Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

From our reading we learned that Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences proposes nine distinct intelligences. Three are found in psychometric theories (linguistic, logical-mathematical, and spatial intelligence), but six are new (musical, body-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic and existential). His theory is popular as it has vast implications for education.

For this discussion, please take the Multiple Intelligences assessment at LiteracyNet’s Assessment: Find Your Strengths.

Then, share the top 3 intelligences in which the assessment determined were your strengths. Briefly describe them. Why do you think knowing a child’s dominant intelligences would be helpful for teaching and bonding with that child? Describe ways in which you would teach a child with an intelligence strength that was ranked low for you. Describe ways in which developmentally appropriate practice might support growth in an area that might rank low for a child. Please cite the readings when possible.

Please post a response. Please refer to the Discussion Evaluation Rubric for the discussion participation requirements. Please participate by contributing to the discussion thread of a minimum of two of your peers. In addition, please remember to also comment to at least one of your peers who respond to your thread.

2 Response Post ( 150 words each = 300 words)

Post 1: A.T.

M3 Discussion – Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences –

     For this discussion, the assignment is on Howard Gardner and his theory of Multiple Intelligences. Howard Gardner was born in Pennsylvania and currently teaches classes at Harvard in education and at Boston University in Neurology. According to chapter 4 of Beginnings and Beyond, Gardner’s view of the brain claims that cognitive competence is better described in terms of sets of abilities or skills we call intelligences. Gardner’s theory is having a huge impact on schools and curriculums, even the show Sesame Street is applying the theory to developing its episodes.

     After taking Gardner’s  Multiple Intelligences Assessment, it was determined that my top 3 intelligences were in the areas of logic/math, nature and spatial. I found this assessment very enlightening in that it enforced many of my own beliefs about my own strengths and weaknesses as well as pointed out to me not only the room for some growth in some areas but of the ability to grow in these areas by applying certain techniques or activities to stimulate my brain in those areas.

      In taking this assessment I learned that in logic/math and nature  I scored a 5 and in spatial i scored a 4.86 making these intelligences my top three, but the areas of music and body were very close behind both being a 4.71, followed closely behind by self and social at 4.43 and finally language at 4.14. I found this very interesting because I expected the music score because I have been involved in music and instruments since I was 4 years old with my father but I have always been hard on myself in the areas of social, self and language as a kid and had to work hard in those areas for improvement. I was shocked and a bit proud to see that these areas were not very far behind others, and above the score of 3, which according to the assessment indicates dominant or daily use of these intelligences.

        According to Gardner’s Assessment I am very sensitive to nature and the environment. Which is true, and as the assessment described, yes I do in fact know the names of the rocks and trees, flowers and birds and absolutely love the outdoors. Gardner gives us a list of ways to engage our nature based intelligence. Activities like gardening and going hiking, both I do, and I love to document my experiences in photos as well as reading about plants and animals and their habits and life cycles, just as Gardner described.

       According to the assessment I am a very logical and mathematical learner. I enjoy learning how things are related and understanding how they work, which is completely accurate and true. I love mathematical concepts and puzzles and strategy games involving critical thinking. One way of engaging this area of intelligence would be with word games such as scrambled sentences and sorting activities or pattern games, like writing outlines to stories and engaging in strategy games.

     According to Gardner’s assessment the last intelligence in my top three was Spatial. A spatial learner  remembers things visually including exact sizes and shapes of objects. Which is true for me. As Gardner describes, I do in fact love posters and charts. Gardner explains some ways to stimulate this kind of learning would be to create charts, diagrams and maps as I learn things, which I do, as well as color coding words as Gardner described. Another fun way to challenge my brain in this way would be with crossword puzzles.

     I highly enjoyed taking this assessment and believe it would be a great tool in better understanding the kids in our care. Understanding how a child learns best would create not only a want and drive to learn, but build  a strong bond between teacher and student as they  explore learning in ways that engage and excite them individually. One way I can think of helping to teach a child whose strengths are in an intelligence that was ranked lower for me, would be to try to experience learning with them in their way, helping them as I too learn and share the experience with them,as described in the DAP- Developmentally Appropriate Practice. I believe that would create a sense of trust and bonding which is the foundation for all learning. There are other ways we can build that sense of trust and bonding with our children by applying some of the techniques from DAP, Developmentally Appropriate Practice. For example if a child in your care ranked low in their self,social or language intelligence, one way for them to build a sense of trust and connection with you as their teacher would be to explore their families culture together as well as sharing your own. The pride and self confidence that can be fostered through the discovering of one’s own culture can build a child’s social and language skills as well as build a positive sense of self.

     In conclusion I found this assessment informative and very useful as a classroom tool to help learn about, engage and stimulate the children in our care . I would recommend this tool to all early educators as a way to better teach their children.

Work Cited – Gordon & Browne – Beginnings and Beyond – Foundations in Early Childhood Education  (10th Edition) – Chapter 4 – Developmental and Learning Theories – pgs 119 – 121   Multiple Intelligences Assessment. LiteracyNet      https://www.literacynet.org/mi/assessment/cgi-bin/results.cgi

Post 2: K.M.

After taking the Multiple Intelligences assessment at LiteracyNet’s Assessment: Find Your Strengths, my top three intelligences were Self, Social and Body Movement.

“Self: You have a very good sense of self. You like to spend time by yourself and think things over. You will often take in information from another person, mull it over by yourself, and come back to that person later to discuss it. You like working on projects on your own. You often prefer to learn by trial and error.”

I feel that this assessment fits me pretty well. I do like spending time with myself, working on projects and learning by trial and error. I do take in information from people, but I rarely go back to that person to discuss it, unless they bring it up. I’m fine talking about myself, but I won’t start the conversation, ask me a question and I’m all in!

“Social: You like to develop ideas and learn from other people. You like to talk. You have good social skills. Effective techniques of enhancing your learning using your social intelligence include taking part in group discussions or discussing a topic one-to-one with another person.“

This assessment is also pretty much me, except I don’t feel like I have good social skills in a group of strangers, and I am very uncomfortable taking part in a group discussion with people that I don’t know. I do like to talk though!

“Body Movement: You like to move, dance, wiggle, walk, and swim. You are likely good at sports, and you have good fine motor skills. You may enjoy taking things apart and putting them back together.”

Again, this assessment is very close, but not all of it. I like to move, but not so much dance. I have to be in a very comfortable situation in order for that to happen. I love taking things apart and putting them back together!

It is so important to be able to relate to and bond with the children in your class and I feel that knowing what their dominant intelligences are would be extremely helpful. As a teacher, if you know your children and what their intelligences are, you can base your curriculum and day on these attributes. For example, we have a child that loves to dance. He sometimes has difficulty at drop off time, so we have a little dance party during those moments that he needs a little extra support. 

I like the challenge of teaching a child that has an intelligence strength that I don’t have. We have a child that loves music, he loves listening to it and loves playing instruments. He comes from a family of musicians and most of their home life revolves around music. I know next to nothing about creating music, but since we know this about him, we make sure he has a say in what kind of music we are listening to in the classroom, and we make sure we have a variety of instruments for him to use.

Getting a child interested in an area that they scored low on could be difficult, but not impossible. Our textbook, Beginnings & Beyond, quotes Howard Gardner as saying, “All normal individuals possess each of these skills to some extent; individuals differ in the degree of skill and the nature of their combination.” By using developmentally appropriate practices, you might be able to create a little excitement for these areas. We have a little girl whose last choice during free play is the art center. She will occasionally visit but doesn’t stay long. We noticed that while there, she is mostly interested in using scissors, so we made sure that there were lots of materials for her experiment with. She now stays for longer periods of time and is more interested in some of the other tools and materials that we have available and sometimes she even makes suggestions for items she would like to use.

 It takes time to get to know multiple children at one time, but once we do, our classroom runs quite smoothly, and the kids are happily engaged in learning. 

Armstrong, Terry. Multiple Intelligences — Assessment, https://www.literacynet.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html. 

Miles Gordon, Ann, and Kathryn Williams Browne. Beginnings & Beyond Foundations in Early Childhood Education. 10th ed., Cengage, 2021

M3 Assignment – Learning Theories: Erikson ( 4 pages 1200 words)

Instructions

This module reviews the major learning theories and allows students to identify characteristics and theorists associated within each theory.

Erik Erikson, influenced by the work of Freud, developed one of the most popular and influential theories of development.  This theory consists of eight stages that range from infancy to adulthood. Each stage reflects a challenge that individuals face in a particular age. They include: Trust versus mistrust; Autonomy versus shame and doubt; Initiative versus guilt; Industry versus inferiority; Identity versus identity confusion; Intimacy versus isolation; Generativity versus stagnation; Integrity versus despair. Success in each stage will lead to the virtue identified for each stage.

Review each of Erikson’s 8 stages in chapter 4 of the Gordon and Browne textbook. Then go to Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development (Dr. Saul McLeod, 2018, Simply Psychology) and learn about the basic virtues in each of Erikson’s stages.

In 4-5 page paper, read the following 4 vignettes, determine which stage the child is in and why the illustration reflects that particular stage. Please include vignette before answering. Be sure to cite the text, and provide a reference page.

1. Shantelle is in second grade. She plays soccer in her community and enjoys ballet.  Name and describe the stage Shantelle is in? What is the virtue for that stage?  How old might she be?

2. Logan doesn’t want to wear the pajamas his mother chose for him. Instead, he STRONGLY prefers last night’s dirty orange dinosaur pajamas! Logan’s mom agrees and dresses him in his dirty orange dinosaur pajamas. Name and describe the stage Logan is in? What is the virtue for that stage?  How old might he be?

3. Filma wants to walk up the community playground slide. While her father stands close by, he allows her to try. She stumbles and slides back to the bottom a few times and finally achieves her walk to the top. Name and describe the stage Filma is in? What is the virtue for that stage?  How old might she be?

4. Liam’s mom feeds him every 3 or 4 hours, burps him, and walks with him when he is fussy. She sings to him and reads to him. Name and describe the stage Logan is in? What is the virtue for that stage?  How old might he be?

For grading criteria, please review the Written Assignment Rubric. 

General Instructions and Resources

Your written assignment is intended to test your understanding of important concepts and to sharpen your intellectual skills of analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and application. The intent of the written assignment is to provide an opportunity to more fully describe, explain, and analyze the books and other sources. Be sure to cite any and all sources correctly so that your academic integrity is not called into question. Throughout this course, these resources will enable you to successfully complete written assignments:

1. E College’s Online Library – designed to allow students to search through a well-rounded collection of e-books, videos, online journals, reference resources and databases.  Librarians also provide workshops and services via email, phone, chat and the Web.
2. Empire State College’s Online Writing Center – designed to help students quickly and easily find the services and resources they need to become successful, independent writers.

Please read the State College statement on Academic Integrity before submitting any work for this course. Be sure to cite any and all sources correctly so that your academic integrity is not called into question.