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Running head: GARDNER’S MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES THEORY

Essay # 3 - Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory

Márcio Padilha

College of Southern Idaho

EDUC 201 – Hurley

Fall/2006
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Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory

Up to the early 1980’s, intelligence was viewed as one single entity. However,

according to Gardner, who defines intelligence "the capacity to solve problems or to

fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural setting", humans possess seven

different kinds of intelligence, each of them relating to a definite realm of human life and

activity, a radical and innovative outlook on intelligence that differed greatly from the

traditional view.

Gardner identified the seven intelligences as follows:

Logical-Mathematical Intelligence which consists of the ability to detect patterns,

reason deductively and think logically, being frequently associated with scientific and

mathematical thinking.

Linguistic Intelligence which involves a mastery of language, including the ability

to effectively manipulate language to express oneself rhetorically or poetically, also

allows one to use language as a means to remember information.

Spatial Intelligence which gives one the ability to manipulate and create mental

images in order to solve problems; not being limited, however, to the visual domains as it

is also formed in blind children.

Musical Intelligence which encompasses the capability to recognize and compose

musical pitches, tones, and rhythms. However, although auditory functions are required

for a person to develop this intelligence in relation to pitch and tone, it is not needed for

the knowledge of rhythm.

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Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence which is the ability to use one's mental abilities to

coordinate one's own bodily movements, challenging, consequently, the popular belief

that mental and physical activity are unrelated.

The Personal Intelligences, which includes interpersonal intelligence, as the

ability to understand and discern the feelings and intentions of others, and intrapersonal

intelligence, as the ability to understand one's own feelings and motivations.

Although the seven intelligences are separated from each other, the theory claims

that they rarely operate independently, being used concurrently and typically to

complement each other as individuals develop skills or solve problems.

Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences has several implications for teachers in

terms of classroom instruction as it states that all seven intelligences are needed to

productively function in society which accordingly implies that teachers should

consequently think of all intelligences as equally important.

For this reason, educators should recognize and teach to a broader range of talents

and skills which poses a great contrast to the traditional education systems which

typically placed a strong emphasis on the development and use of verbal and

mathematical intelligences. Therefore, Gardner’s Theory further implies that teachers

should structure the presentation of material in a style which engages most or all of the

intelligences rather than one isolate one.

Additionally, inasmuch as Gardner states that everyone is born possessing the

seven intelligences, the theory also mentions that not all students will come into the

classroom with different sets of developed intelligences, meaning that each child will

have its own unique set of intellectual strengths and weaknesses.

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In closing, Gardner’s theory sheds a new light on a traditional concept which

directly affects the praxis of education.