Howard Gardner and Me

Howard Gardner is a contemporary writer and psychologist. Gardner was born to Ralph and Hilde Weilheimer on July 11, 1943, in Scraton, PA. He married Judith Krieger, a psychologist on June 9, 1966. He divorced her and married Ellen Winner on November 20, 1982. He has three children from his first marriage and one child from his second marriage. He studied at Harvard University and received his B.A. in 1965 and a Ph.D. in 1971. He went to the London School of Economics and Political Science for his M.A in 1966. He is a member of the Society for Research in Child Development, the Social Sciences Research Council, the Academy of Aphasia, and Phi Beta Kappa. He now serves as Professor of Education at Harvard University, Professor of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, and Co-Director of Harvard Project Zero. He received many different kinds of awards in writing and research.

Gardner is famous for his multiple intelligence theories. He stated that “humans have seven intelligences that can be divided into three main groups: object-related intelligence, which includes mathematics and logic; object free intelligence, including music and language; and personal intelligence, or the psychological perception we have of ourselves and others” (Howard Gardner). All these intelligences are natural and everyone has them but different people have different levels of intelligence. As a result, students are learning best when they can use their strongest areas of intelligence to master new subjects or new things. He argues that although all students have these intelligences and can improve them, “Our education system is not prepared to address the needs of all these intelligences, thus neglecting to address the development of some of these areas” (Howard Gardner).

I agree with Gardner’s argument. School policies and teachers’ lessons should allow students to explore their own strengths and weaknesses so that students will gain success and enjoyment in the learning process. Consequently, students will enjoy their work and life. However, most teachers try to force students to do what they expect from the lessons, instead of allowing students to explore their interests and understanding in the subjects. Consequently, students start focusing on what teachers expect instead of finding the real meaning of the subjects. Therefore, teachers should help students to become more proficient in the subjects and apply them to the real world. In fact, teachers should help students to realize their abilities and help them to become independent learners in order to motivate their different areas of intelligence and give them strength to overcome their difficulties.

In addition, teachers’ lessons should encourage students’ curiosity so that they can explore their own intelligences. Therefore, when teachers prepare their lesson plans, they should include activities that students can apply to Gardner’s theories of the seven intelligences so that the lessons will help all students to master the subjects. In other words, teachers’ lessons should be able to connect students’ social and cognitive development and emotional diversities. In that way, students will easily understand the subjects.