Does My Child Have Multiple Intelligences?

Victoria Cantú

Aug 28, 2019

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Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences is widely known, and most of us have probably taken at least one test, even if only out of curiosity, to find out which intelligence we stand out in the most. For anyone unfamiliar with them, here are the main ones: interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, musical, logical-mathematical, linguistic-verbal, visual-spatial, and bodily-kinesthetic. Once we learn about them, many of us begin to criticize an education system that tends to favor children with logical-mathematical and linguistic-verbal strengths, while leaving behind those whose talents lie elsewhere, as if they were destined to get low grades and never fully develop their potential.

And perhaps because of that belief, many of us feel frustrated with our own schools. The type of intelligence in which we naturally excelled was rarely valued, and on top of that, we were forced to practice forms of intelligence that did not come naturally to us. It is not a situation we want repeated for our children.

What happens as we grow older and experience the real world is that we begin to realize that grades and honor rolls are not as valuable as we once thought. What the world actually asks of us is that we know how to manage and solve problems, because that is what life is made of. And, surprise, intelligence is often defined as the ability to solve problems. So then the question becomes: regardless of the type of intelligence I am strongest in, can I solve the problems that come my way?

The answer is not so simple. If we want to get technical, yes, we can. But for better results, it is far more useful to combine the strengths of more than one intelligence. Just as people say "two heads are better than one," I would say that two intelligences solve problems better than one. Imagine how powerful it would be if all of them worked together at the same time. That is not impossible.

That is how we begin to understand how important it is to develop as many intelligences as possible, not only the ones school tends to encourage, but also not only the ones that come easily to us. We can appreciate that school pushes some forms of intelligence, even when it was hard for us to perform well in them, and while we continue trying to convince educational institutions of the value of a more complete education, we can also encourage our children to grow across all eight intelligences, even if one is especially strong.

Let us look for learning alternatives for our children and motivate them to keep practicing, even when challenges are hard. If traditional school does not go very well for them, that is not a reason to lose hope. They simply need to understand that what they are taught there can still be useful, even if the content is somewhat limited. Whether it is joining a sports team, taking an art class, or enrolling in a new entrepreneurship course, our decisions can help children discover what they are good at and where they can improve. That variety of experiences helps them broaden their perspective from an early age and recognize how many possibilities are open to them. Over time, through trial, error, and many frustrations, they will discover that if one path does not work, they can try many others instead of staying in their comfort zone.

And even if they never have enough time in life to master 100 percent of the skills connected to every intelligence, the fact that children understand they can develop a little bit of all of them, and in doing so build a richer perspective for solving life’s problems, is already a major gain.

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