Gardner´s Multiple Intelligences

and How to Implement them in the Classroom

Collected from different Internet sources by Irena Köstenbauer
Published by EL-Gazette July 1999, London

Gardner´s claim that there are several different kinds of intelligence answered many questions and cleared many doubts for teachers. All of a sudden it became more clear why so many otherwise bright students did not excel on tests, why during the lesson some students would become restless, their attention switching off, why some teachers would be better perceived by the students than the others.

When asked how educators should implement his theory of multiple intelligences, Gardner says:"It´s very important that a teacher take individual differences among the kids very seriously....The bottom line is a deep interest in children and how their minds are different from one another, and helping them use their minds well".

An awareness of multiple-intelligences theory has stimulated teachers to find different ways of teaching and planning their lessons.

In Variations on a Theme: How Teachers Interpret MI Theory, (Educational Leadership, September 1997), Linda Campbell describes five approaches to curriculum change:

Lesson design - this might involve team teaching using all or several of the intelligences in the lesson
Interdisciplinary units - combining different elements of studies to give every student a chance
Project work - where students learn how to imitate and manage complex project
Assessment - devised in a way which allows students to show what they have learned.
Apprenticeships - which allow students to gain mastery of a valued skill gradually, with effort and discipline over time. According to Gardner, apprenticeships should take up about one-third of a student´s schooling system.

Understanding Gardner´s theory of multiple intelligences teachers and educators can allow students to safely explore and learn in many ways and help them direct their own learning, appreciate their strength and not fear their weaknesses.