"We have this myth that the only way to learn something is to read it in a textbook or hear a lecture on it. And the only way to show that we've understood something is to take a short-answer test or maybe occasionally with an essay question thrown in. But that's nonsense. Everything can be taught in more than one way." – Howard Gardner
Howard Garner: A Short BiographyHoward Gardner was born on July 11, 1943 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He described himself as "a studious child who gained much pleasure from playing the piano." He completed his post-secondary education at Harvard, earning his undergraduate degree in 1965 and his Ph.D. in 1971.
After spending time working with two very different groups, normal and gifted children and brain-damaged adults, Gardner began developing a theory designed to synthesize his research and observations. In 1983, he published Frames of Mind which outlined his theory of multiple intelligences. taken from http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesal/p/howard-gardner.htm by Kendra Cherry |
Garner's BIG Ideas'g' isn't Good Enough
g or general intelligence does not describe the full breadth of human intelligence Multiple Intelligences In Frames of Mind 1984 Garner argued that humans possess Multiple Intelligences and there are 7 catagories, later revised to 8 with the possibility of others admitted. On Learning: Learning ought to be adapted to cover the full breadth of all the Multiple Intelligences in order to create well rounded individuals. Many current curricula focus too heavily on Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, and Visual-Spatial Skills. Summarized from Garner's ideas expounded in Intelligence Reframed (1999). |
Interesting Tidbits about Garner's Life and Influences
- Studied with Educational Psychologist Dr. Jerome Bruner and Dr. Nelson Goodman, psychologist, philosopher and the founding director of Project Zero
- Directs and Conducts research at Project Good, along with colleagues William Damon and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi as well as many others.