The+Theory+of+Multiple+Intelligences

 "The idea of multiple intelligences comes out of psychology. It's a theory that was developed to document the fact that human beings have very different kinds of intellectual strengths and that these strengths are very, very important in how kids learn and how people represent things in their minds, and then how people use them in order to show what it is that they've understood. If we all had exactly the same kind of mind and there was only one kind of intelligence, then we could teach everybody the same thing in the same way and assess them in the same way and that would be fair. But once we realize that people have very different kinds of minds, different kinds of strengths -- some people are good in thinking spatially, some in thinking language, others are very logical, other people need to be hands on and explore actively and try things out -- then education, which treats everybody the same way, is actually the most unfair education. Because it picks out one kind of mind, which I call the law professor mind -- somebody who's very linguistic and logical -- and says, if you think like that, great, if you don't think like that, there's no room on the train for you."

Howard Gardner

John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor in Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education

As a young parent of a child with a specific learning disability in auditory processing, my first instinct to help him was to head directly to the public library. There I hoped to find some hope, anything in educational research that would enable me to help my son. Providentially, I came across the book, "Their Own Way", by Dr. Thomas Armstrong, an educational consultant. It was there I was first introduced to the Multiple Intelligence Theory of learning and teaching. My feet were set on a path toward the theory and practices that would help my son become a successful film student and teacher, and would also chart my course as an educator over the next 20 years.