If you don’t embrace the fact that you think about the world in a wide variety of ways, you severely limit your chances of finding the person that you were meant to be.
-Sir Ken Robinson-
Ironically, it wasn’t until I became a teacher that I realized just how flawed the education system was. The problem? The system has us believe we must measure intelligence rather than help individuals discover and develop it.
This was the primary reason I ended up leaving the profession. But there were others.
I was tired of the narrow constraints that were placed upon me to quantify the abilities of my students. I was tired of the ridiculous idea that one size of education fits all. I was tired of the fact that the expression of ideas and learning was limited to either numbers or words. I was tired of the fact that everyone had to be able to express their ideas in a finite time frame. I was tired of the fact that the curriculum contained nothing that helped students understand their own unique instruction manual. But mostly, I was tired of the fact I could see that the labels I was slapping on them would adversely shape them for a lifetime.
The sad reality is the majority of us are victims of a broken system. I have to look no further than myself to realize this. The very fact that I have had to unlearn the idea that I am not creative because I did not accelerate in the arts is a perfect example of all that is wrong with the system.
We have been lead to believe that intelligence can be measured; captured somehow in a series of contrived tests or assignments.
It cannot!
Intelligence is extraordinarily diverse. It is tremendously dynamic. It is uniquely distinctive to each and every one us, much like a fingerprint or a snowflake. Trying to measure and quantify intelligence would be as stupid as asking someone to place a grade on your fingerprint.
Well Dean I gave you 7.5 out of 10. Your print is smaller than average, a lot of the lines are not fluid nor evenly spaced and those paper cuts really make the whole print look like it was in a bar fight.
Multiple Intelligence…
The theory of intelligence continues to expand thanks to the likes of people such as Harvard professor Howard Gardner, who initially proposed that we possessed multiple intelligences, of which he identified 7.
To date, there have been two additional intelligences added to bring a total of 9 that have been identified. They are…
- Verbal/Linguistic-Well developed verbal skills and sensitivity to the sounds, meanings and rhythms of words
- Mathematical/Logical-Ability to think conceptually and abstractly, and capacity to discern logical or numerical patterns
- Musical Intelligence-Ability to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch and timber
- Visual/Spatial Intelligence-Capacity to think in images and pictures, to visualize accurately and abstractly
- Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence-Ability to control one’s body movements and to handle objects skillfully
- Interpersonal Intelligence-Capacity to detect and respond appropriately to the moods, motivations and desires of others
- Intrapersonal Intelligence-Capacity to be self-aware and in tune with inner feelings, values, beliefs and thinking processes
- Naturalist Intelligence-Ability to recognize and categorize plants, animals and other objects in nature
- Existential Intelligence-Sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence, such as the meaning of life, why do we die, and how did we get here
We possess them all to some degree, some more dominant than others.
Intelligence should be viewed more like a recipe, containing a variety of ingredients (from the 9 above) that produce a final product. And it varies depending on the situation. A tablespoon of visual/spatial, a cup of verbal linguistic and a pinch of interpersonal intelligence may suffice in one situation and yet be totally inappropriate in another.
What we really need to do is move away from the idea that intelligence is simply the ability to solve a math problem or write an essay. Instead, we need to embrace the idea that the body as a whole is an instrument to express what we know.
When we see it as a holistic approach we open up the possibilities to actually see its expression in the most unlikely of areas. When our epiphany occurs we begin to see that it exists in that person who…
- knows exactly what wine to recommend with say, a peanut butter and mustard pizza
- can reinvent the look of singing sensation Susan Boyle
- has the gift of combining colours (a gift I sorely lack judging by most of the outfits I slap together)
- can deliver the same joke you just butchered, but actually get a laugh
- can remain calm and navigate with a clear head through an emergency when everyone around them has lost their marbles
- can see the opportunity that exists amongst the ruins of doom and gloom
- can calm an out of control child when no one else can
- can literally teach an old dog new tricks
- knows how to use the power of touch to convey meaning, understanding, love and acceptance
None of the above has any place in school and yet all are important and valued in their own context.
So you need to quit your assumptions about yourself and your intelligence and if have children there is an even greater urgency to do this for their sake as you will be their biggest and most important ally they have.
Most of what you think about you is wrong. You are way more gifted and talented than you ever imagined, but somewhere along the way you bought into an idea about your genius that was incorrect.
Begin to re-examine your notions of your intelligence. By doing so, you will allow yourself the permission to experience the world your way and only then will you have the opportunity to discover where your own strengths lay.
To an idea worth quitting,
Dean
ps…Got kids? Talk to them about this. Help reshape their notion of intelligence so they can begin to see their unique abilities as they should. Got friends with kids. Why not send this their way. It could alter a destiny for generations to come.
