Howard Gardner: Gardner first set out his ideas about 'multiple intelligences' in Frames
of Mind (1983). Although his intention was to communicate ideas from his work with extremely
gifted children and brain-damaged adults, his theory attracted attention from mainstream educationalists. It continues
to have an impact on thinking and practice and Gardner is still working on MI theory. Listen to him on YouTube (8 mins.)
Daniel Goleman
made his name with the concept of Emotional Intelligence. Watch this video on YouTube where he talks about his latest book
- Social Intelligence.
Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other People's Minds :
An Interview with Howard Gardner (2004). He has identified 8/9 separate intelligences which he believes
have relatively independent functions and are grounded in the brain's hardwiring, and are amplified by human and
cultural values. The theory of multiple intelligences has helped break the psychometricians century-long stranglehold
on the subject of intelligence.
Constructivism can be best seen as a collection of teaching strategies that create learning environments where individuals
can process new information in a way that it is incorporated into previously-held knowledge. Gardner's theory of Multiple
Intelligences reflects attempts to put cognitive research and constructivist philosophy into practice.
View YouTube clip (9 mins) from a Horizon film on Intelligence and
Testing. It involves some people with outstanding skills in their chosen professions. It includes interview clips
of psychologists Howard Gardner and also Robert Sternberg. The last 3 minutes is about Ian Deary's research study
on Scottish adults born in 1931. The IQ test administered at 11 years of age and then repeated around 80 years
later showed increases of 10-20 points in some cases. He asks - what has caused the increase in IQ?
Robert Sternberg: Triarchic Theory of Human Intelligence - a
combination of analytical, creative and practical abilities. "You
need creative skills to come up with ideas; you need analytical abilities to know whether they're good ideas; to evaluate the ideas and you need practical abilities to make your
ideas work and to persuade other people that your ideas are worth listening to."
Sternberg defines Intelligence as the skill
in achieving success in life within your sociocultural environment by finding out what you do well, and capitalising
on your strengths. You might need to work on certain aspects to change yourself to fit the environment or modify
the environment to suit you better. Other times you might choose not to adapt and quit.
