When we were kids, many times, we elders used to say something like, “My son is very intelligent. He scored 100% in maths”, or “His daughter is always at the top of the class.” He is very intelligent. In our schools and colleges, we see professors praising class/university toppers because, you know, they are “intelligent.”
I agree that those who get high scores, make good money and settle down fast. But what I can’t agree with is that these adults have simply popularized the term “intelligence” with their children’s academic scores. Isn’t the child who paints intelligent? Isn’t a child who learns different languages intelligent? Isn’t the child who sings sarcastically or plays football/cricket really good intelligent?
According to Howard Gardner, a psychologist, and professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, intelligence is the ability to create an effective product or offer something that is valuable in culture. It is
a set of skills that make it possible for a person to solve problems in life. Ability to find or create solutions to problems, including accumulating new knowledge.
Gardner developed the theory of multiple intelligence (MI). According to MI Theory, identifying each student’s intelligence has a powerful hand in the classroom. If a child’s intelligence can be identified, teachers can more successfully adjust to the different children’s learning tendencies according to their tendency.
In traditional classrooms, teachers primarily teach verbal/linguistic and math / logical intelligence.
There is nine intelligence:
1. Ideological / Local – Children who learn well from the scene and arrange things in places. They want to know who you are talking about. They enjoy charts, graphs, maps, tables, illustrations, art, puzzles, costumes.
2. Verbal / Language – Children who demonstrate strength in language skills: speaking, writing, reading, listening. These students have always been successful in traditional classrooms because their intelligence compels them to teach traditional lessons.
M. Mathematical / Logical – Children who show numbers, reasoning and problem solving skills. They make up the other half of children who generally perform better in traditional classrooms where education is logically arranged, and students are asked to adapt.
OD. Physical / Moderate – Children who experience best learning through activity: through sports, mobility, work, and building. These children were often referred to as “extremely active” in traditional classrooms where they were told to sit and be quiet!
M. Musical / Rhythmic – Children who learn well through the expression of songs, patterns, rhythms, instruments, and music. In traditional education, it is easy to ignore children with this intelligence.
6. Interpersonal – Children who are particularly exposed to their own feelings, values and ideas. They tend to be more secure, but they are actually more intuitive about what they learn and how it relates to themselves.
7. Personal – Children who are significantly more person-oriented and retiring, and do so in their education groups or in collaboration with a partner. In the traditional setting these children are generally identified as “talking” or “very concerned about being social”.
8. Nature Lovers – Children who love to travel outside, in animals, in the fields. More than that, though, these students like to embrace subtle differences in meaning. The traditional classroom is not providing space for these children.
Once I understood MI Theory, I realized that children in India are classified as “Intelligent” on the basis of Type 3, ie Mathematical / Logical Intelligence.
When I was a student, I was bad at math. However, I found learning different languages so easy, I kept a personal diary to express my innermost feelings, and I loved spending time with pets and nature. I may not have mathematical intelligence, but I was a mixture of linguistic, inner, and natural intelligence.
Kindergarten children value their educators more than anything else. Are shielded. During school days, I noticed that my friends’ parents were reluctant to send them out for sports because they were wasting their time studying their subjects. Parents and teachers, instead of spending money or time to express their passions and paint, will force their children to pursue a career in education, which is why they need a “good job”. I will help.
In this country, parents and teachers lack the understanding to help their children develop a holistic personality. The child should spend a few hours a day studying with their educator. . However, it is also important to understand what kind of MI theory the child adopts. The child can study hard and get a good job. At the same time, the child can become a poet, painter, sportsperson, ecologist or interior designer. These jobs are also well received.
I spent a year at a school that forced kids to study from 8am to 8am, as you know, to be “intelligent”. The school even divided the students into different sections based on their scores (highest scorer in section A and lowest scorer in section D). Didn’t the principal of the school understand how the students of section D showed depression? Thankfully, this hell lasted only a year, after which it was transformed into another school, which promoted the all-around development of the students.
So the next time you see a parent or teacher pointing to a class topper and calling him or her “intelligent,” just give them a smile and a sigh.
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| Is your child intelligent? Think before you decide on a child’s intelligence! |
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