Multiple Intelligences in The Teaching-Learning Process
Teaching is not an easy profession or job, it is one of the noblest profession. Being a teacher comes with continuous learning, growth, and development which is one of the integral parts of the field of teaching.
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Sherry J. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
Development, additional knowledge, and experiences from what we already have given us a feeling of achievement as well. We'll be facing many challenges, difficulties, consequences, and pressure in our life as a teacher, but we must not worry because it is normal and in the end, we will be proud to ourselves for being a teacher which is a fulfilling profession. Teacher's duties come with challenges that is why we must be well prepared, wise, creative, on how to understand our students. Going beyond, not only knowing our students but also studying them and if possible how their mind works; how they learn, their problems and their struggles. Being versatile, having a broader knowledge, strategies, methods, and techniques when we're in the classroom will help us achieve our goal and successful outcome or result.
Learning is the activity or process of gaining knowledge or skill by studying, practicing, being taught, or experiencing something: the activity of someone who learns. We as a teacher must know and study how well the human mind works, extra knowledge, effort, and ways to be creative in applying possible ways to help and enable the students to learn easily with comfort and in their best ways. Our best and unique way/s of how we perceived, understood, learned and so, how we applied it is only within ourselves.
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On the other side, we also have differences as individuals; how well we do on things are based on our intelligence. That's why making sure all the things a teacher should know, consider and prepare in teaching must be appropriate, suited to the needs of the students. It doesn't end like that; as a teacher/EFL teacher or even we're teaching other subject areas; preparing lessons must be taken seriously. From objectives, the age level of the students, motivation, techniques, necessary materials, and other characteristics of a good lesson plan should be well-prepared and of course, we as a teacher to deliver the lesson properly. In the teaching-learning process, things like how the students learn must be the top priority. Observing as possible how well our students think, act, and what is their best ways in learning, their struggles, their understanding and many other factors that hinder them to learn easily.
Considering the student's intelligence, these things are not new when we go to school if we are in other places or situations or it might be on how we live our lives. We have something special within ourselves and own uniqueness. Howard Gardner's "The Theory of Multiple Intelligences", who he proposed in his 1983 book of Frames of Mind has a big impact and guide in the field of teaching. According to the theory, an intelligence 'modality' must fulfill eight criteria: potential for brain isolation by brain damage, place in evolutionary history, presence of core operations, susceptibility to encoding (symbolic expression), a distinct developmental progression, the existence of savants, prodigies and other exceptional people, support from experimental psychology, and support from psychometric findings. From these criteria, Gardner proposed eight abilities that he held to meet these criteria. He categorized 8 multiple intelligences, and in 2009 it was updated with a total of 9 multiple intelligences. These 9 multiple intelligences are musical-rhythmic, visual-spatial, verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, and existential (2009).
All of this is very well accurate, visible and valid in such a way we can evaluate how we can help ourselves in achieving and doing what makes learning easy as possible, relevant and suited considering all the intelligence of our students, and so resulting in the achievement of our objectives. The teaching and learning process comes with various skills, knowledge, and consideration like working with multiple intelligences in teaching.
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As a teacher of English or other subject areas, we must know how to look into it and identify the multiple intelligences of our students. Making sure and doing the best strategies or methods to cater to all of them. Teaching and learning must be unique, varied, effective, efficient, fun, and exciting. Learning is a process where it caters the multiple intelligences, students who learn easily in their ways and areas. Developing what they can and if possible have them a chance to explore and experience all the intelligence aside from what they already have. Multiple Intelligences in learning determines also how an individual excel, learns easily in a specific area or activity. How in every context a teacher evaluates student's understanding, acquisition, processing and application of what they have learned. Intelligence is a special gift that each of our students has.
They may not have all the multiple intelligences stated in Howard Gardner's: The Theory of multiple intelligences, but we can help them discover it all and gradually develop each to themselves; having them options or ways in learning and making them not rely only on what intelligences they already have. Considering a class having different learning styles based on the intelligences they have, preparing materials, that will not only cater to the students with musical-rhythmic intelligence or verbal-linguistic or interpersonal or either among the multiple intelligences.
Making a classroom where students with different bits of intelligence are catered, activate their interests towards the lesson based on the intelligence they have, making easy for them to learn, retain and apply it. There are many ways where we can help and achieve it as well as for us, as a teacher. Developing one's skills, knowledge and necessary information and learning, that is beneficial in connection with multiple intelligences. Working in an environment where we are not limited to what is only there but rather working with possibilities, going beyond what we thought we can only do.
Planning and establishing activities where they are not limited to explore and at the same time strengthen their already own intelligence, and where they can discover and experience other intelligence that may interest them and develop it. Group activities are one of the activities where different multiple intelligences can be catered, it is for the teacher to design and plan for it and of course, making sure the curriculum is not compromised.
We must be wholehearted, and passionate in teaching and is our job to be sensitive, aware, creative, and be mindful of every situation before, during, and after teaching. Making sure not to deliver only the lesson for our own sake and benefits or instance, we only wanted to finish our lesson for the day and not considering how our students learn or whether they've learned from the lesson. The success of the teaching and learning process will start from us.
How well we planned, understood, created, designed, used methods, and strategies on the processes where the multiple intelligences of our students are catered. Teacher's part is very important and challenging, being versatile and creative is two among many characteristics a teacher should have when it comes to multiple intelligences, resulting to a successful outcome and goal of teaching and learning process.
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