Home Page
About the Doctor
Contact us

Softy Corner - Food for Thought

 Do-Strategy - Brinjal Curry
 Thought - Food Howard Gardner
 Worth - It MI resources
 Generally Speaking -  Motivated Learner

Do-Strategy - Brinjal Curry

Suppose your mother cooks good Brinjal curry. Now the only problem is that she makes it every day. Yes, every day the same Brinjal curry. Ahhhhhh! Who wants Brinjal curry EVERY DAY.

Now tell me who is more intelligent: C V Raman, M F Hussain, A R Rehman, Sachin Tendulkar, or Mahatma Gandhi. "It's not fair. You really can't compare such geniuses". True but still, who is the most intelligent? "Each one is differently intelligent". In which case, why do we have such a fixation of HOW MUCH a child is intelligent. Isn't it more important to find out HOW a child is intelligent. Is the extent more important, or "in-which-way" is more important.

In 1983, through his book "Frames of Mind: The theory of Multiple Intelligence", (MI) Howard Gardner, challenges the notion that intelligence is singular. Since we are all different, we are also differently intelligent. And the moment I know 'how I am intelligent' it is easier for me to excel in that field - in terms of learning, specialization and potential career. In fact IQ tests, etc., tend to look at intelligence in one dimension only. The moment we consider a child good in music at par with a child good in maths, at par with a child good in sports, at par with a child good in making friends and dealing with others - we open up a new vista of opportunities for children to succeed.

Multiple Intelligence (MI) looks at Intelligence in seven ways: If you're good at reading, writing, telling stories you are Linguistically Intelligent. However if use your body through sports, dancing, acting, crafts, tools, etc then you are Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligent. Somebody good at visualizing, designing, painting, arranging, etc., is Visually Intelligent. While Math-Logically Intelligent people are strong in logic, reasoning, problem solving, analytic thinking, etc., Musically Intelligent people show talent in singing, playing instruments, rhythms, composing, etc.

Two Intelligences given prominence for the first time were Interpersonal Intelligence which is about relating to other people - leading, organizing, communicating, selling, etc., and Intrapersonal Intelligence which is about understanding self, setting goals, philosophizing, meditating, etc.

So what do all these seven intelligences lead us to - especially as teachers and educators?

One - Acceptance

Once we acknowledge that there are more than one ways of being intelligent, we start accepting each child as uniquely intelligent. If the measurement and comparison on the scale of intelligence is removed, rather an effort is made to identify the child's unique strengths, the boost she gets in terms of self-esteem and self confidence is immeasurable. What happens to the child who sits at the back row and almost always sings but scorns at maths. The moment he is ALSO accepted as intelligent the teacher as well as the child's approach towards learning changes.

Two - All round development

Today's is a world which demands multiple skills from successful people. Early exposure to all intelligences automatically leads to a more comprehensive development for the child. Which means that the best learning environment will have learning opportunities for the children around all the multiple intelligences.

Three: Accelerated Learning

Consider this: Whatever the child needs to learn if each child can learn in the child's most preferred intelligence then wouldn't he learn best? Hence the most efficient way of learning would happen if a singer can learn through music, a dancer through movement, a visual through painting, a intrapersonal through interacting with others.

So how do you teach your child - do you teach him the way you learned (your intelligence) or can you customise and teach through your child's intelligence. Think of adding some spices, changing some ingredients and presenting the Brinjal Curry differently - so that it's suddenly more fun to eat!

Lets take the example of Digestive system to illustrate.

Linguistic Intelligence: Letter writing - child becomes one organ and writes a letter to the heart - explaining why that organ is the most important. Alternatively children can also form fun rhymes on each organ or the whole system.

Kinesthetic Intelligence: Child creates a small play based on one of them entering the digestive system to investigate some malfunction in the system. They may also make clay models or 3-D models of the different organs.

Visual Intelligence: Child can redraw the complete digestive system and food journey in form of cartoons.

Mathematical Intelligence: Child can take the task of collecting as many facts in form of figures as possible about each organ (e.g.: size, duration of food, amount of bile, etc.) These are presented as graphs or charts.

Musical Intelligence: Take a popular song and compose a parody using the organs, their uses and the effects of malfunctioning.

Interpersonal Intelligence: Child chooses one digestive organ and debates with you (or with another child) as to why their organ is more important or more beautiful.

Intrapersonal Intelligence: Child can dream of a substitute to the digestive system. Then compare it with the current system. They can also talk about the effects of a condition on earth where suddenly we do not have to eat.

The best thing about above examples is that they require little time and effort for preparation and so much more involving to do leading them to be interested and motivated learners.

Can we make the Brinjal curry more interesting just by thinking in seven intelligences format. MI forces us to think out of box and innovate. MI forces learning to become enjoyable. MI ensures that all the children are getting to learn through their strengths. With MI we don't eat Brinjal curry everyday!

 

Back To Top

Thought-Food - Random thoughts from Howard Gardner

~~ "We can all learn from the islands of extraordinariness in our midst."

~~ "We are all so different largely because we have all different combinations of intelligences. If we recognize this, I think we will have at least a better chance of dealing appropriately with the many problems that we face in the world."

~~ "Multiple Intelligence says, "rather then there being one 'machine' up in our minds that works one way, evolutionarily it makes more sense to think of a number of 'machines', each working in different ways".

Back To Top

Worth-It - MI resources

Here are some books on Multiple Intelligence that you may like to explore:

7 Kinds of Smart: Discovering and using your natural Intelligences - Thomas Armstrong

In their own way: Discovering and encouraging your child's personal learning style - Thomas Armstrong (Introductory books on MI - with self help exercises and checklists)

Teaching and learning through multiple intelligences - Linda Cambell, Bruce Cambell, Dee Dickinson (Excellent resource of MI teaching strategies)

Seven ways of knowing: Teaching for Multiple Intelligences - David Lazear (Lazear like Armstrong also provides an excellent introduction to MI and ideas for using MI in developing all Intelligences.)

Back To Top

Generally Speaking - Motivated Learner

To teach your child in different ways we do not need "A LOT OF TIME" - we need OPEN MIND to learn more. When we adopt different ways of teaching - we learn more than the child. If you are learning everyday - your child is learning - you do not need to put in any extra efforts. The moment you sit to "TEACH" your child - it becomes your task and your responsibility - and that can be equally drab! The moment you "LEARN" and share with your child - it becomes more interesting and no more 'your teaching', but shared responsibility.

According to us it is more important to first define what is excellence - is it to learn something well and efficiently or is it to score high marks in school? Obviously your daughter agrees to the former, while you are 'expecting' the later. No wonder with different destinations, the road taken is also different!

Perhaps it would be wise first to accept the child's tendency to achieve natural learning rather then achieving artificial marks. Clearly the child is not externally driven but internally focused. As at a second stage, you can discuss with her the importance of marks in a competitive exams based world and how she will cope with that. Are you ready to accept a reply like, "Don't worry mom, I will score well in board exam. But let me not waste my time over marks in younger classes". Also are you ready shun evaluating learning only through marks?

SELF-Esteem and confidence are matter of successful day to day experiences. Child does not gain or does not loose them in a day or two. Depending on friends might be indicative to you of low self esteem or confidence, but to her it may be the perfectly normal thing to do - a convenience. Remember you can't make her feel good about herself. You can only

ensure that she is exposed to positive experiences, and then give her positive strokes.

As children reach double digit age they seem to go more distant from parents. Communication breaks down while expectations are poles apart. Treat them as your friends - follow the simple triangle of acceptance, faith and equality.

Back To Top