Why is it important for teachers to know the multiple intelligences of the students?

What are some benefits of using the multiple intelligences approach

in my school?

What are some benefits of using the multiple intelligences approach in my school?

You may come to regard intellectual ability more broadly. Drawing a picture, composing, or listening to music, watching a performance -- these activities can be a vital door to learning -- as important as writing and mathematics. Studies show that many students who perform poorly on traditional tests are turned on to learning when classroom experiences incorporate artistic, athletic, and musical activities.

Take music, for example. As educator, David Thornburg of the Thornburg Institute notes,

"The mood of a piece of music might communicate, clearer than words, the feeling of an era being studied in history. The exploration of rhythm can help some students understand fractions. The exploration of the sounds of an organ can lead to an understanding of vibrational modes in physics. What caused the great scientist Kepler to think of the motions of planets in musical terms? Astronomy students could program a synthesizer to play Kepler's 'music of the spheres' and explore history, science, math and music all at once."

You will provide opportunities for authentic learning based on your students' needs, interests and talents. The multiple intelligence classroom acts like the "real" world: the author and the illustrator of a book are equally valuable creators. Students become more active, involved learners.

Parent and community involvement in your school may increase. This happens as students demonstrate work before panels and audiences. Activities involving apprenticeship learning bring members of the community into the learning process.

Students will be able to demonstrate and share their strengths. Building strengths gives a student the motivation to be a "specialist." This can in turn lead to increased self-esteem.

When you "teach for understanding," your students accumulate positive educational experiences and the capability for creating solutions to problems in life.

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In any classroom setting from preschool to college, students learn differently. Each student is gifted and challenged by his or her learning abilities and preferences. Howard Gardner defines these learning abilities and preferences as intelligences. At first a listing of seven and later revised to total nine, Gardner developed the theory of multiple intelligences to explain how humans learn differently from one another. The theory does not state that a person only has one the nine intelligences, but rather is stronger in some than the others. As defined by Gardner, the intelligences are logical-mathematical, spatial, linguistic, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic and existential.

Reinforce Concepts

Repeated exposure to a concept reinforces learning. A "concept" in the classroom setting may be a new skill, knowledge or some combination of both. We are not experts at the concept of driving the first time we get behind the steering wheel, but begin to master the concept each time we practice the skill of driving. The same is true for learning in the classroom. Teachers build upon what was learned yesterday, last week or even last year. Repeating a lesson on a concept improves learning, so the teacher pulling from the theory of multiple intelligences can reinforce the learning with different types of activities. For example, students strong in the mathematical-logical intelligence would do well with the pencil-and-paper task of adding simple fractions. Students with a preference for the musical intelligence would understand how quarter notes and eighth notes "add up" to a complete measure through a rhythmic-clapping activity. Using both activities reinforces the concept of adding fractions for all students giving necessary extra practice.

Keep It Fresh

Repeated exposure to learning concepts is important, but using the same teaching method to teach concepts causes students to lose focus. There are times when the worksheet is the best method to provide practice for learning a concept, but relying on worksheets every day for every lesson can cause some learners to tune out. Teaching to the multiple intelligences allows the teacher to keep the learning environment fresh by changing up the teaching method. An activity to start the day may involve movement that appeals to the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. Not to be confused with recess or free time, this is a brief out-of-desk learning time to introduce the day's lesson. Whether dance, building with large blocks, or assembling a simple birdhouse, this bodily-kinesthetic activity is a structured lesson outside the confines of the desk. Mixing up your teaching methods keeps students interested in the lesson.

Classroom Management

People feel success when a new concept is mastered. For adults in the workforce, failure to learn a new task can be viewed as a chance to try again. For students, the sense of failure may cause them to misbehave, be apathetic, not pay attention or disrupt the class. The multiple intelligence theory can draw students back into learning. Using the different intelligences to teach a concept allows each of your diverse learners a chance to succeed at learning. The learner with strength in the visual-spatial intelligence will do well with drawing and puzzles. Students with strength in the linguistic intelligence would do well with a written report over a reading assignment, while those dominant in interpersonal intelligence excel at classroom discussions of what was read. As students feel success in learning, problem behavior decreases. Teaching to a student's strength helps increase learning success.

Assess Learning

By using a variety of teaching strategies across the multiple intelligences, the teacher can assess or measure student learning. The assessment could be a written or oral test, original artwork by the student, a building task or some other activity which gives the teacher an idea of how well the student learned the new concept. For instance, after successfully assembling a small engine, students in a technical college could be assessed by developing a how-to manual complete with verbal instructions and diagrams. In this example, students learn by building the engine tapping into the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, while the assessment of a written manual with diagrams draws on linguistic and visual-spatial intelligences. The teacher can then measure how well students mastered the concept by the completeness and accuracy of the written manual while students tapped into three intelligences to learn and master the concept.

References

• Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences; Howard Gardner
• Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century; Howard Gardner
• Concept to Classroom: Tapping into Multiple Intelligences

Resources

Writer Bio

J. Eric Jackson is a writer and educator for a botanical garden and has more than 10 years of experience in writing and youth and adult education. He was a presenter at the 2012 Youth Garden Symposium in Washington DC, and is a contributor to a national publication for botanical garden professionals. Jackson holds a master's degree in curriculum and instruction, and a bachelor's degree in telecommunications management.

Why is it important for a teacher to understand that students have multiple intelligences?

What is the importance for knowing multiple intelligences?