Of the myths that I read about in the Unit 5
folder, I was most surprised by the theory of mind analysis. I remember
learning about Gardner’s theory and how it was impactful to educational
research and practice. The de-bunking of the multiple intelligences aspect of
the theory especially intrigued me. I completely agree with Willingham, when he
discussed the human ABILITIES: aesthetic, athletic, musical, etc. These are the
same things that Gardner refers to as intelligences
in the educational setting. I am a strong believer that some kids may have a
special talent in the music room, some on the football field, and some have a
talent in both, but those kids that have these talents are not the same kids. These
talents, in my opinion, do not use the same part of the brain that lets say
math, science, writing, etc., use – which could be looked at as ‘intelligences.’
Also with these, all kids obtain different abilities in the different ‘intelligences.’
One student may be a great reader and writer, but really struggle at math…Whereas
another student may find math to be easy and non-stressful, but may be a
struggling reader or writer.
If I were to be challenged in my own
classroom by someone to focus on the ‘multiple intelligences’ theory, I would go
out of my way and do my best to gather research, facts, and evidence of why we
should not categorize our students in terms of ‘intelligences.’ There is plenty
of research and support that I strongly believe many administrators and colleagues
would be interested in learning more about it and seeing what it is really
about.
