TEFL Wrangell Alaska

The IQ testing has often met with criticism due to differences in cultural attitudes as well as recent understanding that Intelligence is pluralised. In other words if I do not score highly on an IQ test does this mean I am not intelligent? How is Intelligence measured is it cognitive competence which is better described in terms of a set of abilities, talents, or mental skills, which we all call ‘intelligences'. All normal individuals possess each of these skills to some extent; individuals differ in the degree of skill and in the nature of their combination. Schools deal largely with different sorts of problem solving, to learn new materials quickly and efficiently, this capacity in young children helps predict their future success in school. I had 2 pupils in my class Katy who was brilliant in Science great logical skills, quick fast learner and then there was Colin who hated Science and didn't see the relevance of learning this subject-yet articulate and adamant that despite this core subject being weak has no indication of how successful he will be or how intelligent he is. As a teacher it was always ‘Colin you must work harder, this is a core subject, without this you are going nowhere' etc. etc. 10years later, Katy is a teacher working hard and making an average living whilst Colin now plays International football for Turkey which was always his dream as football was his passion! His success is no fluke-he is considered by all to be very talented whilst Katy is seen as ‘ordinary', despite her higher IQ. According to Gardiner there are 7 different types of intelligence which we all possess, it does not stand out singularly but in different combinations and degrees of skill: Logical-mathematical intelligence -Involves the formal operation of symbols according to accepted rules of logic and mathematics (exclusively measured in Intelligence tests). ***Unlike Colin, Katy largely possessed this form of intelligence. Linguistic intelligence -makes use of rhetoric, for persuasion, allows us to develop semantic storage of information and to explain events + its operation. -Differs from above in having strong auditory/oral component and in not being tied to the world of physical objects. Spatial intelligence -enables us to recognise faces, to find way around a site, and to notice fine details -capacity to perceive the visual world accurately ***another skill area which Colin would have possessed, perhaps more so than Katy Bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence -describes the ability to use the body or parts of it to solve problems or to produce worthwhile products or display. -involves at its core the capacity to control bodily motions and to handle objects skilfully. ***key success to Colin intelligence Musical intelligence -it is possible that language and music evolved together as a single auditory-oral intelligence, but in present day they appear to be separate with many examples of people with high musical, but low linguistic intelligence. Interpersonal intelligence - describes the ability to notice and make distinctions among other individuals and in particular, among their moods, temperaments, motivations, intentions.... *** To be successful on an International scale Colin needed also possessed this form of intelligence. Intrapersonal intelligence -access to one's own feeling life-one's range of affects or emotions; the capacity instantly to effect discriminations among these feelings and, eventually, to label them, to enmesh them in symbolic codes, to draw upon them as a means of understanding and guiding one's behaviour.... To sum up Multiple intelligence by referring to Colin and Katy, ‘an individual may not be particularly gifted in any intelligence; and yet, because of a particular combination or blend of skills, he or she may be able to fill some niche uniquely well' (Howard Gardiner, 1967).