Gardner`s Theory of Intelligence

Gardner’sTheory of Intelligence

Gardner’stheory of intelligence is one of the most significant theories thatare useful in teaching, learning and advocating for creativity,professional responsibility, arts and leadership among other areas(Gardner, 2012). According to Gardner, the intelligent behavior maynot arise from a particular unitary feature of the mind. The argumentis that there are multiple facets in which intelligence could begenerated and sustained. The distinct components of intelligenceenable the individuals to solve challenges that they may encounterand create the new pool of knowledge that is valuable in diversecultures (Goldstein et al., 2015). He demonstrated that all peopleincluding autistic or other forms of disabilities could have uniquetalents such as mathematics, music and other talents. Gardnerproposed seven bits of intelligence which includelogical-mathematical, linguistic, spatial, musical,bodily-kinesthetic intrapersonal and interpersonal (Gardner, 2012).

Gardnerargued that the conventional perception of intelligence that wasbased on intelligent testing quotient was excessively limited(Goldstein et al., 2015). Correspondingly, he postulated thatcultures and school emphasized more on some components at the expenseof others such as art, dancing, designers, therapy andentrepreneurial intelligence. For instance, the bodily-kinestheticform of intelligence is essential for solving problems which mayrequire a person to use their physical body. Bodily-kinesthetic wouldbe needed when performing sophisticated surgical processes orperforming a dance that incorporates series of steps (Campbell,2014). Linguistic intelligence served to enhance individual’sability to write, read and speak appropriately while thelogical-mathematical form of intelligence involves rational andintellectual thinking such as deductive reasoning.

However,the theory discourages educators from equipping learners with coreknowledge yet the system of education has provided certain guidelineson the core knowledge that the learners are expected to acquire(Campbell, 2014). At the same time, some components such as musicalability or bodily-kinesthetic could be classified under individualtalent, personality types or aptitude and thus may not fit as part ofintelligence. Gardner base his theory on his perception withoutbasing his argument on empirical data and thus the theory lackprecision, consistency and real science (Goldstein et al., 2015). Assuch, the seven components that he postulated could be gained orconfronted in other forums or unfamiliar environment later in life.

Gardner’stheory of intelligence can be applied in teaching and learningprocess. For instance, two components of Gardner’s intelligencetheory can be applied in teaching a grade eight lesson such as theabolition of slavery (Campbell, 2014). These components includebodily-kinesthetic and linguistics. In this lesson, objectives willbe to define various terms and vocabularies associated with slavery,reflect on the arguments against slavery and how they werearticulated and identify key leaders and their role in abolition ofslavery. Some of the terms to be defined include emancipationproclamation, abolitionist and Civil War among others (Goldstein etal., 2015). The first activity involves students discussing in groupsand then appointing one of the members to present the outcomes.

Teammembers shall then join and organize a play in which each shall takevarious roles. Such roles include slaves, slave’s owners, leadersand President Lincoln when making a speech and signing emancipationproclamation (Gardner, 2012). All students shall participate in anacting a play between fifteen to twenty minutes. The teacher mayguide the learners during the play to ensure that students achievethe objectives set at the beginning of the lesson. In this lesson,students will learn to make a speech, organizing, creativity,reasoning and ability to involve their bodies when acting a play.Making speech and presentation are aspects of linguistics whilemaking a presentation, being involved in the process of acting a playconstitute bodily-kinesthetic. Ability to organize, integrating andplacing characters are integral components of reasoning andproblem-solving and thus may fall under of logical-mathematicalcomponent (Campbell, 2014). The teacher shall then summarize thewhole lesson by redefining terms, rectifying arguments on slaveryabolition and identifying the role of specific leaders duringabolition.

References

Campbell,L. (2014). Teachingand learning through multiple intelligences.Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Gardner,H. (2012). Framesof mind: The theory of multiple intelligences.New York: Basic Books.

Goldstein,S., Naglieri, J. A., &amp Princiotta, D. (2015). Handbookof intelligence: Evolutionary theory, historical perspective, andcurrent concepts.New York: Springer.