Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences For The 21st Century - Hardcover

Gardner, Howard E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0465026109 ISBN 13: 9780465026104

Publisher: Basic Books, 1999

Synopsis

Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner has been acclaimed as the most influential educational theorist since John Dewey. His ideas about intelligence and creativity - explicated in such bestselling books as Frames of Mind and Multiple Intelligences (over 200,000 copies in print combined) - have revolutionized our thinking.In his groundbreaking 1983 book Frames of Mind , Howard Gardner first introduced the theory of multiple intelligences, which posits that intelligence is more than a single property of the human mind. That theory has become widely accepted as one of the seminal ideas of the twentieth century and continues to attract attention all over the world.Now in Intelligence Reframed , Gardner provides a much-needed report on the theory, its evolution and revisions. He offers practical guidance on the educational uses of the theory and responds to the critiques leveled against him. He also introduces two new intelligences (existential intelligence and naturalist intelligence) and argues that the concept of intelligence should be broadened, but not so absurdly that it includes every human virtue and value. Ultimately, argues Gardner, possessing a basic set of seven or eight intelligences is not only a unique trademark of the human species, but also perhaps even a working definition of the species. Gardner also offers provocative ideas about creativity, leadership, and moral excellence, and speculates about the relationship between multiple intelligences and the world of work in the future.

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

In Frames of Mind (1983), Gardner first set forth his influential theory of Multiple Intelligences, contending that each of us is equipped with eight or more separate types of intelligence (including linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal and intrapersonal varieties). In this combative update, geared mainly to educators, psychologists and other professionals, Harvard education professor Gardner adds to the list a new naturalist intelligence, which involves attunement to the environment, its flora and fauna. He further proposes that there may be a spiritual or existential intelligence (knowledge of transcendental and cosmic matters), but adds that this awaits scientific verification. Critics will undoubtedly pounce on his ideas, but Gardner has his ammunition ready: he argues that accumulating neurological evidence supports MI theory, and cites a study by Harvard Project Zero (of which he is codirector) reporting that schools across the U.S. applying MI theory boast improved student performance and parent participation. Gardner also outlines two of his new educational approaches: "individually configured education," tailored to individual differences, and "Teaching for Understanding," designed to assess students' comprehension at each step. He also throws down a gauntlet: "If we ignore the differences [in how people acquire and represent knowledge], we are destined to perpetuate a system that caters to an eliteAtypically those who learn best in a... linguistic or logical-mathematical manner." His book is certain to fuel debate. (Nov..--, we are destined to perpetuate a system that caters to an eliteAtypically those who learn best in a... linguistic or logical-mathematical manner." His book is certain to fuel debate. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A further examination of the impact of the influential concept Gardner introduced in Multiple Intelligences (1993), and an introduction to three new (non-IQ) intelligences. Harvard University educator, psychologist, and MacArthur fellow Gardner reinforces his theory that we learn and perform through a number of intelligences. The standard, narrow definition, he avers, confuses the notion of intelligence with a specific type of measurable scholastic performance. Optimistic that the 21st century will continue to usher in inventive ways of measuring a fuller sense of the minds potential, Gardner reviews and refines his original definition of intelligence as ``a biopsychological potential to process information that can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create products that are of value in a culture.'' Since each of us has a unique blend of skills and aptitudes, we all have the potential to change our culture. And it is the role of education to tap intelligences not measured in the S.A.T. Schools must take the different human skills into account, and education must provide ``for an enhanced understanding of our several worldsthe physical world, the biological world, the world of human beings, the world of human artifacts, and the world of the self.'' Because Gardner believes teachers must learn about each student's background, strengths, anxieties, and goals, they should remain with the same students for several years. No educational decisions, he suggests, can be made without an up-to-date profile of each individual student. Learning should involve tasks that call on a range of abilities. The results of the 41 US schools that have been applying MI theory for at least three years bolster Gardner's thesis, with 78% of the schools reporting standardized test improvements. Enlarging his original eight intelligences, Gardner here proposes the idea of three new intelligences: naturalist, spiritual, and existential. A significant broadening of our understanding of intelligence and pedagogy that may expose self-professed intellectuals as merely geeks. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

In his seminal work, Frames of Mind, Harvard psychologist Gardner argued that intelligence comprises more than one or two properties. Since translated into seven languages, the book proceeded to spawn debate. Besides language and math, Gardner posits five other types of intelligence: musical, kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Here he considers three new possibilities: naturalistic, spiritual, and existential. Three chapters take up issues and misunderstandings commonly found in applying multiple intelligence theory in education, business, and the arts. A chapter on creators and leaders shows the breadth of Gardner's knowledge and interests, and one on achieving understanding through performance proves his pragmatic orientation as a teacher. Besides references, appendixes include schools and other contacts. This valuable book by a leading psychologist and educator is essential for most libraries.AE. James Lieberman, George Washington Univ. Sch. of Medicine, Washington, DC
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0465026109
• ISBN 13: 9780465026104
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304