This is me, under construction!

Learning 

In this project meeting we will discuss the multiple intelligences children have. Howard Gardner of Harvard has identified eight distinct intelligences. This theory has emerged from recent cognitive research and "documents the extent to which students possess different kinds of minds and therefore learn, remember, perform, and understand in different ways," according to Gardner. According to this theory, "we are all able to know the world through language, logical-mathematical analysis, spatial representation, musical thinking, naturalistic thinking and the use of the body to solve problems or to make things, an understanding of other individuals, and an understanding of ourselves. Where individuals differ is in the strength of these intelligences - the so-called profile of intelligences -and in the ways in which such intelligences are invoked and combined to carry out different tasks, solve diverse problems, and progress in various domains." Gardner says that these differences "challenge an educational system that assumes that everyone can learn the same materials in the same way and that a uniform, universal measure suffices to test student learning. Indeed, as currently constituted, our educational system is heavily biased toward linguistic modes of instruction and assessment and, to a somewhat lesser degree, toward logical-quantitative modes as well." Gardner argues that "a contrasting set of assumptions is more likely to be educationally effective. Students learn in ways that are identifiably distinctive. The broad spectrum of students - and perhaps the society as a whole - would be better served if disciplines could be presented in a numbers of ways and learning could be assessed through a variety of means."

 

Activities

We will be looking into how Multiple Intelligences are being implemented in a pre-school environment. The school we will visit has started implementing Multiple Intelligences 3 years ago. Every classroom has a 8 learning centers each matching with one intelligence and linking with the other intelligences. The school has implemented the MI-theory in its entire way of working with and looking at children and the teachers.

 

Objective

At the end of this meeting the teachers will be able to identify the eight different intelligences, by using the provided reference materials and they will be able to implement learning centers matching the Multiple Intelligences in their preschool and explain to their colleagues back at their schools. They will have an insight in how teacher in the school in Belgium use Multiple Intelligences their daily practice and in evaluating the children and what the added value of using Multiple Intelligences is.