Multiple+Intelligence

Howard Gardner claims that all human beings have multiple intelligences. These multiple intelligences can be nurtured and strengthened, or ignored and weakened. He believes each individual has nine intelligences: Based on his study of many people from many different walks of life in everyday circumstances and professions, Gardner developed the theory of multiple intelligences. He performed interviews with and brain research on hundreds of people, including stroke victims, prodigies, autistic individuals, and so-called "idiot savants." According to Gardner :
 * 1) **Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence** ("word smart") - well-developed verbal skills and sensitivity to the sounds, meanings and rhythms of words
 * 2) **Mathematical-Logical Intelligence** ("number/reasoning smart") -ability to think conceptually and abstractly, and capacity to discern logical or numerical patterns
 * 3) **Musical Intelligence** ("music smart") - ability to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch and timber
 * 4) **Visual-Spatial Intelligence** ("picture smart") - capacity to think in images and pictures, to visualize accurately and abstractly
 * 5) **Bodily-Kinesthetic** **Intelligence** ("body smart") - ability to control one's body movements and to handle objects skillfully
 * 6) **Interpersonal Intelligence** ("people smart") - capacity to detect and respond appropriately to the moods, motivations and desires of others.
 * 7) **Interpersonal Intelligence** ("self smart") - capacity to be self-aware and in tune with inner feelings, values, beliefs and thinking processes
 * 8) **Naturalist Intelligence** ("nature smart") - ability to recognize and categorize plants, animals and other objects in nature
 * 9) **Existential Intelligence** ("deep question smart") - sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence, such as the meaning of life, why do we die, and how did we get here.
 * All human beings possess all nine intelligences in varying amounts.
 * Each person has a different intellectual composition.
 * We can improve education by addressing the multiple intelligences of our students.
 * These intelligences are located in different areas of the brain and can either work independently or together.
 * These intelligences may define the human species.



What are the ?  > ** //ability to perceive the visual//. These learners tend to think in pictures and need to create vivid mental images to retain information. They enjoy looking at maps, charts, pictures, videos, and movies. ** > ** Their skills include: ** > ** puzzle building, reading, writing, understanding charts and graphs, a good sense of direction, sketching, painting, creating visual metaphors and analogies (perhaps through the visual arts), manipulating images, constructing, fixing, designing practical objects, interpreting visual images. ** > ** Possible career interests: ** > ** navigators, sculptors, visual artists, inventors, architects, interior designers, mechanics, engineers **  > ** //ability to use words and language.// These learners have highly developed auditory skills and are generally elegant speakers. They think in words rather than pictures. ** > ** Their skills include: ** > ** listening, speaking, writing, story telling, explaining, teaching, using humor, understanding the syntax and meaning of words, remembering information, convincing someone of their point of view, analyzing language usage. ** > ** Possible career interests: ** > ** Poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, translator **  > ** //ability to use reason, logic and numbers.// These learners think conceptually in logical and numerical patterns making connections between pieces of information. Always curious about the world around them, these learner ask lots of questions and like to do experiments. ** > ** Their skills include: ** > ** problem solving, classifying and categorizing information, working with abstract concepts to figure out the relationship of each to the other, handling long chains of reason to make local progressions, doing controlled experiments, questioning and wondering about natural events, performing complex mathematical calculations, working with geometric shapes ** > ** Possible career paths: ** > ** Scientists, engineers, computer programmers, researchers, accountants, mathematicians **  > ** // ability to control body movements and handle objects skillfully. // These learners express themselves through movement. They have a good sense of balance and eye-hand co-ordination. (e.g. ball play, balancing beams). Through interacting with the space around them, they are able to remember and process information. ** > ** Their skills include: ** > ** dancing, physical co-ordination, sports, hands on experimentation, using body language, crafts, acting, miming, using their hands to create or build, expressing emotions through the body ** > ** Possible career paths: ** > ** Athletes, physical education teachers, dancers, actors, firefighters, artisans ** > > ** //ability to produce and appreciate music.// These musically inclined learners think in sounds, rhythms and patterns. They immediately respond to music either appreciating or criticizing what they hear. Many of these learners are extremely sensitive to environmental sounds (e.g. crickets, bells, dripping taps). ** > ** Their skills include: ** > ** singing, whistling, playing musical instruments, recognizing tonal patterns, composing music, remembering melodies, understanding the structure and rhythm of music ** > ** Possible career paths: ** > ** musician, disc jockey, singer, composer **  > ** //ability to relate and understand others//. These learners try to see things from other people's point of view in order to understand how they think and feel. They often have an uncanny ability to sense feelings, intentions and motivations. They are great organizers, although they sometimes resort to manipulation. Generally they try to maintain peace in group settings and encourage co-operation.They use both verbal (e.g. speaking) and non-verbal language (e.g. eye contact, body language) to open communication channels with others. ** > ** Their skills include: ** > ** seeing things from other perspectives (dual-perspective), listening, using empathy, understanding other people's moods and feelings, counseling, co-operating with groups, noticing people's moods, motivations and intentions, communicating both verbally and non-verbally, building trust, peaceful conflict resolution, establishing positive relations with other people. ** > ** Possible Career Paths: ** > ** Counselor, salesperson, politician, business person **  ** //ability to self-reflect and be aware of one's inner state of being.// These learners try to understand their inner feelings, dreams, relationships with others, and strengths and weaknesses. ** ** Their Skills include: ** ** Recognizing their own strengths and weaknesses, reflecting and analyzing themselves, awareness of their inner feelings, desires and dreams, evaluating their thinking patterns, reasoning with themselves, understanding their role in relationship to others ** ** Possible Career Paths: ** ** Researchers, theorists, philosophers **

brainberg.blogspot.com

1. It aids teachers in easily creating more personalized and diversified instruction experiences. - Instructional planning techniques based on MI principles help to easily create interesting, clearly differentiated components for integrated units. MI frameworks also help with updating and expanding older lessons and curricula with minimal effort. In these contexts, practicing teachers grasp onto the concept because it is an accessible tool that is adaptable for a broad range of curricular applications.
 * Reasons teacher’s find the Theory of Multiple Intelligences so Useful: **

2. Offers teachers assistance in helping students become empowered learners by extending and promoting cognitive bridging techniques based on the seven intelligences; by fostering deep metacognitive understanding; and by advancing suggestions for a broad array of diversified study skills techniques. - Because MI related techniques are very versatile, they serve as ways to create clearly differentiated or personalized instructional bridges and supportive scaffolds for students having difficulty reaching levels of independent learning. MI techniques help teachers convey the importance of different types of metacognitive functions and help them introduce related types of study skills.

3. Helps teachers explain and promote understanding at intrapersonal, interpersonal and cultural levels. - Simply put, the theory allows users to view themselves and others differently, often from deeper, multiple perspectives. Resulting levels of heightened understanding are reported as teachers introduce MI Theory to their students. Many teachers have noticed that pupils' self-esteem and self-efficacy levels rise as learners become more aware of their own intrinsic gifts and talents.

4. Taps into students' intrinsic levels of motivation through natural talents, thus helping teachers construct self-motivating educational experiences and ones which help promote the concept of flow in the classroom. - The flow state can be defined as an intensified state of concentration, or high level of focused attention. When people are in a state of flow, they are highly centered, on-task, and may literally forget the passing of time. This state of extremely concentrated mental engagement is normally induced if people are doing something they like to do, they are involved tasks that require high levels of mental or physical focus, or they are engaged in something that they are good at doing.

5. Often validates teachers' insightful and intuitive assessments of students' natural talents and offers them justifications and assistance in creating related personalized educational accommodations and experiences. - In this context, knowledge of MI's definitions of intelligence helps to validate many teachers' qualitative or intuitive assessments of students. Many teachers report that the aspect of MI theory is reassuring in affirming that their instincts are correct and valuable parts of their teaching personas. 6. Provides teachers, parents and students with a more extensive and egalitarian conceptualization of giftedness. - Western perceptions of intelligence are often limited to tests which assess verbal-linguistic or mathematical-logical skills. Historically, programs that service students who are designated as gifted are reflective of a narrow cultural and educational mindset. MI precepts categorically broaden categories of giftedness. Thus, programs based on MI have the potential to include students having gifts, or combinations of gifts, from Gardner's other designated categories--bodily-kinesthetic, musical, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and soon to be elaborated, naturalistic intelligence. This broadened array greatly appeals to those teachers and parents who hold a more egalitarian or comprehensive view that every child has a gift or combined gifts.

Wilson, L.O. (1998). What's the big attraction? Why teachers are drawn to using multiple intelligences theory in their Classrooms. Retrieved from http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/mi/wilson1.htm

Gardner in 1993 did a study that showed that using multiple intelligences for analyzing student growth was a good way to find out how well the student was doing in accordance with their own strength. the specifics of the test can be found at http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/digitaltheses/public/adt-acuvp120.25102006/02whole.pdf.

**When Planning a Lesson, Ask the Right Questions!** Certain questions can help look at the possibilities for involving as many intelligences as possible: > **Linguistic:** How can I use the spoken or written word? > **Logical-Mathematical:** How can I bring in numbers, calculations, logic, classifications, or critical thinking? > **Spatial:** How can I use visual aids, visualization, color, art, metaphor, or visual organizers? > **Musical:** How can I bring in music or environmental sounds, or set key points in a rhythm or melody? > **Bodily-Kinesthetic**: How can I involve the whole body, or hands-on experiences? > **Interpersonal:** How can I engage students in peer or cross-age sharing, cooperative learning or large-group simulation? > **Intrapersonal:** How can I evoke personal feelings or memories, or give students choices? > (source: http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/articles/7_ways.php)

This form/ strengths' test can help you determine which intelligences are strongest for you. If you're a teacher or tutor, you can also use it to find out which intelligences your learner uses most often. Many thanks to Dr. Terry Armstrong for graciously allowing us to use his questionnaire:

http://literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html