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98

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 1990

Special to The Jewish News

D

o you know your In-
telligence Quotient?
The IQ formula —
mental age divided by
chronological age — has been
in use since the early 1900s.
Now, a movement is challeng-
ing the old IQ theory. Several
new theories have surfaced
and gained acceptance with
far reaching implications for
children, teachers and
schools.
The old IQ theory takes a
narrow view of human intelli-
gence. It revolves around the
belief that intelligence is a
single entity which can be
measured. In common, all the
new theories envision a
broader range of domains in-
herent in the human
intellectual process. Several
of the psychologists who are
leading this movement pre-
sent similar concepts of the
multi-faceted nature of
intelligence.
One leader is Howard Gard-
ner of Harvard University,
Boston, MA, who argues that
the standardized IQ test mea-
sures only a fraction of the
complex elements of human
intelligence. Dr. Gardner, a
psychologist and professor in
the Harvard Graduate School
of Education, and a MacAr-
thur Prize Winner, detailed
his theory in his book Frames
Of Mind. In brief, his Multi-
ple Theory of Intelligence (MI
Theory) sets forth seven areas
of intellectual competence:
linguistic, musical, logical-
mathematical, spatial, bodily-
kinesthetic, interpersonal
and intrapersonal. Although
these areas are relatively in-
dependent of one another,
they seldom operate in iso-
lation.
Dr. Gardner's theory is not
without its critics. One criti-
cism is that the MI Theory

deals with talent, not intelli-
gence. A second criticism is
that the theory might be used
to excuse poor academic per-
formance. A third critic calls
the MI Theory a "lumper"
theory, because everything
that's good in behavior is
lumped under the umbrella of
"intelligence."
Despite the critics, educa-
tors across the country are
responding to Dr. Gardner's
and other researchers' multi-
ple intelligence perspective.
Massive changes have been
initiated in many schools,
supported by national net-
works and government pro-
grams that were established
to nurture these reforms. Un-
derscoring the changes is the
belief that stimulating, inno-
vative, creative education
should be provided to all stu-
dents, not just the gifted or
advanced. According to Dr.
Gardner, everyone is born
with certain strengths and
weaknesses in each of the cog-
nitive areas; everyone is cap-
able of developing greater
proficiency in all of them. For
children to succeed in life, Dr.
Gardner says schools must
provide an environment for
the varied intelligences to
thrive. He identifies three
areas for change.
Traditionally, school curric-
ulum and instruction empha-
sized linguistic and logical
skills because these are the
focus of IQ and standardized
tests. In order to address the
multiplicity of human abili-
ties, Dr. Gardner proposes
that the learning environ-
ment offer more attractive
participation and stimulation
with hands-on materials and
experiences. New ways to
assess student knowledge
must be found. Lastly, the
highly individual ways in
which people learn must be
recognized, and reflected in

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