Multiple Intelligence Theory

My earlier articles have focused on developing soft skills among students and making students self-learners. While working on these topics, I came across the theory of multiple intelligences which says that not all students grasp or study a topic in the same way. Students have different types of grasping (intelligences) and hence the way they learn something also varies. So, let us understand this theory in more detail today and see how much practically it is possible to fine tune our teaching methods to accommodate these different types of intelligences.
The theory of multiple intelligences was first put forward by Sir Howard Gardner, in his book ‘Frames of Mind’ published in 1983. The book and the theory however came to limelight only in 2011 when the book was re-released and noticed widely.
To put it in short and simple words, this theory says that each person has different ways of learning and different type of intelligences that they use in their daily lives. Some people learn best in a linguistical environment of teaching-leaning which gives emphasis on reading and writing. While some people learn something more easily if they are taught through mathematical and logical based methods while some people will learn easily and fast if they are taught things practically (learning by doing by self).
The following is a list of different types of intelligences that children can have :
• Naturalist (nature smart)
• Musical (sound smart)
• Logical-mathematical (number/reasoning smart)
• Interpersonal (people smart)
• Bodily-kinesthetic (body smart)
• Linguistic (word smart)
• Intra-personal (self smart)
• Spatial (picture smart)

The main thing to understand here is that a person will have almost all the above intelligences but in greater or lesser proportions. A person having one intelligence doesn’t mean that he does not have other types of intelligence. He has one dominant or primary intelligence which is best suited for his learning and interacting with the world around him. He also has other types of intelligences but not as well advanced and serving him as his dominant intelligence.
A person may have logical-mathematical intelligence dominating him but may also have other intelligences like linguistic, interpersonal and naturalist intelligence, though in lesser proportion. Such a person will enjoy and learn faster if he is taught something using logical reasoning and numbers.
The multiple intelligence theory only confirms what teachers have been knowing from our experience of all these years. We know that each student in our class has a different kind of mind and therefore he learns and understand in different ways. However, we are bound by an education system that assumes that every child can learn everything in the same way and there is a universal way to teach it. Our current education system is heavily dominated by linguistic and logical-mathematical based teaching – learning process. This obviously favours those students who have strong linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences but is very de motivating to all those students who are having other types of intelligences. So they keep on feeling uninterested in studies and hence undervalued.
But let’s cheer up! Good things have been happening in this direction across the world. People at highest levels and policy makers have been realizing this and progress is being made in this direction. Many schools in North America have restructured their annual syllabus to cater to the different intelligences. Finland- a pioneer in student education has created the following framework for its new curriculum development which clearly shows the influence of Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory:

The new education policy that our Indian Government is currently working on and will be released soon is also said to take care of different types of teaching – learning approaches which is a good news for all of us.
What can we as teachers and parents do at our level when teaching our children? While we cannot immediately change the way we teach in school by traditional methods, we can be more aware of these different types of intelligences and fine tune our teaching to cater to these different types of intelligences in our children. It is of course impossible to teach something that caters to all types of intelligences in a single class.
The starting point can be understanding the strengths and weaknesses and interests of the class as a whole. If you are having difficulty teaching a particular topic to group of students in the traditional linguistic or logical ways of instruction, the theory of multiple intelligences suggests several other ways in which you might teach your students:
• Words (linguistic intelligence).
• Numbers or logic (logical-mathematical intelligence).
• Pictures (spatial intelligence).
• Music (musical intelligence).
• Self-reflection (intrapersonal intelligence).
• A physical experience (bodily-kinesthetic intelligence).
• A social experience (interpersonal intelligence).
• An experience in the natural world (naturalist intelligence).
Remember that you don’t have to teach something in all the different ways.

Another area where we can use the theory of multiple intelligences is in giving homework and projects. We can design our home-work and projects / assignments keeping the different intelligences of our children in mind. We can deliberately assign a project that needs interpersonal skills to children who are having interpersonal intelligence (people smart) and a project based on nature to students who have naturalistic intelligence. This way, we maximize the changes of them enjoying doing the assignment and hence their learning and grasping will increase. After completing the assignment using their natural intelligences, they feel more self-confident and valued.
By teaching to the dominant learning intelligences of the class, teachers will find students to be more productive and more interested in the learning process.