Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI Theory) (2006) states that human beings have different combinations of intelligences. This pluralistic approach is an alternative view to the traditional notion that intelligence can be objectively measured and reduced to a single number, IQ. The first intelligence tests conducted in the early 20th century, focused on verbal abilities, were developed by the French psychologist Alfred Binet and his colleagues in Paris. The motivation for his research was to respond to a request from the authorities to create a measure to predict which students would likely need special attention in school. These early empirical experiments introduced the concept of intelligence as a quantifiable measure. Above all, the notion of intelligence as a single number has finally corroborated the one-dimensional view of the mind.
There are educational implications of this theory. Gardner notes that the IQ idea spawned a corresponding view of school that he calls the “uniform view.” This uniform view is responsible for a core curriculum: a set of things that everyone should know (critical reading and calculus, for example). So the brightest students can go to the best universities. By following these strict standards, thousands of youngsters will never have a chance to flourish. But can intelligence be a single construct? And furthermore, is this fair with the immense human potential? From Gardner’s idea of multifaceted intelligences comes the concept of a school centered on the individual. This view sounds like Rorty’s understanding that people should be educated as individuals. In the field of public education, every child must have an individualized educational program. In a word, Gardner and Rorty show that the main problems in schools today lie in these policy issues. We now know that all students need special attention at school. The authorities must understand that an individualized education is not only for students with special needs.
We have two attitudes towards the mind. The traditional one that at the time was considered a scientific turn. And the pluralistic vision that in fact expands the scope of human possibilities. The eight intelligences suggested by Gardner are: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. He remembers that the IQ test is based only on linguistic and logical-mathematical abilities. Both research and theory indicate that multiple student-level factors explain variation in student achievement. Recent theories about the contextualization of intelligence say that the intellectual potential will depend on the culture in which the person lives. Life experiences are very important. It seems that the idea of the mind as a single construct has been slowly fading away.
The new understanding of intelligence is based on a radically different view of the mind. Gradually it became clear that this theory casts a very different view of the school. In all of this we feel a remarkable respect for the differences between people, the various ways in which they learn.
Work Cited
Howard Garner. Multiple intelligence. new Horizons (New York: Basic Books, 2006), 4-5.