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Page history last edited by Amy Brown 14 years, 3 months ago

Introduction

This wiki is about Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences and it is geared for children's librarians who may not be familiar with the theory but would like to make their existing programs friendlier to kids who have different learning styles. It's a place for general information about multiple intelligences and about successful public library programs that incorporate MI theory. It's also a place where you can find additional handouts from our presentation Bringing in the Boys: Using Multiple Intelligences to Plan Programs that Appeal to Boys. Amy Brown and Molly Meyers are the creators of this wiki. You can contact us by e-mailing us at: abrown@worthingtonlibraries.org or mmeyers@worthingtonlibraries.org.

What Is MI Theory?

The Theory of Multiple Intelligences was developed by Howard Gardner about twenty-five years ago. He originally started with seven intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Later he added the naturalist intelligence. Gardner believes that we have all eight intelligences but we might not have the same competency level for each intelligence. Some people might be really strong in the spatial intelligence but not as strong in the linguistic intelligence, for example. Gardner believes that we can improve our skills in all of these intelligences. He also believes that the intelligences work together in often complex ways and that within a particular intelligence, there are many ways to be good at it.

The educational field has really accepted this theory and many books that talk about MI theory come from educators. Why is this theory so important? It tells us that kids learn in different ways and that if we want to reach kids who have different learning styles, we can do that by understanding the multiple intelligences and including opportunities for them to learn in the style that is their dominant learning style.

For eight years Worthington Libraries has been using MI Theory to help plan school-age programming. One thing that we have noticed over the years is that our programs bring in a lot of boys. Why the appeal to boys? We've discovered that when we program using the multiple intelligences we create a program that will appeal to both boys and girls because it has activities that will reach the different learning styles of boys and girls.

Eight Intelligences

Linguistic or Word Smart

Logical-Mathematical or Logic Smart

Musical or Music Smart

Intrapersonal or Self Smart

Spatial or Picture Smart

Bodily-Kinesthetic or Body Smart

Interpersonal or People Smart

Naturalist or Nature Smart

Boys and Literacy and Multiple Intelligences

What Kind of Books Do Boys Like to Read

What Boys Need to Help Them Learn