3 minutes
The theory of Multiple Intelligences explains that humans do not have a single intelligence from which all intellectual abilities derive. Rather, we have several, distributed across different areas of the brain, capable of working both individually and together.
Several of these intelligences can develop to what we might consider "a talent," because of factors influencing their development, such as:
- Genetics
- Life experiences
- Cultural environment
- The creation of contexts with the conditions necessary for their proper development.
Considering the last point, the educational environment is a highly important context, offering numerous possibilities that foster the development of students' multiple abilities.
Multiple Intelligences
In 1983, Harvard University psychology professor Howard Gardner proposed the theory of multiple intelligences, which were divided into an official total of eight:
- 1 Linguistic, concerning the meaning of spoken and written words and their use, sound, rhythm, and meter.
- 2 Kinesthetic, producing awareness of one's body and its expressive possibilities.
- 3. Logical-mathematical, concerning human abstraction, deduction and reasoning processes, and numerical operations.
- 4 Spatial, through which we perceive physical space, the shapes it contains, and how we orient ourselves within it.
- 5 Musical, through which we perceive pitch, rhythm, and timbre. Musical sensitivity and expression arise from it.
- 6. Interpersonal, allowing us to empathize with others, interact with them, and understand them.
- 7 Intrapersonal, allowing identity and self-knowledge to be constructed through one's own thoughts and feelings.
- 8 Naturalist, allowing us to observe, understand, and explore nature and the world around us.
Gardner's theory entered education in opposition to the theory of a single global human intelligence.
This theory has encouraged more personalized education, posing a new and complex objective for all teachers. However, with time and technological advances in information and communication, implementing this educational approach has become easier.
Developing students' multiple intelligences through ICT
Since ICT entered education, teachers have gained access to multiple tools providing information on students' school activities, making it possible to implement learning adapted to each student.
What advantages does ICT offer for developing multiple intelligences?
- It promotes interpersonal intelligence by developing competencies together, encouraging students to share knowledge to help those less skilled in certain subjects.
- It allows practical application of much of the knowledge acquired through educational strategies such as gamification, or educational applications of virtual and augmented reality, promoting logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalist, and spatial intelligences.
- It makes students responsible for their own educational process, answerable to themselves about what is best for their education and strengthening their independence.
The role of teachers
Although teachers' role in students' learning process has changed, it has not lost its importance.
Teachers are guides able to see students' weaknesses and strengths while showing them their main intelligences, strengthening those most developed and reinforcing those less developed.
We want to share educational strategies that teachers can use to foster multiple intelligences and that can be implemented across any educational strategy you already use:
- Promote creativity practically. Creating multimedia programs, from newspapers to short films, drawing, and theater directly promotes verbal, visual-spatial, and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. The group nature of these activities develops interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence.
- Discuss news, movies, artworks created by students, or classroom conflicts in class. This promotes analysis, reasoned argument, and respect for others' positions, even those opposed to one's own, developing intrapersonal, interpersonal, and verbal intelligence.
Do you promote the development of your students' multiple intelligences in the classroom? Do you use an implementation strategy? Share it with the Colplex community.