Pretend there are two Martians who have just landed on Earth and are eager to understand the human mind. The first Martian decides to visit universities where he observes that successful humans excel in logic and language. This Martian concludes that humans place value on academic studies and something called "a high IQ."
The other Martian wanders the globe checking out the pundits, paleontologists, programmers, polo players, pianists, priests, and politicians. Her conclusion is that people on this planet use a variety of mental processes—maybe even have different "frames of minds."
When Howard Gardner introduced his theory of multiple intelligences back in the early '80s, he often began his presentations with an engaging anecdote about some Martians. His point—that humans are intelligent in as many ways as are valued in one or more cultures—struck home with thousands of educators who realized that traditional schooling made too much of some kinds of intelligence (logic and language) and too little of others (musical, spatial, intrapersonal, and so on).
Almost 15 years later, now that we Earthlings have landed on Mars and are busy naming the rocks, analyzing data, and assembling images (Is this linguistic-naturalist-spatial intelligence or what!) Educational Leadership is taking another view of the theory of multiple intelligences and looking at how helpful it has been in changing the education world.
A compelling aspect of multiple intelligence theory is its grounding in brain biology. Research has confirmed that our musical, language, and kinesthetic abilities (to name a few) work in some ways independently of one another. We have ample evidence that intelligence is complex and not limited to a single entity and that humans have unique combinations of intelligences (p. 8).
Researchers, however, have not thoroughly explored one of the most intriguing parts of the original theory: how perception, memory, and learning are different in each of the eight domains. Even though identifying further intelligences (for example, the naturalist) sheds light on human capacity, the brain research that would help educators to teach to and through these intelligences is regrettably in its infancy.
Nevertheless educators have learned a lot from changing their classrooms to incorporate multiple intelligence practices. They have found the theory most useful in connecting classroom experience to real life. From aquatic life research (p. 32) to internships with scientists, from discovery rooms that feature engineering tasks (p. 35), to dramatic portrayals of historical figures (p.51 ), kids and teachers are concocting rich, relevant learning experiences.
MI theory has also changed the way we test. Some standardized tests today require writing samples, interpretations of charts, and drawings, allowing students to display their intelligence in a variety of ways. Also in vogue is performance assessment whereby educators hope to capture information about student skills and knowledge by looking at portfolios and presentations. Unfortunately, however, sometimes what is passing for such assessment fails to look at products and problem solving. As with other tests, the use of such assessments is still suspect. Is it improvement or comparative measurement we are after?
MI has also reordered some of our values, but not to the extent most teachers desire. When intelligence is defined in the plural, adults and other children treat children who are smart in unconventional ways more respectfully. Thus, schools that value all the intelligences would never drop art and music, even in favor of computers. Unfortunately, our society still sends mixed messages to kids. We adulate gifted athletes, musicians, and leaders, but fail to nurture beginners and average students in sports, music, and social skills. Meanwhile, children talented in the traditional logic and language areas have to contend with a reverse snobbery from their peers.
Perhaps the greatest contribution of MI theory is how it has changed instruction.
Eager "to teach for understanding," educators have embraced the idea of using multiple entry points to teach an important concept (from photosynthesis to the American Revolution). One of Gardner's most important insights is that there are many ways to teach any concept or skill (p. 20); that both direct and indirect teaching have their place. Special educators, in particular, acknowledge that they can effectively teach a needed skill by leading with a student's strength (p. 58).
The number of the identified intelligences is expanding, and so is our understanding of the practice of teaching. But there's no end of the frontier in sight.
