Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom

1463 Words3 Pages

Howard Gardener’s Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom Howard Gardener is a psychologist and a professor of neuroscience at Harvard University who also designed the nine theories of Multiple Intelligence (MI). In 1983, he introduced the first seven theories of multiple intelligences in his book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences; then, he introduced his last two theories in his 1999 publication of Intelligence Reframed. According to Parkay & Stanford, “Howard Gardener believes that human beings possess at least eight separate forms of intelligence” (2003, p.300-301). Thus, Gardner’s theories began to question the conventional beliefs about how students are educated in the classroom. This paper will examine the teacher’s role in incorporating these theories into the classroom, the definitions of MI including classroom activities, and benefits of using this theory. Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligence includes the following intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalists, and existentialist. Only two of the intelligences are commonly recognized in most classrooms: linguistic, and logical-mathematical. There are five intelligences that are frequently overlooked by educators: spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. The last two are generally not considered in the classroom: naturalists, and existentialist, but naturalist can be applied with the use of science context. According to King, the theory of MI has “…motivated educators to develop programs that instruct students in multiple domains” (2010, p. 250). A teacher’s role in incorporating Gardner’s theories of MI in to the classroom is to “…capitalize on the strongest intelligences of individual children” (Kail, 2012, p. 250). First and foremost, the teacher needs to

Open Document