Howard Gardner

Howard Gardner (Scranton, Pennsylvania; July 11, 1943) is a psychologist, researcher and professor at Harvard University, known in the scientific field for his research in the analysis of cognitive abilities. and for having formulated the theory of multiple intelligences. For this theory and for its implications in the global improvement of education, he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize for Social Sciences in 2011.

Biography

He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1943, shortly after his family emigrated from Nazi Germany to the United States. He studied at Harvard University, where he focused on psychology and neuropsychology. His lines of research have focused on the analysis of cognitive abilities in minors and adults, from which he has formulated the theory of 'multiple intelligences'. (Frames of Mind, 1983). He was a researcher at Harvard University and, after years of study, he has put the US school education system in a compromising situation. ^{[citation needed]}

Gardner is co-director of Project Zero at the Harvard School of Education, where he also works as a professor of Education and Psychology, and is also a professor of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine.

In 1983 he presented his theory in the book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences and, in 1990, he was the first American to receive the Grawemeyer Prize from the University of Lousville. In it, he criticizes the idea of the existence of a single intelligence, through psychometric tests.

Participate in the GoodWork Project, aimed at improving professional quality and self-esteem, in which the factors of excellence and ethics are fundamentally taken into consideration.

He is in possession of around twenty 'honoris causa' distinctions; by universities such as those of Camilo José Cela, Tel Aviv, Princeton, McGill, etc.

The jury of the Prince of Asturias Foundation has awarded Gardner with the Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences (Spain, May 11, 2011). He was accompanied to collect the award by the director of the Montserrat de Vallvidrera School (Barcelona), where he works with this methodology. He was proposed as a candidate for this award by the Avanza Foundation.

Theory

He is fundamentally known for his theory of multiple intelligences, which indicates that there is no single intelligence in the human being, but rather a diversity of intelligences that mark the potentialities and significant accents of each individual, traced by the strengths and weaknesses in a whole series of intelligence expansion scenarios.

Intelligence is not a quantity that can be measured with a number such as the intelligence quotient (IQ), but rather the ability to organize thoughts and coordinate them with actions. There is not only one intelligence, but there are different types. Its system for implementing multiple intelligences is dedicated to stimulating the potential in children in an active and affective climate as required by the 21st century.

The basic theory can be summarized in the following words: each person has eight intelligences, cognitive abilities. These intelligences work together, even as a semi-autonomous entities. Each person develops some more than others. Different cultures and segments of society place different emphasis on them.

1. Language intelligence. In boys and girls it is appreciated in their ease of writing, reading, telling stories or making crosswords.
2. Logical-mathematic intelligence. Children are appreciated for their interest in measurement patterns, categories and relationships. Ability to resolve arithmetic problems, strategy games and experiments.
3. Visual and spatial intelligence. Children think of pictures and drawings. They have ease to solve puzzles, dedicate free time to draw, prefer constructive games, etc.
4. Musical intelligence. Minors often manifest with songs and sounds. They easily identify the sounds.
5. Physical intelligence. Ability to process knowledge through bodily sensations. Children have a strong capacity to perform activities that require strength, speed, flexibility, oculo-manual coordination and balance.
6. Naturalistic intelligence. Children think instinctively. They tend to get carried away, observe the environment, devise with natura material, etc.
7. Interpersonal intelligence (social intelligence). They communicate well and are leaders in their groups. They understand each other's feelings well and easily project interpersonal relationships.
8. Intrapersonal intelligence. Related to the ability of a subject to know himself: his reactions, emotions and inner life.

To these seven lines of intelligence, initially described (1983), Gardner later added a ninth, naturalistic intelligence or ease of communication with nature, which consists of understanding the natural environment and the scientific observation of nature such as biology, geology or astronomy.

The diversification of cognitive development advocated by the theory of multiple intelligences has come to indicate lines of pedagogical action adapted to the characteristics of the individual, more effective modes of communication and technological applications with a degree of connectivity appropriate to the intellectual profile of their children. users.

For Gardner, natural intelligence IQ is not an identical substratum of all individuals, but rather a singular biopsychological base, formed by combinations of multiple potentialities that are not always deployed as a consequence of education. standardized that does not distinguish the differential nuances of the individual.

In terms of cultural and informative mediation, this dissection of perceptive capacities and, consequently, of intellectual demands allows exploring new ways of approaching the so-called public objectives, generally described by sociological parameters and in accordance with the interests of the issuer or of those who use the supports. The analysis of reception based on perceptual and intellectual potential suggests a new relationship between the creator of the message and the audience.

Gardner also studies leadership, how it is formed and its relationship with fashions and the dissemination of attitudes through communication. It is unimaginable for a leader who does not communicate well, who does not transmit the values that sustain him to public opinion. On the contrary, the leader should know how to describe communication strategies that make him reach heterogeneous and specialized audiences, that is, that take into account the diversified nature of perceptive minds, their sensitivity and cognitive development.

Works

Bibliography

• Joe L. Kincheloe, Kathleen Nolan, Yusef Progler, Peter Appelbaum, Richard Cary, Donald S. Blumenthal-Jones, Marla Morris, Jay L. Lemke, Gaile S. Cannella, Danny Weil, Kathleen S. Berry (2004). Kincheloe, Joe L., ed. Multiple Intelligences Reconsidered. Counterpoints v. 278. New York: Peter Lang. ISBN 978-0-8204-7098-6. ISSN 1058-1634. Disclosure summary (4 September 2010).
• Howard Gardner (2006). Schaler, Jeffrey A., ed. "A Blessing of Influences" in Howard Gardner Under Fire. Illinois: Open Court. ISBN 978-0-8126-9604-2.
• Howard Gardner (1989). To Open Minds: Chinese Clues to the Dilemma of American Education. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-4650-8629-0.
• M. Kornhaber (2001). Palmer, Joy, ed. "Howard Gardner" in Fifty Modern Thinkers in Education. New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415224086.
• Gordon, L. M. 2006. Howard Gardner. "The encyclopedia of human development." Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2, 552-553.
• Gardner, Howard (2011). Truth, beauty, and wise reframed: Educating for the virtues in the 21st century. New York: Basic Books.