Brittany Garcia Professor Stephanie Foy Psych 115 1 May 2011 Howard Gardners Theory of Multiple Intelligences Some

people have disagreed with Howard Gardners theory of multiple intelligences stating that, there is probably just a single intelligence or capacity to learn, not multiple ones devoted to independent tasks (Chronicle of Higher Education). However, I think that it is obvious to many that multiple intelligences do exist if they were to simply look at themselves and could analyze which way they learn best. There are eight different intelligences that Gardner acknowledges which include verballinguistic, musical-rhythmic, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and naturalistic. I dont believe that someone is only limited to having only one of these intelligences and therefore, they can only learn in one way: I think that we all have certain characteristics from each category, but that we have one or two dominant styles of learning. For example, with me I have characteristics from several of these categories such as; I prefer to listen to music while studying (musical-rhythmic); I prefer to learn by reading, watching videos, and observing demonstrations (visual-spatial); I have good balance and coordination (bodily-kinesthetic); and I learn best by engaging in independent study over group projects (intrapersonal). Obviously this would allow me to fall under a number of the learning categories that Gardner mentions, but the more dominant ways that affect my learning capabilities would have to be that I like being independent and that its hard for me to process auditory informationI need to actually read or see the material to retain it.

There is also another form of intelligence that was introduced by Daniel Goleman in 1995 called emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence includes such things as being able to express a range of emotions and control them; being able to accept emotions of others; and having good conflict resolution skills. This is another type of intelligence that I can really identify with and its one that I do think should be one of the types of multiple intelligences, although some disagree. Ever since I was in elementary school, I was always said to be the mature one of the bunch. I was always the one who helped people cope with their problems and regulate their emotions. In high school I even became a peer counselor and now, psychology is my minor. Helping people in that way was something that always came very easy and naturally to me and it is something that I am very good at. It is a skill that many people lack and therefore, it should be acknowledged. These types of learning are crucial to todays generation. With so many radical advancements in thinking, careers, and technology, I think that it this is even more of a reason for teachers to incorporate ways to include a variety of learning styles into their teaching methods. From my personal experience, I havent had too much of a problem with teachers only using one method of learning to convey their information. Some possible ways that I have found effective are to watch videos that are related to the topic to show real-life use of the concepts being taught such as showing interviews, speeches, and clips from TV shows or movies. Most students are immediately drawn to these visual stimulators and they become more effective when they are interesting, funny, or something that they can directly relate to. Another good way is to incorporate multiple subjects or techniques into any given assignment so that it appeals to a larger proportion of students. For example, I remember one of the first ever writing assignments that I had for AP Literature was to analyze a drawing by H.R. Giger and then write about five
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lines of poetry describing it using medical terminology. To me, this was a difficult task because up until that point, I had never had to do anything like that. It was something that was meant to challenge us and get us out of our comfort zone, think outside the box, and push the boundaries. This is what made every student in that class love the assignments. It was a way to test your creativity and share what you truly thought about something without being reprimanded for it. Another interesting assignment that we had was for our final we were to take a poem that we had analyzed in the class and present it in a musical way and make it more of a story (singing, instruments, acting, etc.). People went all out for it and it was a really good way for the students to see something through another persons perspective. Assignments such as these are what I think students who learn from any style can benefit from. No matter what the subject is, there are ways to incorporate various subjects and utilizing different ways of expressing these subjects that every student knows at least a little about. Multiple intelligences do exist and unfortunately, some people refuse to acknowledge this and therefore, they label students negatively although it is the teachers fault for restricting the ways in which their students can learn. The labels that are given to students are based so much on their academic ability that a student who does poorly in a few subjects may be considered bad or stupid even though they excel at another unrelated subject that may be considered less important. It happens all the time and these students are made to believe that they have no talent or potential, but with the use of Gardners theory of multiple intelligences, that gap between these types of students and their perceived worth would be closed and it would give students the support and motivation to pursue any career that they choose.

Works Cited

"In Defense of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences." Chronicle of Higher Education 56.2 (2009): B18. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 1 May 2011.