Howard Gardener Seven Intelligences

In a 1997 interview with Edutopia.org, http://www.edutopia.org/howard-gardner-interview Howard Gardner states that his Seven Intelligences have been “developed to document the fact that human beings have very different kinds intellectual strengths”, which are helpful in helping people learn, especially with children.   He further described that in education; if there were “only one kind of intelligence, we could teach everyone the same way and assess him or her in the same way, which would be fair,” but we do not all learn the same way.   He also stated “anything can be taught in more than one way”.   Gardner felt that teaching using various techniques and providing early feedback, would also help children and adults as they will be able to self assess and see what is working and what is not.   He also felt that in order for people to truly learn and remember what they learn, they would need to become more “active” in the learning by “asking questions.   Do things hands on, to essentially re-create things in their own mind and transform them as is needed” they will remember the lessons for a longer period of time.

    The intelligences that Gardner described are in chapter 2 (Alexander, Clugson, and Tice, 2010, pp. 39-40), and are listed as Logical-Mathematical, Linguistic, Spatial, Musical, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal.   Garner believed as well that these intelligences, which are separated in the brain anatomically, “complement each other and function concurrently in enabling a person to build skills and solve problems.”   For example, a person running a clothing boutique may need to use Bodily-Kinesthetic skills, Spatial intelligences, and Logical-Mathematical to stock the store with items for purchase in an appealing way, based on size and layout of the store, number of pieces available, and sometimes by price of the item.   Their Intrapersonal, Linguistic, and Interpersonal skills would also come into play when assisting customers in...