How to Develop and Access Multiple Intelligences
Interpersonal
The ability to enter into the ‘map’ of another, make sense of the world from their viewpoint and
adjust behaviour accordingly. Allows the observation of subtle changes of mood and behaviour,
motivation, and intention.
A person with a well developed interpersonal intelligence will:
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see issues from different perspectives
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form, build and maintain a variety of social relationships with others
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work in teams
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listen, acknowledge and respond to the views of others
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influence others
To develop and access the interpersonal intelligence:
Encourage a regime of mixed groupings from the earliest. By the end of each term all pupils should
have worked with everyone else in the class. Use pairs and small group activity and collaborative
learning. Also empathising, conflict management, team problem-solving, interviewing others, and
active listening.
Intrapersonal
Knowledge about oneself. Ability to access one’s own feelings and emotions, judge and make sense
of their feelings and emotions. Those with a strong intrapersonal intelligence will be self motivated,
hove a high degree of self-knowledge and a strong sense of values.
A person with a well developed intrapersonal intelligence will:
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be aware of their thoughts, feelings and emotions
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attempt to find solutions to philosophical questions
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be self-motivated
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be consistent in living to and applying a set of personal values and beliefs
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value personal growth and development
To develop and access the intrapersonal intelligence:
Use goal setting activities, diaries, learning journals. Discussion of moral and ethical issues.
Encourage pupils to set personal targets for improvement which they then monitor. Teach and
practice assertiveness skills. Work with Yr 7 especially on encouraging the use of affective
language and other reflective tools.
Linguistic
Linguistic intelligence includes sensitivity to the meaning of words, to their order, to the sounds,
rhythm and inflection of words and to their capacity to change mood, persuade or convey
information.
A person with a well developed linguistic intelligence will:
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learn through listening, writing, reading and discussion
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imitate or mimic the linguistic idiosyncrasies of others
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develop their own application and understanding of language
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be a better than average communicator
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have a predominantly auditory representational system
To develop and access the linguistic intelligence:
Use puns, poems, rhymes, ploys on words, word games, story-telling, active listening roles,
metaphor in story-telling, puzzles and anagrams, written and spoken language exercises.
Early language intervention across all subjects using key vocabulary flash-cords, posters and notebooks. Add language to ‘doing’ wherever possible.
Mathematical and Logical
Individuals with a mathematical and logical intelligence are problem- solvers who can construct
solutions non-verbally. They delight in sequence, logic and order and can discern patterns and
relationships
A person with a well developed mathematical and logical intelligence will:
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discern the pattern in relationships
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be capable of ‘mathematical thinking’
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seek to find order and harmony in the immediate environment
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understand and be able to manipulate abstract symbols to represent concrete objects and
concepts
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be familiar at on early stage with the concepts of time, space, quantity, number, cause and
effect
To develop and access the mathematical and logical intelligence:
Use sequencing activities, work with numbers, measurement and estimation.
Prediction, speculation and hypothesising. Syllogisms and analogies. Problem solving. Encourage
brainstorming information before ordering and organisation. Find and use codes.
Use the descriptive - reflective- speculative (DRS) sequence and encourage pupils to provide
descriptors of the steps in any sequence
Visual and Spatial
Those with a well developed visual and spatial intelligence will be able to re-create images of
scenes or objects. They will be able to visualise objects manipulated through three dimensions and
through space and time.
A person with a well developed visual and spatial intelligence will:
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be able to visualise imagined scenes easily
interpret and construct graphs, maps and other visual media
be able to construct, build or conceive three-dimensional objects or imagine their ‘unfolded’
construction
learn through seeing and observing
be good at manoeuvring when this involves manipulating self or body through space
To develop and access the visual and spatial intelligence:
Encourage visualisations of solutions prior to discussion or description.
Use peripheral posters to reinforce key learning. Use ‘visual’ problem-solving tools such as topic
webs and memory mops.
Kinesthetic
The ability to use one’s body in highly differentiated and skilled ways. To work with objects and
manipulate them with finesse. Learning by doing where physical movement aids memory.
A person with a well developed kinesthetic intelligence will:
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enjoy exploring through touch, movement, manipulation, physical experience
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learn by doing
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be concerned over improvement in physical performance
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demonstrate creativity through construction, physical movement and expression
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show co-ordination, sense of movement, timing, balance
To develop and access the kinesthetic intelligence:
Use role-play, drama, physical movement, body sculpture, class group games, field trips, visits,
design and make activities. Support and praise for extra-curricular involvement in ‘physical’
activities.
Utilise regular break states and focus-diffuse-focus strategy. Build in regular review to lessons.
Musical
For many with a musical intelligence tones, rhythms and larger musical patterns are constantly in
their Consciousness. Composers constantly work and re-work such patterns
A person with a well developed musical intelligence will:
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discern patterns in sounds and enjoy experimenting with them
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show sensitivity to mood changes in sounds
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have a sense of rhythm and be able to respond to music artistically
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be curious about music and seek to develop their own categories and preferences
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enjoy improvising and experimenting with sounds of different sorts
To develop and access the musical intelligence:
Raps, rhymes, songs, jingles, choral readings, dramatic readings. Narrative verse.
Use music to help with revision of key material. Active and passive concert review.
Use music to manage the atmosphere in your classroom and to change ‘state’.
Naturalist
For many with a naturalist intelligence they will be at home in and delight in the natural
environment. An ability to describe the features of a natural environment and classify species will
often be accompanied by a sense of elation at being there.
Gardner says of the naturalist intelligence that it ‘refers to the ability to recognise and classify plant
minerals, and animals, including rocks and grass and all variety of flora and fauna ... there are
particular parts of the brain dedicated to the recognition and the naming of what are called natural
things’
A person with a well developed naturalist intelligence will:
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be attuned to the natural environment and be sensitive to harmony and disharmony there
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be able to categorise species and discern significance in patterns of relationships within and
between species
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show awareness of the interrelatedness of environment, change and time be comfortable in
different types of natural environment
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understand the significance of environmental and perhaps social ‘balance’ and have a sense
of fairness
To develop and access the naturalist intelligence:
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Water-quality monitoring project which includes visualisation of the forested area adjacent
to most rivers, kinesthetic simulations of water going down a storm drain, chemical
monitoring tests, breathing rates of feeder-fish in different vater temperatures, mock
presentations to community users groups
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on hikes, natural objects that start with different letters of the alphabet ore recorded
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groups with designated 100 square inch rectangular plots for ecology studies, contents ore
observed, drawn, recorded and itemised
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visits to landfill sites, water treatment plants, open-cost quarry areas
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visits from wildlife biologists, parks and recreation manager, the person at the council who
designs the play parks, a local farmer
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designing a puppet play to teach 5 and 6 year aids about the environment and how to look
after it
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a video survey of locals and what they know about water supply