Gardner

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Gardners Theory of Multiple Intelligences

• Identification and Assessment of Gifted Learners

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Old School

• Intelligence is a single entity
• Humans can be trained to learn anything presented
  in an appropriate way

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New school

• Brain-based research
• Multitude of intelligences

4
Gardners Paradigm Shift

• One of the main impetuses for this movement has
  been Howard Gardner's work. He has questioned the
  idea that intelligence is a single entity, that
  it results from a single factor, and that it can
  be measured simply via IQ tests.

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Multiple Intelligence Theory
Howard Gardner, Ph.D., is the founding father of
the Multiple Intelligences Theory. Formerly a
Senior Co-Director of Harvard University's
Project Zero (where he worked with Eric Erickson
and Jerome Bruner, Howard Gardner's proposed his
theory of multiple intelligences in his 1983
book, Frames of Mind.
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Gardners Interest

• Borne out of work with wounded veterans and with
  children at a lab school founded at Harvard
• Concluded that people have several intelligences

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Pluralistic View of Intelligence

• Gardner's pluralistic view of intelligence
  suggests that all people possess at least eight
  different intelligences that operate in varying
  degrees depending upon each individual. The seven
  primary intelligences identified by Gardner
  include linguistic intelligence,
  logical-mathematical intelligence, spatial
  intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence,
  musical intelligence, interpersonal intelligence,
  and intrapersonal intelligence.

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Pluralistic View (contd)

• The eighth, naturalistic intelligence, was not
  part of Gardner's original framework but was
  added in 1996 to include those who excel in the
  realm of natural science.
• The ninth, existential intelligence, was also not
  part of original framework, but has come to gain
  acceptance by those who embrace the MI theory.

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Linguistic Intelligence

• Refers to an individual's capacity to use
  language effectively as a means of expression and
  communication through the written or spoken word
  (Examples poets, writers, orators, and
  comedians. Some famous examples include
  Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf, Abraham Lincoln and
  Walt Whitman).

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Logical-Mathematical Intelligence

• Refers to an individual's ability to recognize
  relationships and patterns between concepts and
  things, to think logically, to calculate numbers,
  and to solve problems scientifically and
  systematically. (Examples mathematicians,
  economists, lawyers and scientists. Some famous
  examples include Albert Einstein and John
  Dewey).

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Visual-Spatial Intelligence

• Refers to the capability to think in images and
  orient oneself spatially. In addition, spatially
  intelligent people are able to graphically
  represent their visual and spatial ideas
  (Examples artists, decorators, architects,
  pilots, sailors, surveyors, inventors, and
  guides. Some famous examples include Picasso,
  Frank Lloyd Wright, and Leonardo DaVinci).

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Musical Intelligence

• Refers to the capacity to appreciate a variety of
  musical forms as well as being able to use music
  as a vehicle of expression. Musically intelligent
  people are perceptive to elements of rhythm,
  melody, and pitch (Examples singers, musicians,
  and composers. Some famous examples include
  Mozart, Julie Andrews, Andrea Boccelli and
  Leonard Bernstein).

13
Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence

• Refers to the capacity of using one's own body
  skillfully as a means of expression or to work
  with one's body to create or manipulate objects
  (Examples dancers, actors, athletes, sculptors,
  surgeons, mechanics, and craftspeople. Some
  famous examples include Michael Jordan, Julia
  Roberts, and Mikhail Baryshnikov).

14
Interpersonal (Social) Intelligence

• Refers to the capacity to appropriately and
  effectively communicate with and respond to other
  people. The ability to work cooperatively with
  others and understand their feelings (Examples
  sales people, politicians, religious leaders,
  talk show hosts, etc. Some famous examples
  include Bill Clinton, Ghandi, Oprah Winfrey).

15
Intrapersonal Intelligence

• Refers to the capacity to accurately know one's
  self, including knowledge of one's own strengths,
  motivations, goals, and feelings. To be capable
  of self-reflection and to be introverted and
  contemplative are also traits held by persons
  with Intrapersonal intelligence. (Examples
  entrepreneurs, therapists, philosophers, etc.
  Some famous examples include Freud, Bill Gates,
  and Plato).

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Naturalistic Intelligence

• Refers to the ability to identify and classify
  the components that make up our environment. This
  intelligence would have been especially apt
  during the evolution of the human race in
  individuals who served as hunters, gatherers, and
  farmers. (Examples botanists, farmers, etc. A
  famous example includes Charles Darwin

17
Existentialist Intelligence

• Gardners definition for this intelligence is to
  exhibit the proclivity to pose and ponder
  questions about life, death and ultimate
  realities. (Examples Aristotle, Confucius,
  Einstein, Emerson, Plato, Socrates). Less
  information available about this since it doesnt
  fit into traditional school settings.

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Implications for Educators

• Prior to his proposal, schools were predominantly
  emphasizing two of the eight intelligences cited
  by Gardner - the Linguistic and
  Logical-Mathematical. If we consider the
  traditional teaching styles practiced in the
  classroom and the tests that are given to measure
  the knowledge gained by an individual student, it
  is clear that those students who are naturally
  strong in the Linguistic and Logical-Mathematical
  intelligences will perform well on standardized
  tests.

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Implications

• The fervor with which educators embraced his
  premise that we have multiple intelligences
  surprised even Gardner himself. It obviously
  spoke to some sense that people had that kids
  weren't all the same and that the tests we had
  only skimmed the surface about the differences
  among kids.

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How it looks in the classroom

• MI Reflections
• Uses MI theory as a basis to reflect on and
  identify students' strengths and preferences.
• Bridging Students' Areas of Strengths to Areas of
  Challenge
• Creates a "bridge" from students' MI strengths to
  appropriate learning strategies.
• Emphasizes using students' particular strengths
  to assist in areas of particular difficulty

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How it looks

• Entry/Exit Points
• Provide a range of MI-informed "entry points"
  into a topic and "exit points" for students to
  demonstrate their learning.
• Emphasize using students' identified strengths to
  develop entry and exit points.
• Projects
• Develop project-based curriculum using MI theory
  as a framework.
• Emphasize authentic problems and activities.

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Handout

• Provides an overview of why authentic assessment
  is useful when considering strengths and
  weaknesses students possess in light of MI theory
• MI Inventory for Teachers may also take an
  on-line quickie version of this
• MI Inventory for Students
• Suggested activities and assessments for each of
  the areas of MI