My Thoughts on "Emotional Intelligence"

By Howard Gardner

Quite often I am confused with the individuals who created the phrase “emotional intelligence” (researchers Peter Salovey and John Mayer) or with the author who made it world famous (Daniel Goleman). But ordinarily I don’t use the phrase emotional intelligence myself.

This article (click here for link) caught my attention because of the claim that emotional intelligence contributes significantly to academic success. Accordingly, in contemplating this research, I thought about its relation to two forms of intelligence that I identified in the early 1980s.

It should come as no surprise that individuals with high emotional intelligence are ones who can understand the feelings of others, build strong relationships with others, help them, and be themselves helped by peers as well as by teachers or other persons. These are all signs of interpersonal intelligence  But I was also pleased to learn that individuals who display emotional intelligence are able to engage with their own psychological states—boredom, anger, anxiety—and to deal with them effectively. In my “MI” lexicon, these latter capacities fall under the rubric of intrapersonal intelligence.

When I originally wrote about the then seven intelligences, I devoted a separate chapter to each of them—linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, and bodily-kinesthetic. But I deliberately treated both interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence in one chapter. And here was my reasoning. It’s possible to be stronger in one kind of personal intelligence than in another—but in all probability, there is a closer tie between the two personal intelligences than any other pair of intelligences.

Read the full article here: https://www.inverse.com/article/61671-emotional-intelligence-is-key-factor-for-success.

The Ranking of U.S. States by Intelligence

Howard Gardner was recently asked by The Epoch Times to comment on a new study by SafeHome which ranked U.S. States by intelligence. Gardner’s response to the study was as follows:

“The question of which states are smart makes for an amusing party game, but I don’t take it seriously otherwise,” he said. “It makes no more sense than to ask which countries are smarter.”

“Germany might have been the highest scorer in 1914 and in 1939, and they triggered two disastrous world wars,” he said. “Putting on a judicial hat, I’d say ‘case dismissed.’”

Gardner noted that SafeHome’s use of more than one indicator to weigh various factors is “a positive,” but the overall approach might ignore more nuanced complexities.

“The deeper question is: What is meant by intelligence, and to what extent can intellect be measured by standard instruments?” he said.

Click here to read the full article: https://www.theepochtimes.com/california-barely-above-average-among-smartest-states-but-is-the-data-accurate_3164835.html.

How Dance Helps Children with Special Needs

By Howard Gardner

In the terminology of MI theory, individuals on the “autistic spectrum” are particularly challenged with respect to interpersonal intelligence—the ability to perceive and easily understand the experiences and motivations of other human beings. This article suggests that, at least for some children on the “autistic spectrum,” experiences involving bodily movement (dance) and music—either with other persons or with robots—can help them relate more easily and more appropriately to other individuals. The article also suggests a possible mechanism—perhaps such experiences activate mirror neurons, which respond to other person’s behaviors and emotional expression. And perhaps in neurotypical individuals, this activation of mirror neurons occurs more readily.

It’s gratifying that certain intelligences may help to unlock other intelligences.

Click here to see the article.

How MI Theory Helps Schools

A school in Missouri, USA which uses Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory as a basis for their curriculum is celebrating itheir 50th anniversary. New City School in St Louis aims to develop their students’ individual strengths through an integrated MI curriculum. Principal Alexis Wright writes “our Multiple Intelligences frame for teaching and learning helps our students challenge themselves, pushing them to become well-rounded, lifelong learners.”

 Click here for details.

Since Howard Gardner first published Frames of Mind in 1983, MI theory has reached wide acceptance among educators. Many schools have adapted and interpreted MI theory in different ways.

Research conducted at Harvard University’s Project Zero suggests that MI theory helps schools in several ways:

• It offers a vocabulary for discussing children's strengths and developing curriculum.

• It validates practices already synchronous with MI theory.

• It promotes or justifies education in diverse art forms.

• It encourages teachers to work in teams, complementing their own strengths with those of their colleagues.

• It encourages schools to devise rich educational experiences for children from diverse backgrounds.

See the Project Zero website for more details.

http://www.pz.harvard.edu/projects/multiple-intelligence-schools

Harvard Gazette Offers Visual Tribute to Theory of Multiple Intelligences

A recent issue of the Harvard Gazette, published photographs offering “a visual tribute to Professor Howard Gardner’s research positing ‘the existence of eight different intelligences, each as important as the next, that comprise a unique cognitive profile for each person.’ Gardner coined the term ‘multiple intelligences’ in his seminal work, ‘Frames of Mind,’ to ‘challenge the widely held notion that intelligence is a single general capacity possessed by every individual to a greater or lesser extent.’” Click this link to see the photographs.