TEFL Cortland Ohio

Multiple Intelligence is a model of human intelligence and learning proposed by Howard Gardner in the 1980s. Beginning in his book Frames of Mind: The theory of multiple intelligences (New York: Basic Books, 1983), Gardner asserts that previous theories, models and tests of human intelligence are not sufficient to account for the wide diversity of capabilities evident in the human population. That is, that too much emphasis has been placed on specific types of intelligence, while others languish on the fringes. In defining a series of separate and distinct intelligences, Gardner sought to redefine how we teach and learn. Gardner begins to construct his model by determining a set of criteria for identifying an intelligence. These criteria are: Potential isolation by damage. The existence of idiot savants, prodigies and other exceptional individuals. An identifiable core operation or set of operations. A distinctive development history and evolutionary plausibility. Support from psychometric findings. Susceptibility to encoding in a symbol system (Gardner 1983, 62-69). Thus equipped, Gardner progresses to delineate seven independent intelligences. Although the list has never been substantially changed, it bears noting that it is nonetheless a ‘provisional' list (Gardner, Howard. Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century. New York: Basic Books, 1983. pp. 41). The first intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence. This intelligence is directed toward language in all its various uses, to its learning, production, and use in accomplishing rhetorical, poetic or other goals. Next comes Logical-mathematical Intelligence, which involves abstract reasoning, pattern detection, deduction and logic. It is these two intelligences primarily that Gardner contended were most often emphasized in schooling and in standardized testing (Gardner 1999). Musical Intelligence allows one to perform, identify, compose and appreciate musical patterns, including pitch, rhythm and tone. Spatial Intelligence is enrolled in identifying and envisioning the use of extended space. Bodily-kinesthetic Intelligence, on the other hand, is engaged in the use of mental activity in the movement of the body. These last three intelligences may be grouped loosely together as the artistic intelligences (Gardner 1999, 41), dealing as they do with the manipulation of sound, body and space. The final two intelligences deal with personal relationships and understanding. First, Interpersonal Intelligence allows one to understand and get along with others in a social context. Then, Intrapersonal Intelligence allows one understand one's own motivations, desires and emotions, and to use this knowledge to regulate behaviour and attitude. The Multiple Intelligences model has been put to use in many contexts, many of them pedagogical. Perhaps one of the largest impacts of the theory has been simply in promoting a much wider scope for evaluating curricula and developing teaching practices (Kornhaber, M. L., 'Howard Gardner' in J. A. Palmer (ed.) Fifty Modern Thinkers on Education: From Piaget to the present, london: Routledge, 2001. pp. 276). To this day, the Multiple Intelligences theory is applied in classroom situations where different learners encounter barriers. According to the model, finding learning methods more suited to different intelligences will allow all students to engage more effectively with different subjects.