons in a wide variety of ways using music, cooperative learning, art activities, role play, multimedia, field trips, inner reflection, and much more (see Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom). The good news is that the theory of multiple intelligences has grabbed the attention of many educators around the country, and hundreds of schools are currently using its philosophy to redesign the way it educates children. The bad new is that there are thousands of schools still out there that teach in the same old dull way, through dry lectures, and boring worksheets and textbooks. The challenge is to get this information out to many more teachers, school administrators, and others who work with children, so that each child has the opportunity to learn in ways harmonious with their unique minds (see In Their Own Way). The theory of multiple intelligences also has strong implications for adult learning and development. Many adults find themselves in jobs that do not make optimal use of their most highly developed intelligences (for example, the highly bodily-kinesthetic individual who is stuck in a linguistic or logical desk-job when he or she would be much happier in a job where they could move around, such as a recreational leader, a forest ranger, or physical therapist). The theory of multiple intelligences gives adults a whole new way to look at their lives, examining potentials that they left behind in their childhood (such as a love for art or drama) but now have the opportunity to develop through courses, hobbies, or other programs of self-development (see 7 Kinds of Smart). How to Teach or Learn Anything 8 Different Ways One of the most remarkable features of the theory of multiple intelligences is how it provide eight different potential pathways to learning. If a teacher is having difficulty reaching a student in the more traditional linguistic or logical ways of instruction, the theory of multiple intelligences suggests several other ways in which the material might be presented to facilitate effective learning. Whether you are a kindergarten teacher, a graduate school instructor, or an adult learner seeking better ways of pursuing self-study on any subject of interest, the same basic guidelines apply. Whatever you are teaching or learning, see how you might connect it with
For example, if you’re teaching or learning about the law of supply and demand in economics, you might read about it (linguistic), study mathematical formulas that express it (logical-mathematical), examine a graphic chart that illustrates the principle (spatial), observe the law in the natural world (naturalist) or in the human world of commerce (interpersonal); examine the law in terms of your own body [e.g. when you supply your body with lots of food, the hunger demand goes down; when there's very little supply, your stomach's demand for food goes way up and you get hungry] (bodily-kinesthetic and intrapersonal); and/or write a song (or find an existing song) that demonstrates the law (perhaps Dylan's "Too Much of Nothing?"). You don’t have to teach or learn something in all eight ways, just see what the possibilities are, and then decide which particular pathways interest you the most, or seem to be the most effective teaching or learning tools. The theory of multiple intelligences is so intriguing because it expands our horizon of available teaching/learning tools beyond the conventional linguistic and logical methods used in most schools (e.g. lecture, textbooks, writing assignments, formulas, etc.). To get started, put the topic of whatever you’re interested in teaching or learning about in the center of a blank sheet of paper, and draw eight straight lines or "spokes" radiating out from this topic. Label each line with a different intelligence. Then start brainstorming ideas for teaching or learning that topic and write down ideas next to each intelligence (this is a spatial-linguistic approach of brainstorming; you might want to do this in other ways as well, using a tape-recorder, having a group brainstorming session, etc.). Have fun! Multiple Intelligences: Seven Ways to Approach Curriculum* I don't remember how I learned to tell time. So, when I was asked by a Wisconsin school district to develop a multiple intelligences way of teaching time to a group of lst graders, I was initially stymied. My thoughts went back to my own teaching experience as a learning disability specialist. My students' workbooks on telling time had them drawing in the large and small hands on pictures of clocks. Bo-ring! If we wanted to get a little more experiential, the special education office furnished cardboard clock faces. Students were supposed to get "handson" experience by pushing the little hands around these faux clocks. Not very inspiring. Fortunately, I had a new model of leaming--the theory of multiple intelligences--to help me in my quest. Developed a little over 10 years ago by Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University, the theory of multiple intelligences consistently amazes me with its ability to serve as a template in constructing strategies for student success. The intelligences, briefly described, are:
A Story of Time When I marched into that classroom in Wisconsin to teach "time," I had no worksheets or tiny cardboard clock faces in my briefcase. Instead, I began by telling them a story about a Land of No Time and how confusing it was for people there (they were always missing appointments). The King and Queen sent a group of adventurers in quest of time because it was rumored that a Land of Time existed beyond the horizon. After many exciting adventures, the group finally arrived. They knew they'd arrived because there were clocks and watches everywhere! They met with the King and Queen of Time and were told to contact a family who lived up on a hill on the outskirts of Times City; an Irish family named (appropriately enough) the O'Clocks! They had 12 children. The youngest was named One, the next in age Two, and so on down the line. And twice a day, each child would climb up onto the highest point in the land and shout a little rhyme. This is what One O'Clock's rhyme sounded like:
Well, the adventurers were excited when they heard and saw this. They convinced the O'Clock family to come to the Land of No Time and set their home up on the highest point in the kingdom. Now everyone in the land had a reference point, for all they had to do was look up and hear one of the kids sing a timely little chime." After hearing this story, students got up one at a time and stood in front of a huge handless plywood clock face five feet high and acted out the role of one of the O'Clocks. At this point I mentioned that each of the O'Clock children had one huge hand and one tiny hand. So with my assistance, each child made a different time with his or back to the clock and "hands" pointing to the appropriate numbers while they sang their special rhyme. After we all gathered around a circle, I told them that the Land of Time (as it was now called) celebrated the O'Clocks' arrival by having special "clock dance" every year. Twelve students sat in an inner circle, each one holding up a number from 1 to 12, while students got inside the circle and created a time of day using their hands and/or feet. Everyone danced around the clock to the tune of Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock." Then students went to their desks to write stories of the tale illustrated by clock faces showing different times. After they were finished, they returned to the circle and shared their pictures and words. All of this took about an hour and a half. During this time, students used their whole bodies, their musical voices, their logical (number counting) minds, their artistic selves, their cooperative spirit, and their own linguistic and personal intelligences to create images of telling time. The possibilities for extending this brief lesson into a more extensive curriculum was positively mindboggling. Students could put on a play of the story (interpersonal/bodily-kinesthetic), invent their own special time pieces (bodily-kinesthetic/ spatial), make up their own time songs or raps (musical/linguistic), keep a personal journal of special times in their day (intrapersonal/linguistic), and explore other ways of telling time historically or cross culturally. This kind of approach to the curriculum begins to make worksheets with clock faces sound like educational malpractice! A Blueprint for the Future Of course, some educators may think that this learning philosophy works fine with younger kids but that when students reach middle or high school age, they need to put these frills aside and get serious about learning. Unfortunately, this narrow perception of learning helps contribute to the alienation of adolescents. Children do not leave their multiple intelligences behind once they reach puberty. If anything, the intelligence become even more intense (especially bodily-kinesthetic and the personal intelligences). Consequently, students should be learning their algebra, ancient history, government, chemistry, literature, and more through multiple intelligences. In algebra, students should be talking about the unknowns (the "x's") in their own lives. In chemistry, they should be learning Boyle's law by puffing some air into their mouths (gas in a chamber) and then seeing the pressure go up when they put all the air into one side, where it occupies a smaller volume (Boyle's law: volume is inversely proportional to pressure). They should be role-playing literature. They should be interviewing, surveying, building, dramatizing, rapping, cooperating, computing, problem solving, sketching, and learning in a thousand other ways. Why? Because these are the activities that go on in the real world. If we could travel the world and look at the many ways in which different cultures show their capabilities, we'd probably observe thousands of different intelligences. The theory of multiple intelligences makes things a little simpler for us. By chunking the broad range of human abilities into seven basic intelligences, we now have a map for making sense out of the many ways in which children learn, and a blueprint for ensuring their success in school and in life. When Planning a Lesson, Ask the Right Questions! Certain questions help me look at the possibilities for involving as many intelligences as possible:
You won't always find ways of including
every intelligence in your curriculum plans. But if this model helps you
reach into one or two intelligences that you might not otherwise have
tapped, then it has served --------------------------------------- |
|