We are all smart! We are just all smart in different ways. Some people like words, others like logic, some work well with good music, or maybe they like moving around. There are also people who find comfort in working with the natural environment, and there are those who are great with interacting with others! Some people are excellent at working with visuals, and others work best when they work alone. There are even those who just "get" things in life and know where they want to go. Which kind of smart are you?
Multiple Intelligences
WHAT IS MI?
The Work of Howard Gardner
Howard Gardner, a psychology researcher at Harvard University, theorized seven Multiple Intelligences in 1983, in his publication, "Frames of Mind." While these theories were not originally designed to be applied to education, researchers and eductors have applied and adapted Gardner's theories to public and private education over the last 3 decades.
For decades, the standard IQ (or intelligence quotient) test has been the basis for which we have measured intelligence, but the IQ test only measures one's ability to read, and think logically, mathematically, and to some extent, pictorially or symbollically. The Theory of Multiple Intelligences challenges this way of thinking and proposes that individuals think in a variety of ways and have strengths in ways of thinking and doing that are not typically valued in our society or in our education systems.
The Multiple Intelligences can be found in all people, no matter where they live, and all people have the propensity for all of the intelligences. You are not just one kind of smart! While each individual will have strengths in certain intelligences, all intelligences can be strengthened, and if our education systems can shift to support MIs, then more students can be successful.
"Frustration and academic failure can be reduced if teachers presented information in numerous ways, offering students multiple options for success."
~ TLTMI (2000) p. xxv
Why haven't I heard about MI before?
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
What Are The 9 Intelligences?
"Each of us has the same intelligences, but ultimately each of us will fashion a distinctive MI profile and bring it to bear in the ways that are most productive for ourselves."
- Howard Gardner in "Multiple Intelligences" (2000) p. 7
Click on each Intelligence to learn more about it and
how to teach to each intelligence in your classroom!
Does MI Even Work?
One of the major criticisms of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences is that there is not enough evidence to prove that it makes a difference to teach to the different intelligences. There have been case studies done though, in many schools, that have shown that MI students perform better than students taught through traditional methods in all basic skill areas on standardized tests. These studies have shown that nearly 80% of schools using MI instruction have also improved learning for students with learning disabilities. Campbell & Campbell suggest that part of the reason for these improvements is that students taught through MI "are not percieved as defective, [so] they have no excuses for not achieving well" (1999, p. 11). By allowing students to learn using their strengths in various areas of intelligence they gain confidence in areas that may have caused them stress and struggles in a traditional classroom.
Studies have been conducted in schools of a variety of size, socioeconomic status, cultural backgrounds, and location, from suburban schools to inner-city schools. All of the schools using MI and other forms of differentiation out-performed not just schools that were similar to them in composition, but many others that were using traditional teaching methods. Some, such as EXPO school in St. Paul, MN, even caused other schools to stop and ask what their secret to success was (Campbell & Campbell, 1999, p. 39). While these comparissons were conducted using standardized tests, most teachers from these schools note that the tests do not ommmunicate the whole store and that they risk placing the tests rather than the students at the center of th argument (Campbell & Campbell, 1999, p. 96).
Even if you are not able to fully embrace all that teaching with Multiple Intelligences has to offer, even using some components of the theories an change a student's educational success. The goals of Multiple Intelligences include promoting lifelong learning, and in order to achieve this, "students must be taught to think in ways that are natural and meaningful to them" (Gray & Waggonner, 2002, p. 187). Using multiple intelligences truly can allow students to discover their best way of learning to become successful students.
You may not have heard about MI before, becuase there are many roadblocks and misconceptions about MI:
-
It is too difficult to incorporate 9 ways of teaching into a lesson!
-
It is too difficult to assess such a variety of projects!
-
There is not enough time to plan like this!
-
I was not taught this way, and I turned out just fine!
-
My students will not be able to perform well on standardized tests!
-
It is too difficult to understand and keep track of all of the intelligences that my students have!
-
I do not have the time to change my classroom set up or the way I teach!
-
I will not be able to cover everything in the curriculum if I use MI!
-
I have no idea what to do!
Gardner argues that "much, if not most, of what happens in schools happens becasue that is the way it was done in earlier generations, not because we have a convincing rationale for maintaining it today" (1993, p. 199).
Incorporating MI into the classroom really does not have to be as scary and complicated as it may first appear.
In education, Gardner, and other researchers and educators propose that teaching with MI can give students the opportunity to learn and present their learning in ways that their minds think best. Perhaps they think best through moving, or music, or pictures, or by talking with their peers, and teaching with MIs gives students the means to experience this!
