Thom wrote:
> Gardner is a very well respected developmental psychologist. I would
> argue one of his aims is to point out that IQ is not necessarily the
> only important measure of ability. His use of the term intelligence is,
> I would think, calculated to avoid relegating other abilities (music,
> mathematics, language, social etc.) to lower status terms such as
> talents, abilities or competence.
Does this mean "calculated to confuse the meaning of the word
'intelligence' until it cannot be used with its original meaning?"
I see from the web that Gardner has already added "naturalistic
intelligence" (which apparently means appreciating plants and animals)
to the original seven, and has contemplated adding "existential
intelligence" meaning curosity about the meaning of life, and "spiritual
intelligence". One wonders what comes next: perhaps "sartorio-cultural
intelligence", the ability to dress in a way that indicates that one is
deeply in touch with one's peer group? Or, more generally, "pop-cultural
intelligence", the ability to determine what TV shows, movies, videos,
etc. are essential to one's social status, and quote them at appropriate
moments?
Descriptions on educational sites suggest that "interpersonal
intelligence" is being widely interpreted in educational contexts as
"preferring to work with others" and "intrapersonal intelligence" as
"preferring to work on one's own." So I guess everybody scores highly on
one of these...
Material aimed at math teachers seems, these days, to take the view
that (with a few exceptions) students' supposed preferences for one
learning style over another are paramount. Thus, one is meant to
encourage students to write a rap song about quadratic equations rather
than solving problems with them, if they prefer rap to algebra. The one
big exception, of course, is "manipulatives"; here the kinesthetic way
of learning is _de_rigeur_ for all students, to the point where in a
recent local Grade 10 standardized exam most of the algebra questions
involved the use of manipulatives rather than the algebra itself.
-Robert Dawson
.
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