MI-News, October 1999, Volume 1, Number 8 (Part 1 of 2)
Table of contents1 A review of Howard Gardner's Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century by Clifford Morris
2 Becoming an MI inspired teacher by Branton ShearerTo go to the remaining three sections of this issue, click here.
1. Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century by Howard Gardner, Basic Books 292 pp. $27.50Reviewed by Clifford Morris
Welcome to the October edition of the MI-News. This newsletter is provided free of charge by Branton Sharer's Multiple Intelligences (MI) Research and Consulting. As always, the goal of "The MI-News" is to provide you with theoretical and practical information about Howard Earl Gardner's MI Theory. We try to explore MI applications via discussion, contact and sharing. Speaking of sharing, can I share with you some personal comments about Gardner's 2nd 1999 book Intelligence Reframed?
Pictures of Our Minds
Almost two decades ago, a Harvard cognitive `developmental psychologist, Howard Earl Gardner, wrote Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, a book he believed he was writing predominantly to enlighten mainstream psychologists, not educators. In that book, he proposed a novel notion: the psychological construct 'intelligence' should be formally measured in more ways than simply through dry statistical analytical lenses of widely accepted logical/linguistic IQ-type formalized tests, tests standardized for most school systems. Gardner questioned the classical belief that humans could have only one 'mode of representation' about life; instead, he suggested that a more pluralistic viewpoint for measuring mental functioning ought be addressed – a variety of intelligent ways of thinking.
Or to put it another way, Gardner suggested that our intelligences are organized 'vertically', as a number of almost different faculties, rather than 'horizontally', as a set of abilities. This viewpoint was in direct contrast to many of the language and logic theorists of the time who believed (and many continue to do so) that there was only one kind of general intelligence, or 'g', that we either has a lot of it or not that much, and that there was virtually very little that we could be do about that.
In Frames, Gardner theorized a master list of seven basic intelligences to represent these other modes, including the widely accepted linguistic-verbal and logical-mathematical, and visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical-rhythmic, and the two most criticized intelligences, interpersonal and intrapersonal. Frames was very well received by those in the educational arena. The book was reprinted numerous times and translated into Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. It was selected by five book clubs. To this day, it "is still his best-known and most influential book" (Eberstadt, 1999, p. 7). In other words, Frames became his claim-to-fame.
In his second 1999 book, Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century, Gardner once again acquaints his followers with another first rate book that continues the argument he made in earlier books, that there are multiple forms of intelligences. Although "he introduces the possibility of three new intelligences (but canonizes only existential intelligence and naturalist intelligence)" (book jacket, inside front cover), Gardner, feels that what is MORE important is how people make use of MI to carry out daily tasks prized in the culture. This latter statement was well summarized during a recent interview when Gardner said "The fact that we have the same intelligences means that we can communicate with one another. But the fact that we represent things mentally in numerous symbolic systems to one another means that we are not necessarily going to construe things in the same way or see the same options."
Intelligence Reframed, which "draws heavily on [four] essays written in the 1990s" (p. ix) contains 12 Chapters. In the opening three chapters, comments on the mainstream scientific view of intelligence are reintroducing, including MI theory. These chapters provide important background documentation on the 'psychometric dominance' before MI. In Chapter 3, Gardner redefines intelligence, reviews the eight criteria for intelligence, and clarifies the original seven intelligences. In the next three chapters, he introduces the possibility of four additional candidate intelligences: moral, spiritual, existential, and naturalist, however settling only on the latter two. In Chapters six and seven, questions related to recent myths and issues are discussed. In particular, he "responds in lively dialogue to the critiques leveled against" MI. The reader is offered a series of well thought out observations on how MI theory has been deciphered and misconstrued. Any relationships between leadership, creativity, and intelligence are discussed in Chapter 8.
The strength of Intelligence Reframed lies in its core, the next three chapter describing and justifying "the ways in which MI theory can be applied to scholastic and "wider world" settings. Gardner's line of reasoning is persuasive, not because of the extensiveness of the information he includes, and his realization that certain mainstream institutions may encounter difficulty implementing his "multiple approaches to understanding", but because his script, as always, is vibrant and lucid enough to hold our interests more than a monotonous statistical analyses of a psychometric theory of intelligence would, yet firm and advanced enough that he can be taken as a serious thinker rather than as some pop cognitivist.
These three chapters outline how others have successfully implemented MI; they detail how the MI model can be easily applied to classroom learning and also infused into the "the wider society." In fact, all of Chapter 11 comments on MI in the wider world of institutions and business communities. Here, Gardner outlines ways that he has observed MI "at work in children's museums", including possibilities within art museums, and finally, within the workplace. The book concluded with Chapter 12 where he addresses (somewhat) the question he first introduced in Chapter 1: Who Owns Intelligence? While the jury will be out most likely well in the 21st century on this deep and philosophical problem, may it be said, for now, that the "proprietary rights" to intelligences belong to all? The book is especially important for the way in which it lays out a challenge to the 'psychometric consensus.' More specifically, I feel that the book is important for the following four (4) reasons.
First of all, the book is important because it refines Gardner's original definition of intelligence: the capacity to solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural settings, to a more cultivated version, intelligence is "a bio-psychological potential to process information that can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create products that are of value in a culture" (pp. 33-34). Gardner perceives intelligences as "potentials – presumably, neural ones – that will or will not be activated, depending upon the values of a particular culture, the opportunities available in that culture, and the personal decisions made by individuals and/or their families, schoolteachers, and others" (p. 34). This is a revision of great consequence. By now referring to intelligences as a 'potential', Gardner, at last, brings to everyone's attention a most important distinction, "intelligence not as a content", but "geared to specific contents in the world." To reinforce this point, Gardner elsewhere likens his intelligences to "elastics bands" that can be stretched beyond those "psychometrically intelligent."
Second, the book is important because it outlines procedures for assessing MI. This is another important point because, in previous writings, Gardner has been appropriately attacked for failing to produce assessment instruments for his MI theory. Gardner feels that "the classical short-answer examinations" are of little use. Instead, he is interested in asking "people to do things" and to observe their skill level in the task under construction. In this way, he feels that an examiner would be better "able to look directly at the skills and capacities" so valued in the dominant culture. Now, intelligences could be used "to carry out tasks valued by society."
In other words, by placing intelligence within the role of "human information-processing and product-making capacities", Gardner sees ongoing observation as a pragmatic assessment tool. He prefers to assess in 'intelligent-fair' ways, that is, "assessing people's successes in carrying out valued tasks that presumably involve certain intelligences." Of prime importance here is a "realistic context" for observing the skill. To better explain all of this, Gardner sites several examples throughout the book, including the following two. First, one way to assess interpersonal intelligences would be to monitor individuals as they interact in "real-life situations where they have to be sensitive to the aspirations and motives of others." Second, the visual-spatial intelligence "would be assessed through performances in such activities as navigating an unfamiliar terrain, playing chess, interpreting blueprints, and remembering the arrangements of objects in a recently vacated room."
Of greater interest are general pointers that Gardner cautions test developers to consider: making the distinction between one's personal preferences and their capabilities to succeed at the task at hand, the risk of relying solely on linguistic-verbal methods to assess abilities, and the significance of drawing on observations of actual skills, including verification by others who best know that individual. The fact that he has cautioned test developers about such conventional pitfalls is, at last, a step in the right direction for those wishing to develop assessment tools for his intelligences. To demonstrate further that Gardner is in favor of assessment tools to measure his intelligences, he throws out the following suggestions. Ongoing improvement in technology will open up various avenues for computer simulations. For example, to measure one's musical intelligence, a subject could be presented with an unfamiliar tune. The subject could be asked to learn the tune, to implement the tune into a musical performance, or perhaps even to involve a computer simulation package to rearrange its composition. Gardner feels that such an assessment exercise would reveal more about a person's musical skills than would a traditional timed paper-pencil test dealing with the factual knowledge of music.
Third, the book is important because Gardner suggests six critical steps that ought to be followed before anyone establishes an MI environment. First, one should learn as much as possible about MI practice, especially MI theory. Some sources for doing this include books, videos, the Internet, including CD-ROMS. Second, interested parties might wish to form study groups and thus learn from others more knowledgeable about MI. Third, one could visit MI schools where the MI model has been in operation for some time, two examples being the Key Learning Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the New City School in St. Louis, Missouri. Fourth, much can be learned from attending MI workshops, seminars, and conferences. Fifth, one could join a network of schools that have been active in the MI teaching approach. Finally, Gardner suggests to "plan and launch activities, practices, or programs that grow out of immersion in the world of MI theory and approaches."
Finally, I believe that this book is important because Gardner comments on a series of 'entry points' that can be used by anyone wishing to introduce MI into a learning center, be it a classroom site, a children's or art museum, or within the greater business community. The entry points range from the narrative, the quantitative/numerical, the logical, to the foundational/existential, aesthetic, hands on, and social. For the narrative learner, Gardner suggests the linguistic-verbal intelligence as an entrance vehicle. Here, subjects could narrate a story around what s/he sees or hears. Those "intrigued by numbers and the patterns they make, the various operations that can be performed, and insight into size, ratio, and change" may wish to investigate a quantitative/numerical entry point.
More to that final reason, Gardner suggests "[figuring] out the cost of the materials and how that relates to the selling price. Deductive thinkers might enjoy the logical point of entry as they could "share [their] theory about why [an] object is important." And for those "attracted to fundamental kinds of questions", Gardner suggests the foundational/existential entry point. Content "that features balance, harmony, and composition" may inspire the aesthetic entry point. For example, Gardner suggests that one could "describe the colors and shapes and how they fit together." A hands on entry point may motivate those to activities "in which they become fully engaged – where they can build something, manipulate materials, or carry out experiments." Here, Gardner suggests one might design a dance centered on what the viewer saw. And finally, for those 'interpersonal' learners who "learn more effectively" from group interaction, Gardner suggests the social entry point.
Gardner has greatly contributed to the body of knowledge on the nature of intelligence. He is to be commended for how he makes a most difficult psychological construct so simple to understand. He has presented his followers with a revised and updated picture of their various minds and its accompanying intelligences. He has reframed the image of intelligences for the forthcoming century, and perhaps, more importantly, has successfully 'stretched' the mainstream 'borders' of intelligence to include disciplines beyond education and psychology, a most welcomed line of attack. With this book, he has accomplished a major step in elevating the discussion of our cerebral smarts to possibly new frontiers. For all of this, we should be truly thankful.
If there is a weakness in the book, it lies within the opening and closing chapters. Here Gardner stumbles somewhat in his attempt to address the authentic ownership of intelligence. He suggests that "intelligence is too important to be left to the intelligence testers", that the book lay "out a position that challenges the psychometric consensus", that the book adopt the stance that humans ought to develop a better method of viewing cognitive potential and that what matters more than developing tests to measure intelligences is the practical applications of intelligences. There are some interesting calls for greater human individualization provided in these two chapters. But the details given to intellectual renovators is inconsequential and save for intellectual generalities, is slightly outdated. Long standing followers of Gardner's writings, this retired teacher included, will find little in these two chapters that they did not already know.
Nevertheless, Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century, is Howard Earl Gardner, the developmental cognitive scientist, at his best. It is a delightful and entertaining read and beautifully written by one of the best writers in the field of psychology. Gardner has, once again, provided us with a significant and well articulated text that should be widely read and discussed. As with his previous 18 books, detailed reference notes have been conveniently located in a section at the end of the book, so that the flow of the text is continuous. The four appendices (Books and Articles by Howard Gardner, Other Works About The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Videos, Newsletters, and Miscellany, and Contacts on Multiple Intelligences Theory and its Application) represent a welcomed background for the more interested reader.
The 292 pages of the book clearly delineate and reframe many of the original (1983) pictures stemming from his many 'kinds of minds' image. Every chapter title, save one, contains either the word 'intelligence' or 'intelligences' – an indication of the central theme of the book – to "challenge the psychometric consensus" by updating the reader with numerous fresh viewpoints from a cognitive developmental standpoint. And, like so many of his earlier books, Intelligence Reframed ought to have a powerful impact on all who read it because Gardner once again introduces the reader to a common sense message, a message initially generated from Frames:
I think [Frames'] attraction had to do with the fact that I was putting into words and giving some scholarly background -- a Harvard imprimatur -- to something so many people in education know: Kids are very different from one another. They learn in very different kinds of ways, and to treat them all as if they're the same and call everybody a dummy who doesn't resemble a certain prototype is wrong. (Current Biography Yearbook, 1998)ReferencesCurrent Biography Yearbook. (1998). Howard Gardner, pp. 216-219. New York: H. W. Wilson Company.
Ebserstadt, Mary (1999, October & November). The schools they deserve: Howard Gardner and the remaking of elite education. Policy Review, 97, 3-17.
2 Becoming an MI inspired teacher by Branton ShearerMultiple Intelligences (MI) teaching is not always drastically different from what many teachers have been doing quite naturally. It does, however, necessitate that the lecture-listen-text-test classroom procedure be replaced or enhanced with activities that actively engage students in diverse, authentic and meaningful tasks. Many teachers ask "How do I begin if I want to teach with MI in mind?" There is not one "right way" to teach with MI but instead, there are a range of options that you may consider as starting points. The art of MI teaching is a personal activity that requires careful thought regarding individual growth and professional effectiveness. You may select beginning points from among the following list of ideas.
Expand Your Strengths!
___ Add one intelligence at a time to your teaching in a way that is comfortable for you but still stretches your teaching repertoire in your areas of weakness
___ Develop a year long personal development plan to add one or several different MI teaching activities and strategies throughout the school year in a systematic way
___ Add a new form of MI-related technology into your instruction / units to increase student motivation.
___ Bring an MI activity from home that is a real strength and interest for you into your curriculum
___ Adopt one or more compensatory strategies (tape players, video machines, guest presenters, field trips) to incorporate additional intelligences into your lessons and units
___ Gather periodically with like minded colleagues and brain-storm MI strategies
___ Write a proposal for a mini grant to fund new MI activities, software or student assessmentDevelop and Use of the Power of the MI Language
___ Teach your students about the eight intelligences
___ Use MI language to "unpack your thinking" (Spatial thinking, Kinesthetic problem solving, Logical reasoning, etc.) to describe how you solve problems, create things and provide valuable services.
___ Bring in Expert Guests (architects, artists, writers, engineers, social workers, musicians, local historians, etc.) to teach students the language used by people in the field.
___ Require that students learn the MI vocabulary and give assignments where students must use it to explain their thinking and productions.
___ Connect the eight intelligences to the school's curricular and extra-curricular activities.Highlight an MI of the Day / Week / Month
___ Bring in an Expert Guest who exemplifies the designated intelligence
___ Teach alternative study strategies using each intelligence (Mind Mapping, musical memorization, learning by doing and movement, etc.)
___ One Minute MI News Flash: Describe some important aspect of the designated intelligence daily
___ Have student Expert Volunteers speak briefly on the daily MI and how it is used in their lives / career plansAdd Intrapersonal Intelligence Activities to Lessons / Units
___ Put the development of student self awareness on the front burner of your curriculum
___ Give a range of MI choices for projects and learning activities
___ Provide opportunities for expression of student feelings about the material
___ Provide forms for student Self Assessment and grade prediction by students
___ Have students use Goal Setting, Project Planning, Self-monitoring, Evaluation and Reflection forms
___ Provide opportunities for Peer Feedback and evaluation to studentsAccentuate Student Strengths
___ Give student self-assessment and interest surveys and incorporate interests in class activities
___ Make careful observations of your students and create informal assessments of their MI strengths and weaknesses especially for those students who are struggling in your class
___ Recognize and value students who are strong in a non-academic area and link it to the curriculum
___ Create MI class group profiles to become familiar with the whole group in a general way
___ Create opportunities for positive student feedback regarding MI strengths
___ Make efforts to connect student strengths with the curriculum material
___ Avoid comments about student abilities that create "paralyzing" negative experiencesIntroduce MI Projects into Your Curriculum
___ Create meaningful (perhaps small) projects that reinforce reading and lectures
___ Set criteria so that four or five intelligences are activated
___ Make sure that students must present their work publicly and receive feedback
___ Make projects that represent "authentic, real world" work connected to important questions in "the field"Note: To read sections 3-5 of this issue, click here.