Teach English in Lawn - TEFL Courses

In 1983, Howard Gardner introduced a new theory in psychology in his book Frames of Mind, a theory he called “multiple intelligence theory.” According to Gardner, intelligence is a culturally-based concept, a characteristic that makes it hard to define. Throughout the ages, intelligence has been defined or measured differently. During Gardner's time period, intelligence was measured in two facets, combining to form the IQ of a person. This was considered to be the only measure of intelligence. Gardner, however, introduced the idea that there are multiple kinds of intelligence, kinds that IQ tests and other standardized tests failed to account for. He thought that there were at least seven kinds of intelligence, with the possibility for more. Multiple intelligence theory is a psychological principle, but is deeply tied to education. Before the introduction of multiple intelligence theory, education was more rigid in how students were taught. Teaching was teaching-centered, the educator being the focus of teaching, the one who was supposed to impart knowledge to the students, who were passive recipients of that knowledge. With the advent of multiple intelligence theory, the focus changed. Because individuals possess different levels of the kinds of intelligences, they have different ways in which they learn. Teaching classrooms in just one way does not help most students learn. Because of multiple intelligence theory, teachers have started to adjust the way they teach. Instead of being teacher-focused, education has become increasingly student-focused, where flexibility in teaching methods and students assignments has become the goal. teachers now try to assess the methods which best help individual students learn and tailor their teaching to those methods. assessing the intelligences of individual students not only helps them learn, but also motivates them better to desire to learn. teachers, thus, put in more work to assessing students' intelligences and creating assignments which meet their needs. This has led to an increase of using more project-like assignments, instead of the traditional lecture style of teaching. Multiple intelligence theory has a lot of implications for tesol education as well. Because the definition of intelligence is culturally-based, different cultures have different measures of intelligence and different focuses for their educational system. This means that the tesol teacher may have some adjusting to do in order to provide the kind of education desired by a particular culture. In addition, the tesol teacher may also have a slightly harder time assessing the different kinds of intelligences of their students, given the cultural differences. However, it is extremely important for teachers to do so. The changes, though, that multiple intelligence theory have made to teaching strategies work very well for the kind of teaching that most tesol educators need to do. Focusing teaching on students instead of the teacher works really well for foreign language classes. The goal of most situations is to have students do much of the talking and producing of material in order to help them learn. Thus, using a lot of the techniques of multiple intelligence theory to create class and homework assignments that are project-focused and utilize many different of methods for learning can be incredibly helpful for the tesol teacher. Being aware of multiple intelligence theory and its methods can be very useful for the tesol educator and should be utilized in helping assess and motivate students.