Tuesday, 9 May 2023

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF MULTIPLE INTELLEGENCE THEORY

 

Introduction

In the history of education there occurred a significant shift: a shift from the traditional teacher-centered approaches to learner-centered ones. For so long time, educators and principals had been so much concerned with implanting knowledge in a uniform way and giving students some previously-prepared courses. This led to creating stereotypes of students. Those students have been the victims of a traditional way of instruction that addressed all the students in the same way. With the appearance of ‘humanism’ in the sixties, new ideas in teaching came to the scene. These ideas were the direct result of the new outlook of the student. The proposed approach takes individual differences seriously and craft practices that serve different kinds of minds equally well. To teach effectively does not mean just to present the content in a skilful way. There are many other factors involved in the teaching learning process. The new approach was an counter approach to the traditional way of teaching, it suggests teachers to teach depend upon the intelligence students possess. This paper defines multiple intelligences theory, the intelligences according to Gardner, implications of MI theory, and appeal and the teachers’ role in implementing this theory.

1. Multiple Intelligences Theory

Multiple Intelligences Theory was first proposed by Howard Gardner, a professor of cognition and education at Harvard University, in his most celebrated book, Frames of Mind, in 1983. He regarded it “as a pluralistic view of mind which recognizes many different and discrete facets of cognition and acknowledges that people have different cognitive strengths and contrasting cognitive styles Since then, educators have become so interested to apply this theory as a means through which they can improve teaching and learning in a multiplicity of ways. The theory represents a new orientation towards the nature of intelligences. In designing his theory, Gardner opposes the traditional view of the intellect stating that his theory is a new outlook of the human intelligence. He considers the intelligences as a new definition of the human nature. Gardner describes man as an organism who possesses a basic set of intelligences. Thus he looks upon human beings in the light of a group of intelligences that they are supposed to have.

 

 

2. The Intelligences According To Gardner

Gardner using biological as well as cultural research, he formulated a list of seven intelligences and subsequently added two more.

2.1. Linguistic intelligence involves sensitivity to spoken and written language, the ability to learn languages, and the capacity to use language to accomplish certain goals. This intelligence includes the ability to effectively use language to express oneself rhetorically or poetically; and language as a means to remember information. Writers, poets, lawyers and speakers are among those that Howard Gardner sees as having high linguistic intelligence.

2.2. Logical-mathematical intelligence consists of the capacity to analyze problems logically, carry out mathematical operations, and investigate issues scientifically. Gardner (1993) says it entails the ability to detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically. This intelligence is most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking.

2.3. Musical intelligence involves skill in the performance, composition, and appreciation of musical patterns. It encompasses the capacity to recognize and compose musical pitches, tones, and rhythms. According to Gardner, musical intelligence runs in an almost structural parallel to linguistic intelligence. An example is, the use of tape recorders for listening, singing along, and learning newsongs.

2.4. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence entails the potential of using one's whole body or parts of the body to solve problems. It is the ability to use mental abilities to coordinate bodily movements. Gardner sees mental and physical activity as related.

2.5. Spatial intelligence involves the potential to recognize and use the patterns of wide space and more confined areas. It is the ability to sense form, space, color, line, and shape. A very good example is the use of visual mapping activities and the encouragement of students to vary the arrangements of materials in space, such as by creating charts and bulletin boards.

2.6. Interpersonal intelligence is concerned with the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people. It allows people to work effectively with others. Educators, salespeople, religious and political leaders and counselors all need a well-developed interpersonal intelligence. The ability to solve problems and resolving conflict by students are best illustrations.

2.7. Intrapersonal intelligence entails the capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate one's feelings, fears and motivations. In Howard Gardner's view, it involves having an effective working model of ourselves, and to be able to use such information to regulate our lives. To develop this ability, it proposes teachers to let students express their own preferences and help them understand their own styles of learning.

2.8. Naturalist intelligence enables human beings to recognize, categorize and draw upon certain features of the environment. It combines a description of the core ability with a characterization of the role that many cultures value. It is the ability to recognize and classify plants, minerals and animals including rocks and grass, and all variety of flora and fauna.

2.9. Existential intelligence is the capacity to locate oneself with respect to the furthest reaches of the cosmos and the related capacity to locate oneself with respect to such existential features of the humancondition as the significance of life, the meaning of death, the ultimate fate of the physical and the psychological worlds. It can also be defined as the ability to be sensitive to, or have the capacity for, conceptualizing or tackling deeper or larger questions about human existence, such as the meaning of life, why we are born, why we die, what is consciousness, or how we got here.

3. Implications of Multiple Intelligence Theory

Many educators and researchers have explored the practical implications of Multiple Intelligence theory- the powerful notion that there are separate human capacities. According to this theory, human cognitive competence is better described in terms of a set of abilities, talents or mental skills called intelligences. All normal individuals possess each of these skills to some extent; individuals differ in the degree of skill and in the nature of their combination. Gardner is of the view that such a theory has important educational implications including ones for curriculum development.

While empirical evidence backs Multiple Intelligence Theory, it has not been targeted to severe experimental tests within psychology. But the application of the theory in various fields of education is currently being examined. Gardner and his team opine that their leads will have to be revised repeatedly in light of actual classroom experience. Yet they believe there are positive reasons for considering the theory of Multiple Intelligence and its implications for education. To start with it is clear that many talents if not intelligences are neglected these days. Secondly, individuals of such talents are victims of single minded or single focused approach to the mind. Lastly, this world is troubled with many problems. Any opportunity to solve them can be made by making the best use of intelligences we possess. Therefore, recognizing the plurality of intelligences and the manifold ways in which human individual may exhibit them is an important step.

Gardner and his colleagues have considered the idea of multiple intelligences as a ‘powerful medicine’ for the shortcomings that are existent in the educational system. Whether they used it as a teaching approach, method or strategy or as an assessment tool, they agreed on that instruction should be tailored according to the multiple intelligences of the students. They called for considering the strengths of the students that may exist in other areas other than the logical-mathematical and verbal linguistic areas. Common sense tells us that it is so hard to deny the importance of the ‘non-academic’ intelligence such as musical activities, self-awareness, or visual spatial abilities.

In the following section, there is an illustration of the points that give value and importance to the application of MI Theory in the educational settings. These points show the advantages of MI Theory in the field of education and encourage all the teachers around the world to use it in their teaching in a way that suits the subject matter they teach and the educational conditions they have.

3.1. MI Theory as a Tool to Achieve More Success:

Teachers are strongly motivated to help all students to learn. Therefore, they have explored MI Theory as a tool that makes more kids learn and succeed. The great majority of the classrooms are characterized by the existence of scholastic winners and losers. MI Theory is important here because it teaches us that all the kids are smart, and that they differ only in the way in which they are smart. Thus, all children have potential and using MI increases the opportunities for students to learn and succeed, giving adults more ways to grow professionally and personally

3.2. MI Makes Learning More Enjoyable:

Students learn better if they like what they are learning and enjoy it. It is hard for students to learn without interest. When students do not like what they learn, they feel bored and tired even if they are able to learn well and succeed in the final exam. Therefore, it is better to create an enjoyable classroom atmosphere in which students like what they learn and enjoy it. Using MI Theory in the classroom can help teachers to create such an encouraging atmosphere: “Students learn best when they enjoy what they are doing. Giving themthe opportunity to display their talents, learn new skills without fear ofembarrassment or failure, and laugh in the process makes the learningexperience rewarding for both teacher and student”.

3.3. MI Cares for Individual Differences in Learning:

All students are different. No two persons are exactly the same even the identical twins. Even the same person is different from one period to another or from one situation to another in many ways. Difference is the rule and stability is the exception. This is applied to students while they are learning in the classroom: “It is a fact of classroom life that what interests one student leavesanother bored, literally, to distraction. It is also a fact that the studentwho is the most enthusiastic on Tuesday is often the one who is the mostbored on Wednesday. This phenomenon can leave students feeling shortchangedand teachers feeling frustrated and guilty for failing to reachtheir students. The theory of Multiple Intelligences not only helpsexplain this phenomenon, but helps teachers find ways around theobstacles to learning”.

According to Berman, It is evident that we will never reach all the learners, whatever approach to teaching we adopt, unless we teach multi-modally and cater for all the intelligences in our lessons. Therefore, MI Theory is greatly required so as to deal with the different students who have different minds. It will involve all the students with their different personalities to have more chance for learning and achieving success in spite of these differences that cannot be considered.

4. Multiple Intelligences Based Instruction an Appeal

Multiple Intelligences Theory and its applications in the educational settings are growing so rapidly. Many educators began to adopt MI-Based Instruction as a way to overcome the difficulties which they encounter with their students as a result of their individual differences and their learning styles. These difficulties may be represented in their inability to reach most of their students. As a result, they become frustrated and their students lose interest in the teaching learning process as a whole. These difficulties may be caused by the uniform way in which they teach their students:“There are currentlythousands of MI teachers and ten thousands of students undergoing MIbasedclassroom instruction”

Once Multiple Intelligences Theory is understood, it can be applied in education in a variety of ways. There is no one definite way through which the theory can be applied in education. The theory is very flexible and it can be adapted to the context in which it is applied. “The theorycan be implemented in a wide range of instructional contexts, from highlytraditional settings where teachers spend much of their time directlyteaching students to open environments where students regulate most oftheir own learning”

Thus instruction can be modified and organized in the light of MI Theory. The theory in this case acts as a framework for teaching upon which teaching is organized: “On a deeper level…MI theory suggests a set of parameters within whicheducators can create new curricula. In fact, the theory provides a contextwithin which educators can address any skill, content, area, theme, orinstructional objectives, and develop at least seven ways to teach it.

Essentially, MI Theory offers a means of building daily lesson plans, weekly units, or monthly or year-long themes and programs in such a way that all students can have their strongest intelligences addressed at least some of the time”.Using MI in instruction means that students learn in different ways and express their understanding in many ways. Using paper and pencil measures as traditional measures limits the students’ capacity to the linguistic skills which they use in writing their answers

Under the use of MI-Based instruction, the students are treated as individuals. The students’ talents and interests are not ignored because it is not fair to concentrate on some students and neglect others whose capacities and talents are not well-identified. This idea is emphasized by Hoerr who gives a definition of MI approach in the light of which instruction is delivered in a way that considers students’ interests and talents: “An MI approach means developing curriculum and using instructionthat taps into students’ interests and talents. Students are given options,different ways to learn, and they share responsibility in their learning”

Mindy L. Kornhaber, a researcher has identified a number of reasons why teachers and policymakers have responded positively to Howard Gardner’s presentation of multiple intelligences. Among these are that: ... the theory validates educators’ everyday experience: students think and learn in many different ways. It also provides educators with a conceptual framework for organizing and reflecting on curriculum assessment and pedagogical practices. In turn, this reflection has led many educators to develop new approaches that might better meet the needs of the range of learners in their classrooms.

5. Teacher’s role in Introducing MI Theory

Consequently, the teacher’s role is different from the one he used to perform in the traditional way of instruction: “In the traditional classroom, the teacher lectures while standing at thefront of the classroom, writes on the blackboard, asks students questionsabout the assigned reading or handouts, and waits while students finishtheir written work. In the MI classroom, the teacher continually shifts hermethod of presentation from linguistic to spatial to musical and so on,often combining intelligences in creative ways”.

The teacher’s role has to be changed, simply because the philosophy under which the new role is performed is completely different from the old one: In the old philosophy, which is completely teacher centered, instruction is dominated by the teacher who is considered the source of information and the implanter of knowledge.

Using MI theory in education involves using it as a content of instruction and as a means of conveying this content at the same time. This indicates that using MI Theory can take many forms. The ultimate goal of any form in which the theory is used is to facilitate instruction as much as possible, and reaching all the students at the same time: “Under MI Theory, an intelligence can serve both as the content ofinstruction and the means or medium for communicating that content.This state of affairs has important ramifications for instruction. Forexample, suppose that a child is learning some mathematical principlebut that this child is not skilled in Logical-Mathematical Intelligence.The child will probably experience some difficulty during the learningprocess…In the present example, the teacher must attempt to find analternative route to the mathematical content-a metaphor in anothermedium. Language is perhaps the most obvious alternative, but spatialmodeling and even bodily-kinesthetic metaphor may prove appropriate insome cases”.

Conclusion

Through the use of this theory, teachers now will not be bored when designing materials and the preparation of the classes will be interesting, since it will be a challenge to incorporate different styles taking into account all the learning modalities in the classroom. Students will be encouraged to learn because the diversity of activities attempts to get their attention. They will feel that they are really participating since the activities are devoted to all of them.

Trying to change a traditional class into a multiple intelligences class is not an easy task. The main responsible part is the teacher which has to know the theory carefully, then, feels motivated to change. There is not a model to copy, it has to be created, it requires a group work when designing the material or adapting it to each intelligence. Once this material is organized it will be used over and over again because it will be addressed to different public.

Learners will be able to identify their personal strengths and can reinforce their confidence. They can decide which intelligence should be used in a specific class and recognize that learning using the whole brain will be easier and it will take less time. The outcome will be seen in the grades and the acquired knowledge that will be meaningful, will be stored in the long term memory.

Webliography

Accessed from http://www.uf.bg.ac.rs/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Master4.2015.pdf on 29/01/2018.

Accessed from https://archive.ifla.org/IV/ifla72/papers/142-Kumbar-en.pdf on 29/01/2018.

Accessed from http://www.uf.bg.ac.rs/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Master4.2015.pdf on 29/01/2018.

Accessed from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255576035_T he_implications_of_Gardner%27s_theory_of_multiple_intelligences_for_educationpdf on 29/01/2018.

Accessed from https://www.sfu.ca/~jcnesbit/EDUC220/ThinkPaper/Gardner1989.pdf on 29/01/2018.

Accessed from http://www.uf.bg.ac.rs/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Master4.2015.pdf on 29/01/2018.

Accessed from http://www.skyjournals.org/ sjer/pdf/2015pdf/Feb/Alviarez %20et% 20al% 20pdf.pdf on 29/01/2018.

Accessed from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED502634.pdf on 29/01/2018

Accessed from http://www.ncert.nic.in/publication/journals/pdf_files/indian_education_ review/January_2010.pdf on 29/01/2018

No comments:

Post a Comment

‘LOGOS’ ‘LOGOS CHRISTOLOGY’

  Introduction The mystery which lies in the foundations of Western civilization is that of logos. Logos is the only word which defines al...