Multiple Intelligences: The Theory In Practice, A Reader - Hardcover

Gardner, Howard E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0465018211 ISBN 13: 9780465018215

Publisher: Basic Books, 1993

Synopsis

Howard Gardner's brilliant conception of individual competence is changing the face of education today. In the ten years since the publication of his seminal Frames of Mind , thousands of educators, parents, and researchers have explored the practical implications of Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory—the powerful notion that there are separate human capacities, ranging from musical intelligence to the intelligence involved in understanding oneself. Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice brings together previously published and original work by Gardner and his colleagues at Project Zero to provide a coherent picture of what we have learned about the educational applications of MI theory from projects in schools and formal research over the last decade.

About this title

About the Author

Howard Gardner is the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor in Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Among numerous honors, Gardner received a MacArthur Prize Fellowship in 1981. In 1990, he was the first American to receive the University of Louisville's Grawemeyer Award in education. In 2000, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Reviews

A follow-up to Gardner's Frames of Mind (which is being reissued simultaneously), this collection of mostly academic essays should appeal mainly to education observers concerned with Gardner's innovative theory of multiple intelligences. The theory that there are seven types of intelligence, (linguistic, spatial, musical and so on) is recapped in an accessible talk Gardner gave at Harvard, a more formal paper on the subject, and a technical essay defining such concepts as "giftedness" and "creativity" in the context of his theory. The book's second part includes Gardner's intriguing projection of a school that applies his theories, as well as four very dry analyses of projects that put Gardner's theories into practice. More interesting are Gardner's criticism of formal testing directed at a unitary conception of intelligence, his proposal that college admissions officers examine student projects for evidence of several intelligences and the suggestion that various topics in school can be approached in different ways that track the multiple intelligences. Reader's Subscription, Library of Science and Natural Science Book Club alternates.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A potpourri of previously published articles and lectures, as well as chapters written specifically for this book--all explaining what the theory of multiple intelligences is and how it can be applied in today's schools. A decade ago, Gardner (Education/Harvard; The Unschooled Mind, 1991, etc.) put forward the idea that intelligence should be measured in more ways than through verbal and math tests that are standard for schools. He postulated seven basic ``intelligences,'' including language and logical-mathematical but also kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and spatial. Gardner gives all seven equal weight--but schools and testing institutions don't. Hence, children who are weak in language and math skills but strong in musical or interpersonal ``intelligence'' will suffer in the traditional classroom. Here, the author attempts to show how schools can address those differences so that students will be happier, more productive, and more able to cope with life. Except for a chapter on the Key School in Indianapolis, which has built its curriculum and method of teaching around multiple intelligences, teachers and administrators won't find a how-to on restructuring their classrooms here. Look to apprentice and museum programs and to the community for that, says Gardner (somewhat vaguely), leaving schools' options wide open. Strongest here are discussions of how to reframe testing and assessment methods and of how the limited view of intelligence can defeat both student and teacher. Research at Harvard's Project Zero (which Gardner directs) has developed new assessment materials, explained here, that help to measure all seven intelligences. Repetitious, thanks to its format; but even so a good introduction, along with Gardner's Frames of Mind (1983), to the theory of multiple intelligences. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

The theory of multiple intelligences (MI) was first publicized by Gardner in Frames of Mind ( LJ 10/1/83). The arguments he presented against the prevailing one-dimensional view of intelligence caught the attention of educators who found the application of a universal IQ test troublesome. Here, Gardner attempts to bridge the gap between state-of-the-art advances in cognitive studies and neurosciences and to demonstrate their practical applications in education. He does an admirable job of explaining the revolutionizing effect the complex theory of seven intelligences has had on schooling, also acknowledging that Theodore Sizer's Horace's School ( LJ 1/92) presents a practical proposal closely paralleling his MI theory in its emphasis on individual performance abilities. This is a highly readable and interesting proposal from an innovative and ground-breaking researcher. Excellent references round out the study. For most education collections.
- Arla Lindgren, St. John's Univ., New York
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0465018211
• ISBN 13: 9780465018215
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320