AN ALTERNATIVE WAY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

Since the publication of his Frames of Mind, in 1993, Dr. Howard Gardner has defended an alternative view of intelligence based on different kinds of intelligences. According to him, there are many, not just one, different intelligence capacities that result in many different ways of knowing, understanding and learning about the world. He states that, “It is of the utmost importance that we recognize and nurture all of the varied of human intelligences, and all of the combination of intelligences. We are all so different largely because we all have different combinations of intelligences. If we recognize this, I think we will have at least a better chance of dealing appropriately with the many problems that we face in the world” (1993).

The studies of Dr. Gardner, which offer proof for the theory of Multiple Intelligences, can be used by schools to create a more balanced approach to education that offers students opportunities to develop all of the intelligences. The theory of the Multiple Intelligences helps us to comprehend on how we learn and gives us the idea that we have not ‘one intelligence’, but we actually have a larger number of intelligences – eight different kinds according to him –, each one sensitive to stimuli that, if correctly applied, deeply alters the idea that the human being has about himself and the limits of his possibilities.

Thus, schools can become a stimulating centre of intelligences. Teachers can present material not only through lecture, discussion, textbooks and logical problem-solving, but also through art work, visualization, visual media, role-play, drama, hands-on activities, rhythm, background music, peer teaching, group simulations, self-paced learning, opportunities for reflexion, bringing in living things or natural ecosystems into the curriculum and there may also be opportunities for introducing broader philosophical or spiritual questions into the curriculum.

Teachers can take the basic concepts or the theory of Multiple Intelligences and use them in the classroom. It is clear that teachers shouldn’t try to teach everything in eight or nine different ways, however, Gardner’s theory can give to educators the opportunity of considering how something may be taught in different ways, so that the best possible strategies may be used. Thus, teachers can realize that some strategies may work best for certain groups of kids or individual students who have unique patterns of learning.

The theory of Multiple Intelligences represents a theory of learning that acknowledges the many ways in which people actually think and learn. Educators can see it as a tool of helping them to understand why some children breeze through school without problems, while others have special difficult learning. Students can also take it as a way to move toward career goals by thinking about what they do best.

Gardner’s theory can also offer the opportunity to find the giftedness in every student and the possibility of providing them with the proper methods of teaching to help them experience success both in school and in life.