MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

This paper is a study of one of the most striking challenges to the traditional scientific view of what constitutes human intelligence and how it can be objectively measured, Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. Gardner's MI theory has been gaining prominence through its successful application in a number of experimental educational projects, positing it as does the idea that intelligence is not a single "way of being smart," but instead includes a range of seven distinct groups of skills, talents, and ways of dealing with the world. By finding methods of developing and measuring each separate type of intelligence, Gardner believes that schools can produce more completely realized individuals and encourage students to develop their fullest possible potential. His ideas have not yet been widely accepted in American education, but they offer a breathtakingly new way of looking at how schools can improve the work they do.

The concept of measuring human intelligence along a consistently applied scale is a distinctly twentieth century idea. French psychologist Alfred Binet devised the first widely used test of intelligence in 1905 which the scientific community as a whole came very quickly to accept while refining and adding to the specific methodology for such testing. One of Binet's disciples, the English scientist Charles Spearman, contributed a key concept to the discussion with his proposal that the diverse

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gives the individual particular sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm, and tone, producing potential composers and singers. (Gardner's own experience led him to see musical sensitivity as a separate "way of being smart"; he was a gifted pianist as a child and once considered pursuing this as a career.) Fourth is bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, the ability to use the body skillfully and handle objects well that athletes, dancers, and surgeons exhibit. Fifth is spatial intelligence, the skill at perceiving the world accurately and recreating or transforming aspects of that world. Surveyors, sculptors, and architects personify this kind of intelligence. The sixth and seventh intelligences have to do with people skills. Interpersonal intelligence is the ability to understand people and relationships and is useful for people like politicians, salespeople, and religious leaders. Intrapersonal intelligence gives access to the individual's emotional life as a way of understanding both himself or herself and others. This intelligence is useful in careers such as therapy and social work. Shortly after the publication of Frames of Mind, eight teachers from Indianapolis approached Gardner, proposing to establish with his blessing
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Approximate Word count = 3032
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)

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