A Network of Thought : The 8 Intelligences Introduced

    Hi All! Let’s talk Howard Gardner, not that I know him personally or have I ever met him in passing. I do know about some of his work or should I say theory. Howard is a psychologist well known for his Theory of Multiple Intelligences. He and his wife are professors at Harvard University. I could tell you a few more facts on him, but as I already said, I don’t know him personally so if you want to know more about him just Google him and you’ll find out all the info you need to know(Surprisingly the wikipedia page does a fine job). 

   How Gardner’s work applies to my life is more like an inspirational platform. Gardner’s work coincides with how I view intelligence. Intelligence is not just an IQ score, nor can it solely be measured by a test. The theory implies there are eight different types of intelligence that each human naturally has..meaning we all have each type of intelligence; it’s just few or even only one type end up being prominent in our life, very similar to strengths and weaknesses. Gardner's eight classifications of  intelligence  are as follows: linguistic intelligence, logic-mathematical intelligence, musical intelligence, spatial intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, naturalist intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, and a intrapersonal intelligence that each human possesses. Gardner stresses in our society only the linguistic and logic-mathematical intelligences are emphasized/valued because these are the two types of intelligence measured in IQ tests. As an educator and mama, I can say I believe this opinion true especially when you look at the current educational model that influences the public school system and a lot of children’s toys made by major manufacturing companies! I can also say this is where our educational system may be going wrong and why a lot of student's end up struggling with intellectual development. Not here though! My adventures will lead to nurturing all the intelligences, whether a strength or weakness. By using our individual strengths we can promote weaknesses to flourish. Each human deserves to belong in the network of thought.

     With that said, Each intelligence has its own characteristics that I will describe in detail in future posts.   I’m sure right now most of you are already starting to define these 8 categories..which is a good thing :) They pretty much do define themselves although a detailed description is very worthy. When I was exposed to this theory I immediately started recognizing how it applied to my own intelligence, my family member’s intelligence, student’s intelligence, and the greater human population. I am hooked for lack of better words.