Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences (MI) Model Here are a few words about Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences (MI) model and its historical development.
The philosophical debate as to the true nature of knowledge, where exactly are our minds, and the complex issue of intelligence has a long, rich and sometimes trying history. Since the earliest of times, educational and psychological viewpoints have tended to polarize between those who embrace the idea our intelligence is a unitary and singular cognitive capacity and, on the other hand, those cognitive developmentalists advocating a pluralistic model of the mind.
For most of the 20th century, the study of intelligence was focused, in the main, on the adaptive use of cognitive potential, that is, on one's intelligence being best profiled via the mainstream (Jean) Pagetian model of logical / mathematical understanding. Recently however, developmental cognitive scientists such as Howard Gardner have suggested a more encompassing approach to understanding intellectual functioning.
Gardner's reconceptualizing of human intelligence proposes that the human brain is modular and that all humans possess at least eight intelligences, or eight "frames of the mind." Since the mainstream view of intelligence tests rely almost exclusively on the verbal / linguistic and logical / mathematical intelligences, Gardner's remaining six intelligences are seldom viewed, assessed and implemented. Gardner argues forcefully against using a single IQ-type yardstick to measure one's intelligence and, instead, maps the distinctions between a much broader range of gifts, aptitudes, skill, talents, competencies, or, to coin his term, "intelligences." His eight intelligences act in concert, with a certain domain or domains dominating that particular individual's cognitive profile. In a nutshell, Gardner has successfully revived the psychology of mental faculties. This revival has allowed him to argue that separate "kinds of minds" stem from different (biological) regions of the brain. In short, more and more learners "see" intelligence now as a mixture of multiple factors, or as a collection of talents and cerebral capacities.
Home