Multiple Intelligences

Being an educator, I have had the experience of being unable to reach some students and feeling their frustrations in the process.  It wasn’t until I presented the information in a totally different manner that the student would become successful.  Some students have difficulty explaining things in writing, but offer them the opportunity to use art, and they thrive.  Others may have difficulty with math concepts, but allow them the chance to figure it out using manipulative objects, and they are able to succeed. 

In 1983, Howard Gardner proposed the idea of Multiple Intelligences to explain this phenomenon.  He determined that we cannot use IQ alone to define a person’s intelligence, but rather there are many ways human beings are gifted or intelligent and we need to look at all of these.

We all have gifts and intelligence that need to be discovered and developed.  A person who may not do well in academic areas of writing and math, may excel in music or bodily-kinesthetic.  A person, who is a musical genius, may not have any interpersonal abilities at all. 

 It is important for us to understand this because some of us may struggle in a particular area, yet thrive in another.  We need to adapt our goals to match the areas that are our strengths.  It will be a frustrating and futile effort to try and reach goals in areas where we struggle or are not naturally gifted. 

Human intelligence is richer and more dynamic than we have been led to believe by formal academic education.

Ken Robinson

Lately, in this pandemic, we have had to tap into areas of ourselves as never before.  Our Intrapersonal (self-smart) intelligence is one of those areas.  How well do we know ourselves?  Why does this matter?  Your emotions govern much of your psychological and physical being. 

To read more about this from the Character Lab (Angela Duckworth) visit: https://characterlab.org/playbooks/emotional-intelligence/

There are many different creative types.  Knowing yours helps you maximize your potential. Click this link to take a fun test to learn more about your particular type and best types of people for you to collaborate with: www.mycreativetype.com

I believe this information is important for us to know about ourselves.  We should be in touch with our strengths and weaknesses so we can capitalize on the strengths and work on improving our weaknesses.  The puzzle that makes up our individual selves, has unique pieces that we should celebrate. We need to stop the negative self-talk and realize that each of us possess special abilities to help achieve our personal goals.