“It is of the utmost importance that we recognize and nurture all human intelligences and all combinations of intelligences. We are all so different in part because we all have different combinations of intelligences. If we acknowledge this fact, I believe that at least we will have more possibilities to deal adequately with the numerous problems that arise in this life. “
The educational approach based on the theory of multiple intelligences , Howard Gardner is a topical approach, we could even talk about what is “fashionable”, the number of references made to it, the interest it causes and why. its inclusion in the teacher training programs and in the curricular projects of many so-called “innovators” centers.
When psychologists talk to teachers about this theory, they sometimes recognize in it some practices that are not novel, and that many of them have been doing for a long time in practice. Others, however, distrust, remembering other models that were encouraged at the time from some educational instances, and that as they were promoted, they disappeared without any concrete implementation.
It has been 31 years since Gardner published Frames of Mind, and we can affirm that his theory has become the most influential in the field of education, thanks to its sociological, psychological and pedagogical foundations , and despite the criticisms received. Let’s see them
FOUNDATIONS THAT SUSTAIN ITS APPLICATION IN EDUCATION
Sociological foundations
“The information and knowledge society directs education to demands different from the traditional ones, clearly related to the development in all citizens of the capacity to learn throughout life. In other words, the problem is not the amount of information that children and young people receive, but the quality of it : the ability to understand it, process it, select it, organize it and transform it into knowledge; as well as the ability to apply it to different situations and contexts by virtue of the values and intentions of the personal, professional or social projects themselves. “(Pérez Gómez, A. 2008, in Escamilla, A. 2014)
Psychological foundations
Evolutionary psychology, psychobiology, neurology, experimental psychology …, provide a wide range of data that validate their value. Gardner establishes a series of scientific criteria to determine with foundation what is and what is not an intelligence, and eight of them have passed this filter to be considered as such.
Although, the same Gardner points out that his theory is based on empirical evidence, and as such, can not be established in a permanent way:
“All statements are vulnerable to the emergence of new data.” (Gardner, H. 2012)
Neurological research confirms that different types of learning take place in different areas of the brain, so if Broca’s area (which makes speech, comprehension and processing of articulated language) is damaged, the capacity is lost. to communicate verbally, but it does not affect the understanding of the syntax.
On the other hand, research in the field of experimental psychology reveals that it is possible to study each intelligence showing some autonomy from the rest. This is the case, for example, of people with a large verbal memory but more limited when it comes to remembering numerical data or recognizing faces.
Pedagogical foundations
We found many references in this approach that come from Greek philosophers who spoke of “faculties” or facets of the mind, passing through pedagogues and psychologists who made great contributions to the theory of education, such as Pestalozzi, Dewey , Montessori , Vygotsky , etc …, and where we can find the roots of the didactic principles of the theory of multiple intelligences.
“Everything is organized to listen, because simply studying the lessons of a book is just another way of listening, and marks the dependence of one spirit on another.” (Dewey, J.1905)
The theory of multiple intelligences acquires a special relevance in education , from my point of view, when it moves away from the dominant psychometric position until now, and that considered intelligence as a measurable, quantifiable construct and isolated from any influence of the environment .
For Gardner, the vital experience and the cultural and historical context are, in addition to the biological determinants, determining to understand how people develop our capacity to solve problems or face real difficulties.
This vision of intelligence recovers pedagogical principles that had already been described throughout the history of education:
the existence of a diversity in the student body
the active role of the apprentice
the importance of the group , the teacher and the family as mediators in the learning process
the evaluation in real contexts
the identification and improvement of personal strategies
CRITICISMS TO THE THEORY OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
1. It is based more on intuition than on empirical data.
As we have already seen in its psychological foundation, Gardner himself rejects this criticism, and establishes a series of data and empirical validation criteria , although he recognizes that these are always subject to be reviewed.
2. It does not represent anything new.
The idea is not new. We have also seen that we have already talked about “faculties”, “talents”, “abilities” …, but what is new is the new concept of “intelligence” as a biopsychological potential , as the ” ability to solve problems or create products that are valued in one or more contexts “.
Specifically, calling “intelligences” what in psychology has been called “talents”, especially when referring to musical intelligence and kinesthetic, has been a reason for attacks against Gardner. Gardner himself has even said that it would not be inconvenient to call these latter “talents”, as long as “logical” or linguistic reasoning is called “talent”.
3. It is not valid because intelligences can not be measured.
What you can not do is measure from a psychometric perspective , where you get data from standardized tests obtained in artificial contexts.
It does not make sense to provide students with learning experiences based on the eight intelligences and then ask them to demonstrate what they have learned through standardized tests limited to logical and verbal skills.
The same Gardner considered the possibility of making a battery of tests to find the correlation between scores of various tests, but discarded it considering that it could lead to “labeling”. For Gardner, the best way to assess the multiple intelligences of students is to observe them by manipulating the symbol systems of each intelligence.
“Observing students solving problems or creating products in real contexts provides the best image of their competences in the subjects taught at school” (Armstrong, T. 2006) .
The evaluation of multiple intelligence is therefore based on observation and documentation , and what is involved is to compare the student with himself , not with others, to discover their own progress.
The independence of intelligences and the non-existence of a common factor.
A point that has been criticized a lot by essay writers is the central axis of Gardner’s theory that refers to the independence and separation of intelligences. All human beings have them, to a greater or lesser extent, and although most tasks require more than one working together, each of them is independent of the other.
Failure to include a correlation factor between them (a general factor) is considered a failure, since the last 100 years of research on human intellectual abilities have revealed the existence of a common factor in all of them. The failure of Gardner is to consider that all “psychometric” positions consider intelligence as a unitary construct, since the dominant model in recent years is a hierarchical model, where a general intelligence factor (“g”) is above of two types of intelligences (verbal and mathematical) that in turn have multiple intellectual capacities below.
Gardner, in later writings, has downplayed in his theory the fact that intelligences are considered independent.
With all this, with its strengths and its areas susceptible to be revised, what does any educational proposal proposed from the theory of multiple intelligences imply is to move from a deficit paradigm (compare the student with the others to see what lacking) to a growth paradigm (compare the student with himself to develop their capabilities to the fullest).
This positive vision is what makes it necessary to be able to fulfill the purpose of education: that each person is able to develop and develop in an active and constructive way through all those scenarios and situations through which they will pass throughout their existence .
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Eddie is Journalist and audiovisual communicator at online essay writing service. Passionate about writing.
