Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles
Constance Ellison, Ph.D.
May 24, 2004

May 24, 2004
Instead of asking, “How smart are you?” teachers should ask, “How are you smart?” The second question is important because students possess different types of intelligences and, thus, different ways of learning. Schools have traditionally cultivated and rewarded Verbal/Linguistic and Logical/Mathematical intelligences. But according to Psychologist Howard Gardner, there are at least six other types of intelligences: Visual/Spatial, Musical/Rhythmic, Bodily/Kinesthetic, Naturalist, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal. To empower all students to learn, teachers should develop lessons that allow students to put to use these intelligences as well as the more traditional ones.