Over the past decade there’s been a lot of debate about whether Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences is valid as an approach to guide instruction.  I’m going to take up the points of this debate in a future post.  But right now, I want to argue for the most persuasive reason why every teacher...Read More

Getting students’ attention in the classroom is one of the things that teachers have to do intermittently throughout the school day:  at the start of a class, at the end of an activity where students are working in groups, and at other times besides.  Some teachers are very good at this, commanding student attention through...Read More

Anyone who has been in American education for more than a generation understands that educational trends come in waves.  Progressive education gives way to back to basics which yields to open education which in term is supplanted by cultural literacy, high stakes testing and standards-based instruction.  And so it goes. Somewhere in there, around about...Read More

The use of Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences (MI theory) has been increasing by leaps and bounds in countries across the globe.  In many countries, it has become part of national policy.  In India, for example, as part of its National Curriculum Framework for School Education teachers are required to have familiarity with the...Read More

Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences (MI theory) has revolutionized the field of education.  But it also has important implications for developmental psychology.  Gardner’s theory says that there are at least eight different intelligences:  linguistic (word smart), logical-mathematical (numbers and reasoning smart), spatial (picture smart), musical (music smart), bodily-kinesthetic (body smart)), interpersonal (people smart), intrapersonal...Read More