“Do not train youths to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bet of the genius of each.” (Plato)Recently, I received a letter of invitation to conduct a workshop for teachers on the Multiple Intelligence theory and its application in the classroom. The letter describes Multiple Intelligence as the “in” thing now and should be adopted by schools. I also overhear parents talking about multiple intelligences and how it brought about the discovery of their children’s talents or “smarts”. Sometimes though, more often do I hear parents asking “ano yun?” than being able to clearly explain the theory on multiple intelligence.
But what is this theory about Multiple Intelligences? How did it came about? How do they affect education and learning in general?
Let us transport ourselves way back in the late 70’s when a young Harvardian psychology student named Howard Gardner began conducting brain research among brain damage and stroke victims, prodigies, autistic individuals, and idiots. From his studies, he found out that a specific damage on a specific part of the brain affects a specific learning ability of a patient. Gardner found out that some brain damage patients have difficulty recognizing music, moving about normally, or speaking logically. In the same study he also found out that a well developed talent among prodigies shows a high mark in brain activity in specific areas of the brain.
This discovery led him to further his studies by mapping out specific learning patterns in the human brain. In Gardner’s most famous book Frames of Mind (1983), he revealed his discovery of the 7 intelligences and develops this theory towards a broader application in the field of education.
His discovery of the 7 intelligences totally changed his life as he shifted his research from psychology to education. Due to the potentials of the theory in the educational setting, this created a wave of ecstatic acceptance among educators since it corresponds to the basic premise that all human beings are equally and inherently intelligent.
So what are the Multiple Intelligences?
The Multiple Intelligence theory espouses the existence of 7 “intelligences” inherent in every human being. These are: verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial, body-kinesthetic, auditory-musical, naturalist, interpersonal communication, intrapersonal communication.
Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence is the capacity to use words effectively, whether orally or in writing. Your child is inclined to be a good storyteller, orator, poet, playwright, editor, or journalist because of their knack in listening, speaking, writing, explaining, teaching, analyzing language usage, and so much more.
Logical-Mathematical Intelligence is the capacity to use numbers effectively and to reason out well. Your child may become a statistician, mathematician, tax accountant, scientist, or computer programmer since they are good at problem solving, classifying and categorizing information, working with abstract concepts, doing experiments, and working with geometric shapes.
Visual-Spatial Intelligence is the ability to perceive the visual-spatial world accurately and to perform transformations from the perceived world. Your child has good skills in puzzle building, understanding charts and graphs, directing the car in puzzling streets, designing objects, drawing. He / she will therefore be a future interior decorator, architect, artist, or inventor.
Body-Kinesthetic Intelligence is the expertise in using one’s body to express ideas and feelings and to perform transformations upon those perceptions. Your child will likely become an athlete, an actor, a dancer, or a sculptor due to his inclinations towards dancing, sports, acting, and using body languages.
Musical Intelligence is the capacity to produce, appreciate and manipulate music. They usually think in terms of sounds, rhythms and patters and are likely to hum around the house. Your child is good at singing, whistling, playing musical instruments, composing music, and remembering melodies. As such, they are inclined to become an accomplished musician, composer, music critique, or musical performer.
Interpersonal Intelligence is the ability to relate and understand others since they see from other people’s point of view. Children with this intelligence use verbal and non-verbal language to open communication channels with others. Your child would likely become good educators, psychologists, or politicians because they are skilled in seeing things from other perspectives, listening, empathizing, counseling, co-operating with groups, and conflict resolution.
Intrapersonal Intelligence allows one’s self to self-reflect and be aware of one’s inner state of being. Your child usually are able to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses, reflect and analyze themselves, reason out with themselves, and understand his / her role in a group. Children with this kind of intelligence usually are able to answer big questions that begin with how and why. He will therefore be a future philosopher, priest, or researcher.
A few advocates of the MI theory contest that there are more than 7 intelligences aside from the ones mentioned above. Students who show an interest in nature are now thought to have Naturalist Intelligence while those who are likely to become priests someday have Spiritual Intelligence. Gardner himself even thought about including a pseudo-intelligence called Existential Intelligence—the ability to understand the purpose of one’s existence in the world. Of course, Gardner remains uncommitted to existential intelligence because of its difficult in assessing this intelligence. And there are others who parodied intelligence by coming up with all sorts of intelligences such as sexual intelligence, survival intelligence, even football intelligence!
Just like any other theory, the MI theory of Howard Gardner has also met tremendous opposition from fellow educators and theorists due to the fact that it is just a theory and should not be taken with finality. In a conference I attended where he was one of the speakers, he revealed that the MI theory is still currently being developed. Although a number of researches have already been published supporting its positive effects, Gardner further explained that the multiple intelligence theory is best practiced in enriching teaching strategies as it supports the concept of holistic education.
In addition, Gardner elucidated that each person is packed with all the intelligences. What makes each person unique is the level of development and the interest towards each “smart.” It is therefore important to note that each child has the ability to develop all the intelligences and not be boxed by a single intelligence while disregarding the other.
Reflections on MI theory and traditional schooling
Sad to say, I have been educated in a traditional school environment, and so do the majority of Filipinos. It is hard to unlearn the traditional way of rote memorization, teacher monologues, and endless textbooks. But the pain of unlearning is rewarded by the achievements of our children and the discovery of talents.
I am glad that, Escuela de Nstra. Señora de La Salette, the school where I work as one of the administrators, advocates the concept of holistic education by adopting and applying multiple intelligences in the classroom. This is perhaps one of the many reasons why the Lasallian Schools Supervision Office of the De La Salle University granted La Salette School a higher Lasallian Accreditation level by becoming a De La Salle Supervised School.
As a response to this educational philosophy, I constantly remind the teachers to discover and tap the inner “smarts” of the students. Of course, it is important to also remind the teachers not to focus too much on only one or two intelligences as there is a danger of stereotyping the student. MI theory provides 7 potential paths to learning and multiple ways in presenting lessons to facilitate effective learning.
Learning should not be limited to just reading and memorizing. Learning should be a fun experience where students look forward to. It should be multi-dimensional, such as that of the MI theory, and should tap the inner strengths of the pupils. This is even a good way of breaking the monotony in the classroom environment by singing, dancing, orating, and others.
There is wisdom why priests and the religious sang biblical verses in their breviary. They learn the bible by heart. Ask them a verse and they sing the biblical text. Not only do they pray twice when they sing, but they learn it by heart when they sing.
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This article was written for the LENS Magazine, a quarterly local magazine of Dagupan City. And, a repost from my old blog.
