MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES (22/10/12)

What is meant by intelligence?

After a brainstorming, we could say that the intelligence allows us to survive, to perceive, to retain knowledge about the world around us, to acquire skills, to find out solutions, to comunicate, to create and to take decisions wisely.

According to Howard Gardner, an American developmental psychologist who proposed the Theory of Multiple Intelligences in 1983, viewed intelligence as 'the capacity to solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural setting' (Gardner & Hatch, 1989).
Gardner formulated a list of seven intelligences:

Linguistic

Logical-mathematical

Musical-Kinesthetic

Spatial

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

People have a unique blend of intelligences. Howard Gardner argues that the big challenge facing the deployment of human resources 'is how to best take advantage of the uniqueness conferred on us as a species exhibiting several intelligences' (ibid.: 45).

So, regarding educational psychology, the teacher observation in class is notably important, as the students have a different more developed intelligence. The teacher has the task of designing activities in order to blend as many as possible intelligences, so students learn throughout this mixing. Spencer Kagan, creating a lot of exercises based on competences, reduced the number of academic failures. He proposes three stadiums:

1. Match: to conect our way to teach to the way students can learn.
2. Stretch: to extend the predominant intelligence to the other latent intelligences.
3. Celebrate multiple intelligences.

We, as teachers, have to get the students ready to understand and to work with diversity, because the lesson can't continue if a student doesn't understand anything. We have to manage enough strategies to "touch" our students.

 A+strategies+clever students

One of the most popular strategy is group-work. This methodology is based on cooperative learning. We turn from the individual to the group, and viceversa. Lets think about a concept that, at first instance, is unknown to us; we assimilate the concept as we get used to it and, finally, it becomes something natural, genetic, intrinsec to us.

Some ideas in teaching:

*Regarding correction, teachers have to limit correction. The main purpose is to understand and to communicate with each other. Children have to lose their fear of failure. Teachers cant pretend that children learn something that doesn't belong to their age.

New technologies help multiple intelligences (MI). Making the students to investigate improves their learning abilities and helps them deduce knowledge.

*Some exercises according to different intelligences:

-Linguistic: brainstorming, descriptive sentences, writing stories from brainstormings, RoundRobin, book reviews, newspaper activities...,
-Logical/mathematical: find the rule, simetry exercises... -Spatial/Visuall: maping ideas (colors, icons...)
-Musical/rythmic: songs, "close your eyes, listen to what you hear and write about it"...
-Kinesthetic: debates, plays, 'Baskenglish"(basketball games in English); the most difficult students are more motivable from the kinesthetic point of view.
-Naturalistic: experimentation with senses...

*Power teaching: the concept of calling students' attention:

Teacher yells: class?-----the students have to answer: yes.
Same with: teach?----ok *

Classrules:

...follow the instructions immediately.
...keep our teacher happy.
...raise our hand if we have something to say.
...don't stand up without permission.
...take decisions wisely