Reflections on Gardner

I really had not read anything from Gardner in the past but in reading this essay, I was reminded of a book that completely changed my learning style. Accelerated Learning for the 21st Century by Colin Rose and Malcolm J. Nicholl. When I read that book I was so impressed by the discussion of the variety of ways in which we learn.

As a student, I was often frustrated by school. Some educators left me with a feeling failure in my ability to understand while others had me excited and engaged in learning. I now appreciate that it was my learning style being fostered or in some cases restricted.

I believe then as now, many educate by the “banking” method discussed by Freire. I think educators want to engage students but are themselves, victim to the learning styles that contradict the ways in which we learn (pg. 5). Freire states, “the humanist, revolutionary educator cannot wait for this possibility to materialize.” Rather his “trust in people and their created power” is achieved by recognizing that they “must be partners of the students in their relations with them” (pg. 4).

Back to Gardner, I was affected by his writing in a similar way as I was by Rose and Nicholl. Gardner discusses MI’s as valuable but should be implemented in teaching with other educational programs and not be used as educational goals (pg. 9). Seeing that spiritual, sexual, and, digital intelligences (pg. 10) exist and should be recognized made sense. Yet at the same time he leaves room to view these intelligences as subjective (pg. 10). So, the educator must be connected to the individual student to successfully reach them. Nothing is carved in stone, but recognizing these variations in learning can make a difference in the way we present information.
Kim

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