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Classroom Tools Series:

Multiple Intelligences

We may have flooded you with math and science articles for this week, from news down to our features sections, including tools. We now bring you the theory that has been gaining popularity in the education field as it aims to change the view of people on intelligence.

In our society, we normally tag people as geniuses when they’re good in math and sciences or when they’re highly articulate and logical. We take pride on those who develop the latest technology, on who launches the next innovation, or when the next John Nash is born. But what about those who excel in other fields such us sports or music? Can we not classify the likes of Manny Pacquiao or Lisa Macuja under the ‘intelligent’ category?

Howard Gardner and MI
In 1983, the theory of multiple intelligences was introduced by Harvard professor and psychologist, Dr. Howard Gardner, in his influential book, Frames of Mind.1 In his theory, he debunks the idea of measuring intelligence in terms of IQ only by establishing the seven kinds of intelligence that totally revolutionized the way learning is viewed.

The theory was born because of his thinking that our usual notion of intelligence is far too limited.2 It aims to recognize and respect each person’s individuality. Rather than asking “how smart the person is” the theory asks “how a person is smart.”

For educators, it encourages them “to start thinking of intelligence as a set of many different abilities and skills that help an individual learner comprehend, examine, and respond to many different types of content in order to solve problems or to make something that is valued in one or more cultures.3

But it should be cleared however that the theory should not be labeled as a learning style, but rather, a learning behavior. Learning styles according to Gardner are "claims about ways in which individuals purportedly approach everything they do...You could say that a child is a visual learner, but that's not a multiple intelligences way of talking about things. What we would say is, "here is a child who very easily represents things spatially, and we can draw upon that strength if need be when we want to teach the child something new."4

The Multiple Intelligences
Initially, Gardner presented seven intelligences when he first came out with his theory. The first two represent our typical concept of intelligence; the next three are commonly associated with the arts; and the last two are what he called ‘personal intelligences.’ These are:5

  • Linguistic intelligence – “word smart”
  • Logical-mathematical intelligence – “number/reasoning smart”
  • Musical intelligence – “music/sound smart”
  • Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence – “body smart”
  • Spatial intelligence – “picture/image smart”
  • Interpersonal intelligence – “people smart”
  • Intrapersonal intelligence – “self smart”

“Gardner claimed that the seven intelligences rarely operate independently. They are used at the same time and tend to complement each other as people develop skills or solve problems.”6 He also suggests that each individual possesses several intelligences in which one responds to in different ways. And, he does not rule out the possible existence of additional intelligences. His subsequent research and reflection together with his colleagues has looked into four particular possibilities:7

  • Naturalist intelligence – “nature smart,” considered as the eighth intelligence.
  • Spiritual intelligence – The position in regard to this is far more complex as it deals with the truth value. Because of the issues attached to it and the “problematic connotations,” it is suggested “to put aside the term spiritual…and to speak instead of an intelligence that explores the nature of existence in its multifarious guises.”8
  • Existential intelligence – Although the possibility of a ninth intelligence is attractive, Gardner is concerned with ‘ultimate issues’ and he finds the “phenomenon perplexing enough and the distance from the other intelligences vast enough to dictate prudence.”9
  • Moral intelligence – The first concern is whether it is possible to delineate the ‘moral domain’, and he suggests that it is difficult to come to any consensual definition. Furthermore, concern with rules, behaviors, and attitudes that govern the sanctity of life is central to a moral domain which have not yet been captured as an instance of human intelligence by researchers and writers.10

MI and technology
According to a current research, “the brains of today’s students are perfectly ‘wired’ to navigate through multimedia applications. Studies further suggest that students learn better when engaged in lessons involving well-developed multimedia resources.”11 A particular site on the integration of science, multimedia, and MI suggests that not only the teachers must find ways to tailor each student’s MI but it should be a collaboration both “to best acquire new concepts, ideas, and knowledge.”12

EduScapes site has further elaborated what each intelligence is all about plus the technology tools to match it that support classroom activities. Click on the links below to know more:

Applying MI inside the classroom
In the article Multiple Intelligences: A Theory for Everyone by Anne Guignon, she quoted Gardner when asked how educators should implement his theory: "(I)t's very important that a teacher take individual differences among kids very seriously…The bottom line is a deep interest in children and how their minds are different from one another, and in helping them use their minds well."13

We’ve found a site that answers a series of common questions regarding the MI Theory. Check out Concept to Classroom which features a series of free, self-paced workshops on a wide variety of interesting education topics.

MI Inventories
Want to know the ratio of intelligences running in your veins? Click on this MI Inventory to find out. Remember, this is not a test; rather, it is a snapshot in time of your MI preferences – it can change! But take note that you have to answer this manually in a separate piece of paper or you can have it printed out before you answer.

However, if you prefer to answer online and have the results generated right after you answer, log on to Multiple Intelligences.

Activities for all intelligences
Now that you have idea on the different learning behaviors of your students (or even yourself), you might want to check the site of teachervision.com for the Multiple Intelligences Chart where they have provided the list of activities for each kind of intelligence.

Also available is the MI Immersion from surfaquarium which showcases an interactive online experience of the intelligences including the unofficial ninth intelligence, existential.

Sources:
1 Multiple Intelligences, http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/mi/front_mi.htm
2 Multiple Intelligences, http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm
3, 4 Checkley, Kathy. The First Seven...and the Eighth: A Conversation with Howard Gardner.
Educational Leadership, Vol. 55, No. 1.sp; September 1997.
<http://www.ascd.org/pubs/el/sept97/gardnerc.html>, in What is the Multiple Intelligence Theory
of Learning?, http://www.angelfire.com/de2/dalick/researchMI.htm#MI
5, 6 Howard Gardner on multiple intelligences – the initial listing,
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm#multiple_intelligences
7, 8, 9, 10 Are there additional intelligences?, http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm#additions
11 Conclusion, http://www.angelfire.com/de2/dalick/researchMI.htm#conclusion
12 Edwards, Jack. Multiple Intelligences and Technology. Florida Information Resource Network. December 1995. <http://www.firn.edu/~face/about/dec95/mult_int.html>, in
How does the integration of biology, multimedia, and multiple intelligence enhance teaching and learning?, http://www.angelfire.com/de2/dalick/researchMI.htm#integration
13 Multiple Intelligences: A Theory for Everyone,
http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr054.shtml