“Multiple
Intelligences”
(An Intergenerational Service)
for the
Unitarian Universalist Church of
Winchendon, Massachusetts
26
November 2006
The Rev. Jennie Ann Barrington
Is “intelligences” a word? Is it fair to say that a child is either intelligent or not intelligent? Is there only one way to measure intelligence –by those pencil and paper tests where you have to fill in the oval, completely, but do not mark outside the oval!—or are there many possible ways a child can be intelligent? --multiple ways…
When I was a schoolchild, which was over thirty-five years ago, most people believed that intelligence was only one thing-- and that that one thing was measured accurately by those pencil and paper tests with the ovals you have to fill in (completely). And I was never good at taking those tests. In fact, taking them always gave me a headache. And I certainly was not able to finish them quickly, I never knew why I was slow at them, and most of the time the grown-ups didn’t tell us schoolchildren the details of our test results. On top of all that, once a child is done with school, will he or she ever encounter tests like that in their work life or home life? No, they won’t. There are many things wrong with this picture, things people didn’t know then, but we do know now, things that can fill schoolchildren with a sense of pride, self-esteem, and accomplishment, instead of the sinking feeling that they’ll never be able to measure up.
The truth of the matter is, the only thing those pencil and paper intelligence tests measure is how good a child is at taking that type of test. That’s it: a high test score on a test like that means that that child is good at taking that kind of test, and that’s about all it means. High scores like that may also mean that that child may eventually be good at being a law professor-- but not necessarily. Whether or not a person can become a law professor would also depend on that person’s motivation, will, persistence, resilience, and their ability to work very hard at an area of study that is quite focused and does not allow for much creativity of expression. There are so many other ways to shine in the world other than being a law professor! There are so many other ways the world needs us each to shine. Those many ways to shine require many different types of intelligences, types of intelligences that old-fashioned intelligence tests do not measure. Nor do old-fashioned intelligence tests measure things like motivation, will, persistence, resilience, the ability to work hard at something for years, nor creativity. We know now that schoolchildren should be assessed for all these great character traits and inner gifts, so they can be encouraged to shine as their very best selves. The main reason we know that now is because a man named Howard Gardner wrote a book stating that people have, not just one way of being intelligent, but multiple intelligences. That was twenty years ago. As soon as he wrote his book, it began to change the way people think about education, and about the children and adults they were interacting with, and even about themselves. A group of eight teachers even drove for fourteen hours to talk to Dr. Gardner about his ideas about intelligence because they wanted to start-up an elementary school based on his ideas. They did get to talk with him, and they did start-up such a school called, The Key School, in Indianapolis, Indiana, which still helps children’s multiple intelligences flourish. There are now similar schools all over the United States, and all over the world. The schools were started up by countless people who heard about the idea of multiple intelligences, which Dr. Gardner thought of, researched and tested, and wrote down, so people could read it view children and their potential in a new way. Dr. Gardner believes it is wrong to view children as either smart or not smart. He believes that every child has the potential to be great in one or more ways of being intelligent. Dr. Gardner and I believe that each child has eight or nine possible geniuses within her or him. What are some ways that each of you could possibly be a genius? Here are the types of intelligences Dr. Gardner describes in his book. Hardly anyone is strong in all these ways. But many people are strong in a couple of them, and those two intelligences work together, helping a person to compensate for their areas of weakness. As I describe these, think about both areas you are good at and areas that are enjoyable and motivating for you to pursue:
Musical Intelligence. When Yehudi Menuhin was three years old, he heard Louis Persinger play the violin in the San Francisco Orchestra’s concerts. He was so entranced by the sound of that violin music that his whole mind, body, and spirit were focused on it. His parents bought him a violin for his birthday, Louis Persinger became his teacher, and by the time he was ten years old, Yehudi Menuhin was playing violin concerts all over the world. “His powerful reaction to that particular sound and his rapid progress on the [violin] suggest that he was biologically prepared in some way for a life in music.” [see, Multiple Intelligences, pp. 8-9]
Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence. “Fifteen-year-old Babe Ruth was playing catcher one game when his team was taking a ‘terrific beating.’ Ruth ‘burst out laughing’ and criticized the pitcher loudly. Brother Mathias, the coach, called out, ‘All right, George [Babe Ruth’s real first name], YOU pitch!’ Babe Ruth was stunned and nervous: ‘I never pitched in my life… I can’t pitch.’ The moment was transformative, as Ruth recalls in his autobiography: ‘Yet, as I took the position, I felt a strange relationship between myself and that pitcher’s mound. I felt, somehow, as if I had been born out there and that this was a kind of home for me.’ As sports history shows, [Babe Ruth] went on to become a great major league pitcher (and, of course, attained legendary status as a hitter). Like Yehudi Menuhin, Babe Ruth was a prodigy who recognized his ‘instrument’ on his first exposure to it, before receiving any formal training.” [pp. 9-10] Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence includes the ability to play basketball or tennis, to perform mime or dance, and to create a new product or invention.
Logical-Mathematical Intelligence. This is problem-solving ability, often called scientific thinking, when a person’s mind is able to leap to a correct conclusion before even being able to write it down or say it out loud. This is the type of intelligence that standardized IQ tests have long tried to measure. [pp. 11-12]
Linguistic Intelligence. “At the age of ten, T.S. Eliot created a magazine called, Fireside, to which he was the sole contributor. In a three-day period during his winter vacation, he created eight complete issues. Each one included poems, adventure stories, a gossip column, and humor. Some of this material survives, and it displays the talent of the [now world famous] poet. [pp. 12-13]
Spatial Intelligence. “Navigation around the Caroline Islands in the South Seas is accomplished by native sailors without instruments. The position of the stars, as viewed from various islands, the weather patterns, and water color are the principle signposts. Each journey is broken into a series of segments, and the navigator learns the position of the stars within each of these segments. During the actual trip the navigator must mentally picture a reference island as it passes under a particular star. From that envisioning exercise, he computes the number of segments completed, the proportion of the trip remaining, and any corrections in heading that are required. The navigator cannot see the islands as he sails along; instead he maps their locations in his mental picture of the journey. Spatial problem solving is required for navigation and for the use of the notational system of maps. Other kinds of spatial problem solving are brought to bear in visualizing an object from different angles and in playing chess. The visual arts also employ this intelligence in the use of space. A person who is blind can have a high level of spatial intelligence, and many blind people do. [pp. 13-14]
Interpersonal Intelligence. This is when a person is able to really understand what another person is really like. The example Dr. Gardner uses in his book is the way Anne Sullivan was able to understand who Helen Keller truly was as a whole person, not just as the labels of her disabilities. “Interpersonal intelligence builds on a core capacity to notice distinctions among others-- in particular, contrasts in their moods, temperaments, motivations, and intentions. In more advanced forms, this intelligence permits a skilled adult to read the intentions and desires of others, even when they have been hidden. This skill appears in a highly sophisticated form in religious or political leaders, salespersons, marketers, teachers, therapists, and parents.” Interpersonal intelligence is not dependent on spoken language. People can have a high level of interpersonal intelligence who do not speak your language or do not speak in words, and many people do. [pp. 14-15]
Intrapersonal Intelligence. This is a person’s knowledge of who they really are inside. “access to one’s own feeling life, one’s range of emotions, the capacity to make discriminations among these emotions and eventually to label them and to draw on them as a means of understanding and guiding one’s own behavior.” The way other people can tell if you have a high level of intrapersonal intelligence is through the creative ways you express yourself, such as music, writing, or the visual arts. Inter-personal intelligence and intrapersonal intelligence are two ways of problem-solving-- “Interpersonal intelligence allows one to understand and work with others. Intra-personal intelligence allows one to understand and work with oneself.” [pp. 17-18]
Dr. Gardner mentions another type of intelligence he keeps wondering about called, “existential intelligence,” or the intelligence of big questions. “Why do we live? Why do we die? Where do we come from? What is going to happen to us? What is love? Why do we make war?” These questions are too big to be answered by just using our five senses. Philosophers, religious leaders, and the rare wise political leaders who really think before trying to answer these questions have a high level of existential intelligence. [pp. 20-21]
And Dr. Gardner would not agree with me about this, but I believe that humor is a type of intelligence. I admire people who are able to make us laugh with good humor, and I think comedy is an art. What other types of intelligence come to your mind?
It took me many years to figure out why I was so slow at those tests with the ovals you have to fill-in, and what way I am naturally very intelligent. Dr. Gardner’s marvelous book affirms that what I figured out about myself is real and true. Interpersonal intelligence is my natural strength. I am very interested in honoring who people are and the unique lives they have lived, and I’m good at honoring that. It was a wondrous relief for me when I finally realized the thing that I am naturally good at. I want everyone to be able to figure that out about themselves, and I believe that, when we all support one another, everyone can. On those tests with the pencils and the ovals, there’d be a question that would say, “There are fifty campers of various ages and ten camp counselors, and five cabins. Separate the campers and counselors into groups so the right number are in each cabin.” Well, my mind would start to wonder, “Some of the campers are more shy, and some more bold… Some more athletic, and some will need extra coaching with sports. Some like to tell jokes and stories and sing songs; some are better listeners… It’s better to have different ages in a cabin than all campers of the same age, that way they can all teach one another new things and learn from each other. And some counselors will work better as a team with others, based on their personalities and strengths…” Meanwhile, the clock was ticking, and I hadn’t filled in enough of the ovals. I am highly analytical, and I care deeply about people’s gifts and graces and needs. Those tests did not measure those things. In Dr. Gardner’s book, he describes a real four-year-old girl who was an outstanding storyteller, and also talented at painting, drama, and puppetry. But when she was being assessed with a game for which different numbers of people got on and off a toy bus, “she became so involved in the motivations for the different [toy people] boarding and leaving the bus that she was distracted from recording the correct numerical information.” “That’s me!” I shouted out loud when I read that page. Even at only four years old it was clear, to teachers who were really paying attention to her real strengths and weaknesses, that while math was the girl’s weakness, people skills and dramatic stories were her strength. [see p. 97] What’s wrong with those old-fashioned IQ tests is whenever they are used as the main way of determining whether or not a child is worth investing in-- investing our time, money, heart, faith, and hope. That four-year-old girl is worth investing in. Every child is worth investing in. No child should be written off as not worth investing in.
Dr. Gardner writes, “It is of the utmost importance that we recognize and nurture all of the varied human intelligences and all of the combinations of intelligences. We are all so different largely because we have 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. If we can mobilize the spectrum of human abilities, not only will people feel better about themselves and more competent; it is even possible that they will also feel more engaged and better able to join the rest of the world community in working for the broader good. Perhaps if we can mobilize the full range of human intelligences and ally them to an ethical sense, we can help increase the likelihood of our survival on this planet, and perhaps even contribute to our thriving.”
May our church be a vehicle for the potential geniuses within each of us to shine, that we may further a higher wisdom and a greater good. Let it be and, Amen.