Title: Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences - NIU - Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning
Headings: Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Summarized
Multiple Intelligences are Not Learning Styles
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Content: Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences - NIU - Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning
Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Many of us are familiar with three broad categories in which people learn: visual learning, auditory learning, and kinesthetic learning. Beyond these three categories, many theories of and approaches toward human learning potential have been established. Among them is the theory of multiple intelligences developed by Howard Gardner, Ph.D., John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Research Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. Gardner’s early work in psychology and later in human cognition and human potential led to his development of the initial six intelligences. Today there are nine intelligences, and the possibility of others may eventually expand the list. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Summarized
Verbal-linguistic intelligence (well-developed verbal skills and sensitivity to the sounds, meanings and rhythms of words)
Logical-mathematical intelligence (ability to think conceptually and abstractly, and capacity to discern logical and numerical patterns)
Spatial-visual intelligence (capacity to think in images and pictures, to visualize accurately and abstractly)
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (ability to control one’s body movements and to handle objects skillfully)
Musical intelligences (ability to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch and timber)
Interpersonal intelligence (capacity to detect and respond appropriately to the moods, motivations and desires of others)
Intrapersonal (capacity to be self-aware and in tune with inner feelings, values, beliefs and thinking processes)
Naturalist intelligence (ability to recognize and categorize plants, animals and other objects in nature)
Existential intelligence (sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence such as, “What is the meaning of life? Why do we die? How did we get here?” (“Tapping into Multiple Intelligences,” 2004)
Gardner (2013) asserts that regardless of which subject you teach—“the arts, the sciences, history, or math”—you should present learning materials in multiple ways.