“If we had only one intelligence- it would either mean that if we were smart, we are smart in everything, and if we are not smart, we’d be poor in everything.”
– Dr. Howard Gardner
Dr. Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences (or MI as it is commonly referred to) evolved as a critique of the notion that people have simply a single intelligence.
One of his most influential books, Frames of Mind, published over 25 years ago, offered a viewpoint that was completely in contrast to the traditional notion of intelligence. He single-handedly debunked the standard psychometric testing of verbal-logical and mathematical skills and propounded that there are in fact many more kinds of intelligence at play.
Dr. Gardner claims that there are in fact eight different kinds of human intelligence – verbal-linguistic (‘word smart’), logical-mathematical (‘number/reasoning smart’), visual-spatial (‘picture smart’), bodily-kinesthetic (‘body smart’), musical (‘music smart’), interpersonal (‘people smart’), intrapersonal (‘self smart’) and naturalist (‘nature smart’). He propounds that every individual has all of these intelligences since it is a part of our species definition, and that because of our genetics and environment each one of us has a unique profile of intelligences. This means that even identical twins do not share the same intelligences because of the different experiences that they have.
We therefore have different intellectual strengths and weaknesses and learn in different ways.
Originally developed as a theory for Psychology, Prof. Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences has found the greatest application in the field of education. In fact, there are now multiple intelligence schools, classrooms and even networks of schools in many societies including in India.
As Prof. Gardner himself says, “As part of the theory of multiple intelligences I have thought a lot about how we teach each human being so that he or she can learn the best and how we assess each person so he or she can show what they have understood and what they haven’t. When there is an important idea whether it comes out of history or mathematics or the arts or politics, we can’t just present it once, we have to present it in many ways and many times. And the more different ways in which we present ideas, the more intelligences that we can activate, the more likely there is that the person will really understand the idea, the topic, the theory that we are talking about.”
Christina Rajeev
/ January 20, 2012Hi i would like to be updated about his works.
Kimberly
/ January 20, 2012Love your work, Dr. Gardner!!!!!
profkprabhakar
/ January 25, 2012His research on plasticity of brain and its impact on the way in which we teach have undergone significant change. Thanks to him we recognized the intelligence of interpersonal intelligence which is crucial in present day world.