Runninghead:DOMAINDLITERARYANALYSIS

DOMAINDLITERARYANALYSIS
ElijahWilliem

NationalUniversity

InpartialfulfillmentfortherequirementsforTED690

ProfessorJohnson

June18,2016

DOMAINDLITERARYANALYSIS

ABSTRACT

Inthefollowingliteraryanalysis,anarticlebyDr.HowardGardnerandhisassociatedwillbe
dissected.Thearticle,TheTheoryofMultipleIntelligencesiswrittentwentyfiveyearsafterthe
introductionofhistheory.Inthearticle,hediscussestheeightdifferentintelligences,discusses
howeachpersonhasadifferentcombinationoftheintelligences,challengestohisworkanda
futurewherestudentscouldbetestedfortheirindividualintelligences.Inthisanalysis,the
findings,research,counterclaimsandbenefitsofusingthistheorywillbeexplored.

DOMAINDLITERARYANALYSIS

TheMultipleIntelligencestheoryproposedbyDr.HowardGardnerisafascinatinglook
atthedifferentlearningintelligencesthateachindividualpossesses.Thecurrenteight
intelligencesare:Linguistic,LogicalMathematical,Spatial,Musical,Naturalist,
BodilyKinesthetic,InterpersonalandIntrapersonal.HowardGardnerstheoryhasintriguedme
formanyyearsbecauseitoffersahealthyalternativeviewofteachingstudentsasindividuals
insteadofasgeneralizations.InthisliteraryanalysisIwilllookatanarticlethatheandhis
colleagueswroteuponthetwentyfifthanniversaryofhisgroundbreakingtheory.Thearticleis
titledTheTheoryofMultipleIntelligences.InthisanalysisIwillreviewthepresenteddata,
discusssomeoftheoppositiontohistheoryandpresentmyowntakeonhiswork.

Dr.HowardGardnersworkassertsthateveryindividualiscomposedofalleight
intelligences,buthavedifferentlevelsoflearningability.Forinstance,aballetdancermayhave
ahigherbodilykinestheticintelligencethanafellowdancer,andwillbeabletopracticeless
withanaturalpoise.Dr.Gardnerclaimsthateveryonehasauniquebalanceofintelligenceswith
aparticularstrengthinone,andthatevensiblingshaveadifferentintelligencemakeup.Gardner
accentuatestwoprimaryclaims:l)Allindividualspossessthefullrangeofintelligencesthe
intelligencesarewhatdefinehumanbeings,cognitivelyspeaking2)Notwoindividuals,not
evenidenticaltwins,exhibitpreciselythesameprofileofintellectualstrengthsandweaknesses
(Davis,Christdoulou,Seider,Gardner,2008,pg.9).Thisisfascinatingtomefroman
educationalstandpointbecausewegenerallyteachtotheclassandnottothestudent.Ifwehad
somekindofassessmentwherewecoulddetermineeachstudentslearningmodality,wecould

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startteachingtoeachstudentsstrengths.Butpresently,theassessmentsavailableprimarily
determinelogicalandlinguisticintelligences.Therearealternateassessmentexamplespresented
inthearticle,namelytheMIDAS(Multipleintelligencesdevelopmentalassessment
scale),butDr.Gardnerwouldliketoseemoreindepthassessmentsandstudents.Inthearticle,
Dr.Gardnerhasproposedandevenhassetupasystemtodeterminelearningprofiles.Project
Spectrumisaclassroomassessmentforstudentsthatisrichwithdifferentlearningobjectsthat
childrencannaturallygravitatetoward.Theinitiativeseekstodocumentapproachestolearning
(workingstyles)aswellasthedistributionofstrengthsandweaknessesacrosstheseveral
intelligencesthesocalledSpectrumProfile(Davis,etal,pg.24).Ibelievethisprofilingcould
besobeneficialtolessonplandesignandtheachievementofindividualstudents.Imaginethe
studentsthathavetroubleachievinghighscoresontests,butareveryartisticormusical.
Educatorscouldreachthembyaligningthelessonstomeetthosestudentsstrengths.This
researchisveryimportantandevenDr.Gardneradmitsthattherecouldbemoreintelligences
outthere,orthattheintelligencescouldbefurtherdissectedintosubdomains.Forinstance,a
musicalintelligencecouldbebrokendownintosubdomainsof:rhythm,harmony,melody,and
timbre(pg.11).Someresearchersbelievehumorormoralitycouldbelabeledastheirown
intelligences,butDr.Gardnerbelievesthemtobeasubdomainoflinguisticorlogical
intelligence.Therecanbemanycombinationsoflearningtypestohavecertainskills.Heisquick
topointoutthatskillsarenotintelligences,theyarethetasksthatspringforthfromthe
combinationofintelligencestheyaretheactionsthattheintelligencescreate.

DOMAINDLITERARYANALYSIS

SomeresearchtriestochallengeDr.Gardnerstheory,specificallythattheintelligences
arenotspecificenoughandthatthereneedstobemorecategories.SomearguethattheMultiple
IntelligenceTheorydoesnotincludegwhichisapsychometricianstermforgeneral
intelligence(pg.12).Dr.Gardnercountersthatgdoesnothaveastrongenoughdefinition,and
states,Onemightarguethatgismerelythecommonfactorthatunderliesthesetoftasks
devisedbypsychologistsintheirattempttopredictscholasticsuccess(pg.12).TheMultiple
Intelligencetheoryisatheorythatcanbehotlydebated,butDr.Gardnerseemstohaveanswers
foreverysituation.

Dr.Gardneradmitsthatthereisnocorrelationbetweenthebraincortexandthelearning
modality(2008),butitisclearthateachindividualhasauniquemakeup.Iknow,forinstance,
thatIamaspatiallearnerwithastrongmusicalintelligence.Ihavediscoveredthatthrough
manyyearsofselfevaluationthatIusespecificintelligenceswhenprocessinginformation.For
instance,whenIstudyforexams,Iwritelittlesongstohelprememberinformation,andwhenI
ampresentedwithwordproblems,Iamquicktodrawouttheproblems.

Sohowcanwedeterminewhattypeofintelligenceastudenthas?Paperassessmentsmay
notdothetrick.Thetruewaytomeasureanintelligenceisinaction.Dr.Gardnerstatesthatyou
maynotbeabletorecognizeasingleintelligenceinisolation,andthattheycanonlybe
manifestintheperformanceandtasksofskill(pg.26).Anathletemayshowmanydifferent
intelligencesduringthecourseofagame,andthatevaluationcangiveamorecompletepicture
thanatrueorfalsetest.IbelieveinhiseducationaltheoriesandIamanadopterofhismultiple

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intelligencetheory.Ibelievethateverystudenthasadifferentlearningmakeup,andhave
witnesseditintheclassroom.Thistheorygivessupporttotheneedfordifferentiationinthe
classroom.Byreadinghislifechangingworks,Ihavebeenabletoreachlearnersthathadfallen
behindusingtraditionalinstruction.Everystudentdeservesachanceanditisourjobas
educatorstofindwaystoengageandgiveopportunitiesforsuccess.Therearemoreholistic
assessmentsthanpapertests,andjustbecauseastudentperformslowonawrittentest,doesnot
meanthestudentisnotintelligent.AsHowardGardnerstates,weneedtoidentifyhowa
studentissmartasopposedtowhetherthestudentissmart(pg.24).

DOMAINDLITERARYANALYSIS

REFERENCE

Davis,K.,Christdoulou,J.,Seider,S.,Gardner,H.(2008).TheTheoryofMultipleIntelligences.
Accessedfrom:
https://howardgardner01.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/443davischristodoulouseidermi
article.pdf