A new way of looking at intelligence beyond IQ tests was proposed by Harvard education professor Howard Gardner in 1983, in his book, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. He criticized traditional IQ tests as limited ways of measuring intelligence. Just because a person got a high score in an IQ test does not mean that the other scorers who didn’t do well were not smart.
Instead, Gardner said that the term “intelligence” had to be expanded to include other ways of expressing human potential. He listed several criteria to consider what is an intelligence, and defined up to eight types of intelligence. Each intelligence is independent from one another, and yet are present in each individual in varying degrees. The most developed intelligence can be used to access the other intelligences.
His theory has led educators to focus on how to teach students according to their individual intelligences. In February 2005, Gardner spoke at the 1st Multiple Intelligence Convention in the Philippines. The event was attended by two thousand educators and parents.
The eight types of intelligences as identified by Howard Gardner are:
1. Verbal/Linguistic intelligence, or “word smart”):
2. Logical-mathematical intelligence, or “number/reasoning smart”
3. Visual/Spatial intelligence, or “picture smart”
4. Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence or “body smart”
5. Musical intelligence or “music smart”
6. Interpersonal intelligence or “people smart”
7. Intrapersonal intelligence or “self smart”
8. Naturalist intelligence or “nature smart”
I sincerely believe we can tap into Gardner's Multiple Intelligence, or MI, theory, to find modern ways of learning "A Course in Miracles," or ACIM, a nontraditional, ground-breaking psycho-spiritual teaching that was introduced in the 1970s. One great website that contains a lot of helpful info about ACIM, and the ACIM content itself, is the Circle of Atonement., at
http://www.circleofa.org/ to get to the website.
I'll post at least once a week about learning ACIM through each of the eight intelligences.
If you're strong in one particular intelligence or two, and you're currently an ACIM student, please share your own insights and experiences.
