Intelligence theory transforming teaching. theory

National Catholic Reporter, March 29, 1996 by Ron Nuzzi

Fr. Ron Nuzzi is the author of an upcoming publication from the National Catholic Educational Association on using the multiple-intelligence theory in religious education. He teaches at the University of Dayton, Ohio.

The schedule indicates that students are in art class, where lesson plans call for painting as the day's activity. You might expect to find students working at individual easels or on a canvas- or paper-covered wall. Instead, these third-graders are flat on their backs, looking up at undersides of tables, where paper-covered cardboard has been mounted. In their supine positions, the children are busily engaged.

Why this nontraditional posture? The lesson isn't just about art. It's about art history, church history and the painting of the Sistine Chapel. The class is studying Michelangelo and the teacher is using techniques drawn from Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences or MI.

Many educators are realizing that effective teachers should not be measured by the silence of their classrooms or by attentive students facing front, arranged in rows, taking notes as the teacher lectures. Using Gardner's insights, Catholic school teachers across the country are revitalizing education by renewing the way they teach.

The new educational styles, grounded in the notion that every person has at least seven intelligences, are highly effective in schools and classrooms with diverse populations. The techniques are especially useful in multicultural settings, because the various elements of culture can be used to teach the subject at hand.

For example, in a classroom where high school students are discussing the incarnation in theology class -- specifically, the mystery of Jesus and his dual nature, human and divine -- students are asked to bring artistic representations of Jesus to class. They show up on the assigned day with a variety of items: a crucifix with a resurrected Jesus, a picture of Jesus during the agony in the garden of Gethsemane, a painting of a smiling Jesus with his arms around a group of modern-day children, a crucified Jesus in excruciating pain, a wanted poster describing a subversive Jesus, and the traditional depiction of the sacred heart of Jesus exposing a heart within his chest.

One student, carrying a small statue of the Infant of Prague, fully dressed and with a crown, worries about fulfilling the assignment, inquires whether the statue is supposed to be Jesus.

The teacher uses each item to ask a simple question: "What does this piece tell us about Jesus?" Rather than lecturing on Jesus or telling the class about Jesus, the teacher makes use of the students' own knowledge by helping them articulate what they already know.

"Next week," the teacher says, "we will analyze the words to some popular hymns and carols to see what they teach us about Jesus. Are there any contemporary songs about Jesus we could study?'

By appealing to their spatial and musical intelligences -- and using her own interpersonal intelligence the teacher has done more than get their attention. She has them interested in Christology.

An undergraduate elective in a university theology department is a survey course on spirituality. Under a professor's guidance, students are reading and discussing philosophers and theologians from various religious traditions. The goal is to develop appreciation of diverse opinions that have enriched religious practice in the United States. During a section on the Shaker tradition, the professor teaches the class the song "Simple Gifts" along with a large-group circle dance that gives expression to some Shaker tenets. Class discussion-afterward revels a great amount of creativity as students offer their imaginative interpretations of the various motions.

The theory of multiple intelligences was first articulated by Gardner in 1983. In his book, Frames of Mind, he reported on his studies, which concluded that, all people have at least the following seven intelligences:

1. Linguistic intelligence: the ability to use words persuasively and correctly;

2. Logical-mathematical intelligence: the ability to use numbers effectively;

3. Spatial intelligence: the ability to perceive shapes and spaces accurately;

4. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence: the ability to use one's body productively;

5. Musical intelligence: the ability to appreciate and understand rhythm;

6. Interpersonal intelligence: the ability to relate successfully with others;

7. Intrapersonal intelligence: the ability to gain and use self-knowledge.

Traditional teaching practices were challenged by Gardner's theory. He was highly critical of educational approaches that utilize only one or two of the intelligences, reasoning that such teaching left most of a student's natural abilities untouched and untapped. In an MI classroom, students are involved in a variety of activities, in contrast to lecture-oriented education, where only linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences are engaged.

Catholic schools have been increasingly involved in educational renewal through MI theory for several reasons. First, the theory, well-founded on scientific research, seems to confirm some of the fundamental beliefs that are central to Catholic school's. Among these is the conviction that all students can learn and that all are gifted in special ways by God. Although Gardner never quite said it that way, many Catholic school teachers immediately see the connection between his theory and the abiding Catholic focus on the goodness of all creation.