Multiple Intelligences
WHAT is it?
An intelligence entails the ability to solve problems or fashion products that are of consequence in a particular cultural setting. The problem-solving skill allows one to approach a situation in which a goal is to be reached and to locate the appropriate route to that goal. In other words, someone is intelligent if they can solve problems that face them in their lives and if they are able to produce things that are of value to our culture. It is the discovery of the wide variety of ways by which the human mind system approaches these tasks that has broken open multiple intelligence research and with it, all of our previous assumptions about intelligence. Howard Gardner has identified seven intelligences – seven distinct ways that we learn and know about reality-.
WHO is it for?
Each of us has all of these intelligences, but not all of them are developed equally. Thus, we do not know how to use them effectively. In fact, it is usually the case that one intelligence is much stronger and more fully developed than the others. But this need not be a permanent condition. We have within ourselves the capacity to activate all of our intelligences.
WHY use this method?
Recognizes different forms of intelligence and how they can help an individual understand his or her own thinking as well as how to recognize and work with the forms of intelligence possessed by others.
Understanding Intelligence
We have the ability to enhance and amplify our intelligence.
No longer is intelligence seen as fixed at birth.
Not only can intelligence change, it can also be taught to others.
At any age and at almost any ability level, one’s mental functioning can be improved. In fact, we can all learn to be more intelligent by discovering how to activate perception and knowing on more levels of our being than we usually use.
Intelligence is a multiple reality that occurs in different parts of the brain/mind system.
There are many forms of intelligence, many ways by which we know, understand and learn about our world. Most of these go beyond those which dominate Western culture and education and they definitely go beyond what our “I.Q. tests” can measure.
While the intellect is pluralistic, at some level it is one.
When we have a problem to solve or a project to complete, all of our intelligences work together in a well-orchestrated, integrated way. The stronger intelligences tend to “train” the weaker ones to do their part in solving the problem or accomplishing the project.
Source: Lazar (1991)
Associated Pages
(Original page by Mary Frangie)
