Educational Leadership
Vol. 4, Number 3, November 2000

By integrating a focus on the multiple intelligences and emotional intelligence into my lessons, I have greatly enhanced my teaching. Multiple and emotional intelligence theories have given me a framework to create exciting lessons for an elementary third–grade inclusion classroom, a regular fourth grade class, and college undergraduate and graduate classes.

Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences originally included seven intelligences: verbal–linguistic, logical–mathematical, visual–spatial, bodily–kinesthetic, musical–rhythmic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal (Gardner 1983, 1991,1993). The naturalist intelligence (Meyer 1997) and existential intelligence (which Gardner credits as a "half intelligence" because he cannot find a biological location for it (Gardner 1998)) were later added to the list.

I have seen Gardner's theory open windows of opportunity in the field of education. His work has inspired thousands of teachers to try to motivate hard–to–reach students by considering how they learn and expanding their teaching techniques to better suit their different intelligence strengths.

Goleman's (1994,1998) five dimensions of Emotional Intelligence include Self–Awareness, Self–Regulation, Motivation, Empathy, and Social Skills. Brain–based research has demonstrated ways that teachers can help create the best emotional climate for students to learn. Wolfe and Brandt (1998) found that in order for effective learning to take place, students need to feel both challenged and safe. Tomlinson and Kalbfleisch (1998) state "When a child feels intimidated, rejected or at risk, an overproduction of noradrenalin causes that child to focus attention on self–protection rather than on learning" (p. 54). In an interview with Marcia D'Arcangelo, Sylwester (1998) says "Our profession has paid little attention to emotion. And yet, our emotional system drives our attentional system, which drives learning and memory and everything else that we do" (p.25). Our emotions tell us if an activity or a lesson is worth attention.

Brain–Based Strategies

I have used the following brain–based learning techniques in elementary, middle school, and college settings. My graduate students at Rivier College are mostly elementary and secondary regular and special education teachers. They, too, have used these suggestions and have found them to enhance their teaching.

·         Every teacher should understand his or her own neurological profile.

Out of the nine intelligences, Gardner (1983) believes that most of us have several highly developed intelligences, a few moderately developed intelligences, and a few underdeveloped intelligences. Armstrong (1994) believes that with a combination of encouragement, enrichment, and instruction most of us can develop each intelligence to an adequate level. Goleman (1998) also maintains that we have an emotional profile with strengths and limitations.

I encourage teachers to complete a variety of questionnaires to ascertain their neurological cognitive and emotional profiles. Some examples are the Alert Scale of Cognitive Style (Crane, 1989) for left, right, or bilateral brain preference, a Gardner Scale (Sinclair and Coates) to find Multiple Intelligence strengths and weaknesses, a Goleman scale (Fisher, 1998), and a Learning Style survey (Kolb, 1976).

·         Teachers should contemplate precisely how their neurological profile affects their teaching.

I ask my graduate students to observe themselves for several weeks as they teach throughout the day. They write down which of Gardner's nine intelligences and which of Goleman's five dimensions they ask their students to use most often, then compare their teaching techniques with the results obtained from their neurological questionnaires. What we find is that teachers primarily teach according to their neurological strengths.

For example, teachers with a highly developed bodily–kinesthetic intelligence use dance, movement, mime, acting, and role playing more frequently than those teachers who are moderately developed or underdeveloped in this area. Teachers with a highly developed visual–spatial intelligence tend to think in images and pictures; consequently they limit the amount of time they lecture and teach using a large variety of hands–on assignments and group activities. If they are right–brained by nature (Springer and Deutsch, 1998), they tend to assign projects that require students to use their visual–motor skills as opposed to papers that require analysis and research.

·         Teachers should expand their current teaching techniques to include areas from Gardner and Goleman that are moderately or underdeveloped in their profiles.

For example, if a person scores highest in Gardner's areas of visual–spatial and musical–rhythmic, and tends to teach using primarily these intelligences throughout the day, then I ask him to select three or more from the remaining seven intelligences to be included in daily lesson plans. As a result, his lessons are enriched and there is more appeal for students with different learning styles. Regarding Goleman's five areas, I ask my students to select one of Goleman's five areas to improve upon during the semester.

Our neurological strengths essentially guide the way we teach. It is important to know what constitutes our strongest as well as our weakest intelligences, and to see the roles these intelligences have in the design of our daily lesson plans.

 

Armstrong, T. (1994). Multiple intelligences in the classroom. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Crane, L.D. (1989). Alert Scale of Cognitive Style. Department of Communication, Western Michigan University.

D'Arcangelo, M. (1998). The Brains Behind the Brain. Educational Leadership. 56(3), 20-25.

Fisher, A. (1998). Fortune. October (Vol. 138), Issue 8, 293-296.

Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books.

Gardner, H. (1991). The Unschooled Mind. New York: Basic Books.

Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple intelligences: The theory in practice. New York: Basic Books.

Gardner, H. (1995). Reflections on multiple intelligences: Myths and messages. Phi Delta Kappan, 77 (3), 200-208.

Gardner, H. (April 23,1998). Keynote Presentation, Fourth International Teaching for Intelligence Conference, NYC, NY.

Goleman, D. (1994). Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.

Goleman, D.(1998). Working with Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.

Kolb, D.A. (1976). Learning Style Inventory: Technical Manual. Boston: McBer and Co., Inc.

Meyer, M. (1997) The Greening of Learning: Using the eighth intelligence. Educational Leadership, 55 (1), 32-34.

Sinclair, A. & Coates, L. Teaching Multiple Intelligences. Science Scope. February 1999, 17-21.

Springer, S. & Deutsch, G. (1998). Left Brain, Right Brain. 5th edition, New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.

Tomlinson, C. & Kalbfleisch. (1998). Teach me, Teach my brain—A call for differentiated classrooms. Educational Leadership, 56(3),52-55.

Wolfe, P. & Brandt, R, (1998). Brain science, brain fiction. Educational Leadership, 56(3),14-18.