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“If a child is not learning the way you are teaching, then you must teach in the way the child learns.” – Rita Dunn
The idea of multiple intelligence's is not something very new to education, however implementing this theory into the classroom is something that is not very common in schools today. In fact, many teachers have issues trying to fully engage all of their students in their class unless they present the knowledge in a different fashion (Multiple Intelligences, 2013). Howard Gardner’s (1983) theory of multiple intelligences challenged traditional idea that intelligence can only be measured through logical and linguistic tests and it supports the idea that children can demonstrate their ideas and intellectual abilities in eight different ways (Drake, Reid, & Kolohon, 2014). The eight different types of intelligence include: verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematic, spatial/visual, musical/rhythmic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, bodily/kinesthetic, and naturalistic (Drake et al. 2014; Chipongian, 2000; Multiple Intelligences, 2013). Further Gardner argues that everyone has all eight types of intelligence, but at varying levels of aptitude and that not all situations are going to be dealt with by the same area of intelligence. For more details into each of the specific types of intelligence please, watch this short video clip below:
As you can see there is not only one type of way to learn or to be tested, therefore it is important to implement different types of assessment in classrooms. According to Chipongian (2000), since traditional standardized tests are not applicable to many of the types of intelligences, more multifaceted and expansive types of assessment are needed, which Gardner argues are context-dependent and focus on individual variation. One approach that Gardner and his colleagues tried was to bring the assessment to children in a rich environment called “Spectrum classrooms”, where children can naturally engage any variation of the types of intelligences to display to the observer for evaluation (Chipongian, 2000). In my opinion, this type of assessment practice is very personalized to the child in letting them demonstrate their knowledge in anyway they can, which plays on the child’s strengths rather than trying to point out their flaws or weaknesses. To me as a future educator, I find this approach very beneficial and helpful for the students wide variety of needs in the classroom, however there are some limitations to this type of approach which can hinder students potential.
It is important to not label students because labelling creates limits in learning and we need to avoid restricting students potential to one type of intelligence (Multiple Intelligences, 2013). Additionally Gardner argues that knowing one’s strengths and weaknesses can be helpful in providing ways for them to engage their learning, but it can also allow students to set restrictions for themselves and others (Chipongian, 2000). That is why as educators we must not restrict our students potential to only fit a specific profile or type of intelligence. The fact is, intelligences are impermanent and they can change based on experience; a single intelligence profile, like a picture, is not enough to represent an individual over their life time (Chipongian, 2000). This metaphor of a picture really resonated with me because of the truth behind it; a person in a photograph does not remain frozen in time never growing or changing. Therefore, it is important not to define them based on the type of learner they used to be, like a person in a picture, intelligence is ever-changing each and every day.
To conclude this blog post I am posting this video of Enota Multiple Intelligences Academy (in Gainesville, Georgia), which is a elementary school that caters their curriculum to fit students’ multiple intelligences and allows them to explore and demonstrate their learning in multiple different ways. They also incorporated a real-life component which they called “Smartville”. It is a miniature city that they have created within the school, in which the children are able to see how their different types of intelligences play out in the real world (ie. having a store to purchase items with fake money to work on math skills). I found this video really interesting and extremely creative, I hope you enjoy it as well!
References:
- Chipongian, L. (2000, May 27). Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom. Retrieved October 4, 2015, from http://brainconnection.brainhq.com/2000/05/27/multiple-intelligences-in-the-classroom/
- Drake, S., Reid, J., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving curriculum and classroom assessment: Engaging the 21st-century learner. Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press.
- Multiple Intelligences: What Does the Research Say? (2013, March 8). Retrieved October 4, 2015, from http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-research
Taylor,
ReplyDeleteYou blog is always so thought provoking which stimulates me to further investigate your topics of choice and the ways in which I can develop my teaching. You always seem to include some aspect of theory into your blog, but also display this aspect of conflict that existed between theories and practice this time. This led myself to feel conflicted as a future educator, which definitely improves your overall blog, making it more productive. In addition, including a video that goes over the different intelligences allows not only myself to get a better understanding of them, but also allows other readers that are unfamiliar with them. Also you integrated the videos and made connections to them improved the flow of your blog, and also allows the reader to understand how the videos are related to the blog.
I definitely agree that children’s multiple intelligences is not something new to the field of education, but I feel based on my personal experience and observations in various classrooms, multiple intelligence is not something that is taken advantage of by teachers. In the past I have observed multiple missed opportunities for teachers to include various intelligences in the classroom through subjects like math, science, history, etc. To elaborate, I feel although in a math lesson a teacher could simply include aspects of musical/rhythmic, naturalistic, and bodily/kinetic in various ways so children that take this perspective to learning are thriving. Within my own experience tutoring for Learning Disabilities Association I found that the child I was tutoring succeeded most when I included aspects of bodily/kinaesthetic, spatial/visual and naturalistic aspect in my phonics, and sight words lessons. With that being said, I believe that it is extremely important that as future educators we expose the children to all intelligence so they have the opportunities to experience their likes and dislikes, strengths and weakness associated with that intelligence.
Moving forwards, you discuss this idea that standardized test restricting the students potential, and ultimately expecting them to fit into one specific type of intelligence. With this I challenge you to uncover more through your experiences or further research ways to diversify how current and future educators can test their students knowledge. I definitely believe that your blog would benefit from this, as a large demographic of people reading this will be future educators. This will allow the people/students reading this to view theory in practice. In addition, I question whether or not you would take a different perspective on multiple intelligence and standardized testing if you were to look at it from a teacher’s perspective that is working with children exceptionalities?
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ReplyDeleteHey, Taylor,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I enjoyed reading about Howard Gardner’s (1983) theory of multiple intelligences, and I appreciate your warning that labeling students as exclusively “word smart” or “people smart” can lead them to set restrictions for themselves. As a future educator, it’s important to recognize the danger in praising students’ strengths to such an extent that they begin to believe that they lack proficiency in other areas.
Your post really helped me out this week. Shortly, after reading it, I was faced with the chore of testing my 9-year-old brother Matthew with multiplication flashcards. He dislikes this task and usually complains throughout. However, with the Enota Multiple Intelligences Academy video from your blog fresh in my mind, I suggested that we practice math by being “body smart”. Matthew helped me draw a huge 10 X 10 grid with chalk on the playground asphalt. We numbered the squares 1 to 100. Then when I showed him a flashcard, he ran as fast as he could to the correct square. It was a huge success, so much so that we attracted several kids from the play equipment and soon they were taking turns “playing multiplication”. As an added bonus, they even began noticing patterns, such as the “nine times table” appearing as a diagonal and the “ten times table” making a column. Matthew stuck with the new game for a couple of hours and I rotated through the flash cards dozens of times. Thanks so much for prompting this activity. It provided further evidence of the efficacy of multiple intelligence learning, as well as great memories of a fun, sunny afternoon practicing multiplication.
The experience prompted me to think of ways of incorporating math (which Matthew struggles with) and music and movement (which Matthew loves). Based on your research on this subject, can you provide any advice?
Thanks again for sharing this great post.
Hi Taylor! This is a great blog post that highlighted some contemporary discussions surrounding appropriate approaches to teaching and assessment. I agree that teachers often teach and assess in a static manner that excludes certain types of learners from succeeding. In response, I feel that is it important for teachers to put forth effort to recognize individual student learning preferences in order to implement teaching approaches that cater to all learning needs. I was familiar with Gardener’s theory of multiple intelligence however, had not previously considered that every person possessed all eight types of intelligence with variations in magnitude. I wonder if it is best for students to practice and improve upon their preferred intelligence or if it would be more beneficial for teachers to encourage students to strengthen intelligence avenues that are not as easily expressed. What are your thoughts on this?
ReplyDeleteFor my grade 12 English exam, we had a choice of how we wanted to express our learning. Using our chosen novel as our inspiration, we could make a video, produce a piece of art, write a song, or create a formal essay to express our thinking and learning. There was significant controversy within the school about this exam, as people claimed that anything beyond writing an essay was not an appropriate way of expressing English skills. Furthermore, people claimed that these creative forms of expression were not preparing students for the “real world.” How do you feel about these statements and concerns?
I agree with you that learning is dynamic and that everyone possesses intellectual strengths and I can appreciate how these strengths cannot be tested using a standardized testing approach. Therefore, perhaps individualized assessments are necessary in order to recognize students for the intelligence that they possess. As we discussed in class, letting students be creative in their expressions of understanding promotes higher-level thinking skills. Your post has really encouraged me to question my beliefs surrounding multiple intelligence. In response, I think that cross-curricular teaching as well as student-directed learning would encourage students to practice and develop multiple intelligence avenues.
Thanks for writing such a thought-provoking blog post! Furthermore, as Chelsea said, your blog is very colourful! The videos and images that you chose to include added to the strength of your post. A suggestion would be to incorporate a personal experience that perhaps inspired you to write about this topic.