Analyzing Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences

This essay provides an overview of Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences, which posits that intelligence is not a single, unified entity but comprises multiple distinct intelligences. The essay details eight types of intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist. It discusses how teachers can utilize these intelligences to enhance student learning through various methods such as creative writing, problem-solving games, physical exercises, group activities, and reflection practices. The essay concludes that understanding and implementing these intelligences can significantly improve educational outcomes, although the theory has faced resistance from some psychometricians and psychologists. Desklib provides a platform for students to access similar essays and study resources to further their understanding of this and other educational theories.

Individual Essay (Part 2)
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences is the theory that suggests that the
traditional psychometric views of intelligence are limited to some extent. Gardner was the one
who proposed that there are eight intelligences that exist in the nature, a person might be called
intelligent in one area and may face challenges in other areas (Cavas and Cavas, 2020). This
essay covers the different intelligences that are outlined by this theory and further the different
methods that can be used by teachers in order to help students learn. There are eight types of
intelligences that are suggested by Howard Gardner which are discussed below in detail.
MAIN BODY
Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence suggests and proposes that people are
not born with all the intelligence that exist in the world and they further acquire different types of
intelligences as time passes. The theory proposed by Gardner challenged the traditional notion of
intelligence as it proposed that there several types of intelligences that a human can adopt to.
This different types of theories that are suggested by Gardner are further discussed below:
Figure 1: Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences
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Linguistic Intelligence is a part of the different theories that are suggested by Howards
Gardner in their proposal, this theory and intelligence deals with sensitivity that is there in the
written and spoken language. This intelligence deals in ability to learn different types of
languages and the capacity to use the different types of languages in order to attain the goal
(Gardner, 2020). The person with this type of language will have a good ability of analysing
different set of information and further creating different set of written pieces such as books,
memos and speeches. This is one of the most essential form of intelligence which is required in
the students as this will help them in dealing with different set of information that is provided to
them.
Logical mathematical intelligence is the capacity of the individual to analyse the
problems logically and further carrying out mathematical operations so that a final output can be
derived from the process. This intelligence is also helpful in investigating the different issues
from the perspective of logical reasoning and scientific terms. This intelligence will help the
individual in terms of developing proofs and equations for different methods and further make
calculations in order to solve extract problems (Gómez and García, 2020). Mathematical skills
are used in several areas and subjects as this skill can be help in terms of driving logic in the
questions and different concepts.
Spatial intelligence is another type of intelligence which features the potential of an
individual to manipulate and recognise the patterns that exist in the wide space as well as the
patterns which are of more confined areas. The wide space patterns are those which are
concerned with the navigators and pilots and the confined areas of patterns are concerned with
the surgeons, graphic artists or architects. This intelligence helps the individual in terms of
developing an ability to manipulate and recognize the fine grained and large scale spatial images.
Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence is the type of intelligence in which the individual uses its
potential of the whole body or parts of the body in order to solve different types of problems.
This skill is helpful in performing new set of activities and skills that cannot be performed by
every person. A dancer, athlete, mechanic, physical therapist, surgeon uses this type of
intelligence in order to perform their job and day to day tasks. This skill must be developed in an
individual at an early stage if their aim is to perform any of the above listed profession in future.
Musical intelligence is another type of intelligence that was proposed by Howard
Gardner in their theories. This intelligence was centred on the musical recognition as this part of
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intelligence helps in terms of deriving skills such as composition, performance and appreciation
of musical patterns (Kornhaber, 2019). These type of skills are generated with classes which are
focused on the music and composition as it further helps the individual in terms of creating a
musical pitch, timbre, rhythm and tone. This intelligence is generally seen in the people who
wants to make a career out of their music skills. The variety of career options that an individual
can have if they have this intelligence are musician, composer, DJ and singer.
Interpersonal intelligence refers to the capacity of an individual to understand the
motivations, intentions and desires of people in order to develop an understanding of other
people in an effective manner. This is helpful in personal and professional life of an individual as
it plays a major role in effectively interacting with people. Through this intelligence the other
person can recognise and develop an understanding of classmates, subordinates, employees,
managers etc. This type of intelligence is used in different set of operational roles in the different
industries such as teacher, psychologist, manager, sales person etc. Teacher will be able to
develop an understanding of the behaviour shown by the students in the class during different
topics and classes.
Intrapersonal intelligence refers to the capacity of an individual to understand their own
thoughts and deeds so that an effective working model for oneself can be developed. This helps
the person in analysing the desires, fears and capacities that they have and how they can use that
in order to attain the objectives (Martin, 2018). Through this the person can motivate themselves
by understanding intentions, moods and desires. This is an effective intelligence which is
necessary for every individual who is working or looking to attain objectives in their life.
Naturalist intelligence is another part of the types of intelligences which involves a set of
expertise and knowledge in the field of numerous species. This type of intelligence is helpful for
the individual as it helps the person in distinguishing the different types of animals, plants and
weather that are seen and found in the natural world. This type of intelligence is somewhat there
in every individual to a certain extent only. Every individual can differentiate between different
types of animals, plants and weather generally found in the nature. However, there are several
types of species which can only be identified by the people who excel in this particular type of
intelligence. The career prospects for the people having knowledge in this set of area are
biologist, botanist, meteorologist, astronomer and geologist.
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The most general and important form of implementing the different type of intelligences
in the student are pluralization and individuation. The concept of individualized education cannot
be afforded by everyone as the tutor hired for teaching asks for a high amount as he/she will
dedicate all of their efforts on one particular student (Perveen, 2018). Pluralization is cheap but
not every students gets a sense of tutor’s touch and therefore they are unable to gain an effective
understanding. Assessing these different types of intelligences and imparting knowledge about
these different forms of intelligence in the student should be a priority for the teacher. The
different teaching methods based on this theory that can be used by the teacher in order to help
students learn are further discussed below:
The teacher can use creative set of writing activities such as scriptwriting and poetry in order
to develop knowledge regarding the writing and understanding of different forms of text. Using
creative means in the teaching process will help the students in gaining intelligence in the
linguistic area. This can be supported by other activities such as debates where the students will
get an opportunity to speak and convey their understanding to others in the class. Through these
activities the students can excel in the linguistic intelligence (Gardner, 2018). The teacher can
further also involve problem solving games which involves calculations in order to develop
logical mathematical intelligence. The organisation can include a range of patterns and logic
games in the teaching process which will help in deciphering codes and problems. The teacher
can also include a range of physical exercises and dance activities in the organisation which will
help in terms of increasing the body kinaesthetic intelligence in the individuals. Interpersonal
intelligence is essential form of intelligence which must be developed in the students, this type of
intelligence is not directly taught but the knowledge and skills are raised by the students through
different set of activities which can be conducted in the classroom. Person to person
communication and collaborative skills play a major role in helping the students to learn
expertise in this particular intelligence.
The students should be engaged in reflection practices so that they can reflect on the
learnings that they have gained in the several learning sessions conducted by the university. The
reflection process will be helpful for the students in terms of developing intrapersonal
intelligence as they can easily reflect on their own learnings and further understand the areas in
which they have gained knowledge. Teacher can effectively teach students regarding the
different types of reflection and the ways in which the student can reflect their learning in the
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best manner. Teacher should use group activities in order to bring more and more creative set of
ideas in the process. Learning process automatically maximises when it is done in groups as
different set of thoughts and ideas are there which helps in deriving new information to the
business. Group learning is one of the most advanced way in which the learners can explore the
new areas that they can explore during their learning (White, 2019). Following the new ways of
teaching during the process of implementation will help in terms of driving new types of
intelligences in the student. These intelligences are comprised of development of different set of
areas, knowledge and gaining a skill in the specific part which will help in terms of increasing
specified knowledge. The intelligence of nature and music is specific and can only be learnt in
specialised classes taken by the student during their learning sessions (Widayanti and Dewi,
2020). Learning sessions should be scheduled on a regular basis so that the student get learning
in a regular format which will assist them in their academic, personal and professional life.
Assessing the teaching techniques is one of the prime task of a teacher as they are required to
regularly monitor the factors in environment such as the ability of the student, new available
techniques of teaching and the schedule according to the which the student will be taught.
CONCLUSION
From the above essay it can be concluded that there are several types of intelligences and a
person can excel in one of those intelligence and still lack in other types of intelligences. The
eight types of multiple intelligences that are proposed by Gardner are linguistic intelligence,
logical mathematical intelligence, spatial intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, Musical
intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence and Naturalist intelligence.
Most of the multiple intelligences faced resistance from cognitive psychometricians and
psychologist. These theories are currently used in several educational institutions where they
teach students with different aids and techniques in order to make them learn about the multiple
intelligences.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Cavas, B. and Cavas, P., 2020. Multiple intelligences theory—Howard Gardner. In Science
education in theory and practice (pp. 405-418). Springer, Cham.
Gardner, H., 2020. A synthesizing mind: A memoir from the creator of multiple intelligences
theory. MIT Press.
Gómez, A.M. and García, P.V., 2020. Developing multiple intelligences using films in primary
education. Journal of Education and Practice, 11(3), pp.9-18.
Kornhaber, M.L., 2019. The theory of multiple intelligences. In The Cambridge Handbook of
Intelligence (pp. 659-678). Cambridge University Press.
Martin, J., 2018. Profiting from multiple intelligences in the workplace. Routledge.
Perveen, A., 2018. Facilitating multiple intelligences through multimodal learning
analytics. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 19(1), pp.18-30.
White, A.L., 2019. Editor’s Note: Is the Multiple Intelligences Theory a Research-Based Theory
or a Story with a Positive Message? Southeast Asian Mathematics Education
Journal, 9(1), pp.57-64.
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