Monday, June 8, 2009
Blog 5, Week 2
Despite criticism, Gardner's eight intelligences are observable, although the lack empirical evidence. The support for his theory comes from looking how individuals navigate through life. Whether an individual is intelligent or talented matters little, for what does matter is if they are able to overtly express their strong ability. An individual can be extremely intelligent/ talented in one of the the eight areas, but unless they are given an opportunity to express this they will not manifest it. An excellent example that supports Gardner's eight intelligences is Albert Einstein. As a child, Einstein was considered to have a mental disability. An example of his apparent mental disability is that he was unable to spell cat on a spelling test. The educational system that he was a part of did not teach to his thought process, so he did poorly. It was not until later that his "Logical-mathematical" intelligences manifested (p. 210). His extreme Logical-mathematical intelligence unfortunately did not extend much past this one intelligence. In areas like "Interpersonal" intelligence, he would be considered not that intelligent because of his failed relationships with the individuals in his life (p. 210). This brief example shows that unless an intelligence is fostered, it possibly will not manifest and the individual can be thought of as other than intelligent. If Einstein would have been born at an earlier point in history he may have never received the encouragement he needed to become successful.
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This was a great example. I always thought it was interesting how Einstein failed at many things in school as a child and then came to be known as one of the most intelligent people in history. I definately think it is important to teach to our student's needs. In Einstein's case he needed to be taught in a logical mathematical way. any other way just wouldnt work. This is just like trying to teach someone who was a intrapersonal learner how to do something in a logical mathematical way. It would probably sound like jibberish to them. Everyone deserves to learn as they need to be. I know it may take some extra time and effort, but that is what teachers are for. That is our job. Because if we dont do it, then no body will and these kids will never reach their potential. Just think if Einstein never reached his potential, Where would we be now? You never know as a teacher, there could be another Einstein out there, and they will need our help.
ReplyDelete"I definately think it is important to teach to our student's needs. In Einstein's case he needed to be taught in a logical mathematical way. any other way just wouldnt work. This is just like trying to teach someone who was a intrapersonal learner how to do something in a logical mathematical way. It would probably sound like jibberish to them. Everyone deserves to learn as they need to be. I know it may take some extra time and effort, but that is what teachers are for. "
ReplyDeleteI would like to add to Tacara's comment. As teachers we should always plan our lessons and units to incorporate a variety (all, preferably) learning styles so that our students, in their unique combinations of intelligences and learning styles, have opportunities to be successful. I do not think that it is appropriate to tailor activities around specific intelligences that exist within a class (ex. student X, Y, Z are logical mathematical, A and B are visual spacial, E, F G, Z and Y are intrapersonal...) but rather incorporate activities that engage students in different ways. Some ways of thinking may require students put forth extra effort. We can provide opportunities for students to be successful even at activities that encourage them to work at thinking in ways they are not as talented in. To add to that, we as teachers may simply not recognize some of the potential and talents that our students have right away, and incorporating a variety of activities allows them to discover and develop their innate potential.