MI Chapter 4 Response

I really appreciated this chapter because I think it’s important for students to be aware of the different kinds of multiple intelligences.  I cannot recall any of my teachers (in elementary, middle school, or high school) ever mentioning Gardner’s theory, but I truly wish they had.  I think that a teacher can foster a positive and respectful learning environment by introducing the concept of multiple intelligences and having students partake in an activity that explores the different intelligences.  If students understand that everyone learns differently and get the chance to “test out” activities related to the different intelligences, they will be more likely to respect one another and may even gain a greater sense of self-esteem.  For example, a mathematically inclined student might realize that his peer who isn’t so great at math has a talent for music.  If the class hadn’t been introduced to the Theory of Multiple Intelligences, they may not have known about one another’s intelligences or talents and maybe wouldn’t have recognized their own intelligences as valuable.  I do think that the secondary ed. classroom is more limited than the elementary school classroom in its potential ways to explore multiple intelligences (at least based on the examples given in this chapter), but I definitely think it’s still possible and important to make students aware of MI at the secondary level.  It would be great for kids to learn about them sooner, however, so as to promote respect for the different intelligences sooner in schooling, but I understand that that may not always happen and that they could and should still be emphasized at the middle and high school levels.