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Jun 25, 2006
The fuss about Multiple Intelligences
“Do not train youths to learning by force and harshness, but direct
them to it by what amuses their minds so that you may be better able to
discover with accuracy the peculiar bet of the genius of each.” (Plato)
Recently, I received a letter of invitation to conduct a workshop for
teachers on the Multiple Intelligence theory and its application in the
classroom. The letter describes Multiple Intelligence as the “in”
thing now and should be adopted by schools. I also overhear
parents talking about multiple intelligences and how it brought about
the discovery of their children’s talents or “smarts”. Sometimes
though, more often do I hear parents asking “ano yun?” than being able
to clearly explain the theory on multiple intelligence.
But what is this theory about Multiple
Intelligences? How did it came about? How do they affect
education and learning in general?
Let us transport ourselves way back in the late 70’s
when a young Harvardian psychology student named Howard Gardner began
conducting brain research among brain damage and stroke victims,
prodigies, autistic individuals, and idiots. From his studies, he
found out that a specific damage on a specific part of the brain
affects a specific learning ability of a patient. Gardner found
out that some brain damage patients have difficulty recognizing music,
moving about normally, or speaking logically. In the same study
he also found out that a well developed talent among prodigies shows a
high mark in brain activity in specific areas of the brain.
This discovery led him to further his studies by
mapping out specific learning patterns in the human brain. In
Gardner’s most famous book Frames of Mind (1983), he revealed his
discovery of the 7 intelligences and develops this theory towards a
broader application in the field of education.
His discovery of the 7 intelligences totally changed
his life as he shifted his research from psychology to education.
Due to the potentials of the theory in the educational setting, this
created a wave of ecstatic acceptance among educators since it
corresponds to the basic premise that all human beings are equally and
inherently intelligent.
So what are the Multiple Intelligences?
The Multiple Intelligence theory espouses the
existence of 7 “intelligences” inherent in every human being.
These are: verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial,
body-kinesthetic, auditory-musical, naturalist, interpersonal
communication, intrapersonal communication.
Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence is
the capacity to use words effectively, whether orally or in
writing. Your child is inclined to be a good storyteller, orator,
poet, playwright, editor, or journalist because of their knack in
listening, speaking, writing, explaining, teaching, analyzing language
usage, and so much more.
Logical-Mathematical Intelligence is
the capacity to use numbers effectively and to reason out well.
Your child may become a statistician, mathematician, tax accountant,
scientist, or computer programmer since they are good at problem
solving, classifying and categorizing information, working with
abstract concepts, doing experiments, and working with geometric shapes.
Visual-Spatial Intelligence is
the ability to perceive the visual-spatial world accurately and to
perform transformations from the perceived world. Your child has
good skills in puzzle building, understanding charts and graphs,
directing the car in puzzling streets, designing objects,
drawing. He / she will therefore be a future interior decorator,
architect, artist, or inventor.
Body-Kinesthetic Intelligence is
the expertise in using one’s body to express ideas and feelings and to
perform transformations upon those perceptions. Your child will
likely become an athlete, an actor, a dancer, or a sculptor due to his
inclinations towards dancing, sports, acting, and using body languages.
Musical Intelligence is
the capacity to produce, appreciate and manipulate music. They
usually think in terms of sounds, rhythms and patters and are likely to
hum around the house. Your child is good at singing, whistling,
playing musical instruments, composing music, and remembering
melodies. As such, they are inclined to become an accomplished
musician, composer, music critique, or musical performer.
Interpersonal Intelligence is
the ability to relate and understand others since they see from other
people’s point of view. Children with this intelligence use
verbal and non-verbal language to open communication channels with
others. Your child would likely become good educators,
psychologists, or politicians because they are skilled in seeing things
from other perspectives, listening, empathizing, counseling,
co-operating with groups, and conflict resolution.
Intrapersonal Intelligence allows
one’s self to self-reflect and be aware of one’s inner state of
being. Your child usually are able to recognize their own
strengths and weaknesses, reflect and analyze themselves, reason out
with themselves, and understand his / her role in a group.
Children with this kind of intelligence usually are able to answer big
questions that begin with how and why. He will therefore be a
future philosopher, priest, or researcher.
A few advocates of the MI theory contest that there
are more than 7 intelligences aside from the ones mentioned
above. Students who show an interest in nature are now thought to
have Naturalist Intelligence while those who are likely to become
priests someday have Spiritual Intelligence. Gardner himself even
thought about including a pseudo-intelligence called Existential
Intelligence—the ability to understand the purpose of one’s existence
in the world. Of course, Gardner remains uncommitted to
existential intelligence because of its difficult in assessing this
intelligence. And there are others who parodied intelligence by
coming up with all sorts of intelligences such as sexual intelligence,
survival intelligence, even football intelligence!
Just like any other theory, the MI theory of Howard
Gardner has also met tremendous opposition from fellow educators and
theorists due to the fact that it is just a theory and should not be
taken with finality. In a conference I attended where he was one
of the speakers, he revealed that the MI theory is still currently
being developed. Although a number of researches have already
been published supporting its positive effects, Gardner further
explained that the multiple intelligence theory is best practiced in
enriching teaching strategies as it supports the concept of holistic
education.
In addition, Gardner elucidated that each person is
packed with all the intelligences. What makes each person unique
is the level of development and the interest towards each
“smart.” It is therefore important to note that each child has
the ability to develop all the intelligences and not be boxed by a
single intelligence while disregarding the other.
Reflections on MI theory and traditional schooling
Sad to say, I have been educated in a traditional
school environment, and so do the majority of Filipinos. It is
hard to unlearn the traditional way of rote memorization, teacher
monologues, and endless textbooks. But the pain of unlearning is
rewarded by the achievements of our children and the discovery of
talents.
I am glad that, Escuela de Nstra. Seńora de La
Salette, the school where I work as one of the administrators,
advocates the concept of holistic education by adopting and applying
multiple intelligences in the classroom. This is perhaps one of
the many reasons why the Lasallian Schools Supervision Office of the De
La Salle University granted La Salette School a higher Lasallian
Accreditation level by becoming a De La Salle Supervised School.
As a response to this educational philosophy, I
constantly remind the teachers to discover and tap the inner “smarts”
of the students. Of course, it is important to also remind the
teachers not to focus too much on only one or two intelligences as
there is a danger of stereotyping the student. MI theory provides
7 potential paths to learning and multiple ways in presenting lessons
to facilitate effective learning.
Learning should not be limited to just reading and
memorizing. Learning should be a fun experience where students
look forward to. It should be multi-dimensional, such as that of
the MI theory, and should tap the inner strengths of the pupils. This
is even a good way of breaking the monotony in the classroom
environment by singing, dancing, orating, and others.
There is wisdom why priests and the religious sang
biblical verses in their breviary. They learn the bible by
heart. Ask them a verse and they sing the biblical text.
Not only do they pray twice when they sing, but they learn it by heart
when they sing.
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This article was written for the LENS Magazine, a quarterly local magazine of Dagupan City.
Posted at 04:01 pm by chimp
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Why worry about life? We won't survive it anyway.
Might as well live it well!
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