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Howard Gardner

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Howard Gardner is the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Research Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is also the head of the Steering Committee of Harvard Project Zero . Among numerous honors, Gardner received a MacArthur Prize Fellowship and a Fellowship from the John S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 1981 and 2000, respectively. In 1990, he was the first American to receive the University of Louisville's Grawemeyer Award in Education. He also won  Howard Gardner, recipient of the Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award. In recognition of his contributions to both academic theory and public policy, he has received honorary degrees from thirty-one colleges and universities, including institutions in Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, South Korea, and Spain. He has twice been selected by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines as one of 100 most influential public intellectuals in the world. In 2011, Gardner received the Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences; in 2015, he was chosen as the recipient of the Brock International Prize in Education; and in 2020, he received the Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award from the American Educational Research Association (AERA). He has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the National Academy of Education, and the London-based Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. 

The author of thirty books translated into thirty-two languages, and several hundred articles, Gardner is best known in educational circles for his theory of multiple intelligences, a critique of the notion that there exists but a single human intelligence that can be assessed by standard psychometric instruments (please see Multiple Intelligences Oasis ). Since the middle 1990s, Gardner has directed The Good Project , a group of initiatives, founded in collaboration with psychologists Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and William Damon. 

In 2020, Gardner’s memoir, A Synthesizing Mind was published by MIT Press. He also recently completed The Real World of College with Wendy Fischman, to be published by MIT Press in 2022. This book explores the results of their large-scale national study documenting how different groups think about the goals of college and the value of a course of study emphasizing liberal arts and sciences. He contributes to his personal blog regularly.  

Publications

• Kornhaber, M., & Winner, E. (Eds.). (2014). Mind, Work, and Life: A Festschrift on the Occasion of Howard Gardner’s 70th Birthday, with responses by Howard Gardner (Vols. 1-2). Amazon via CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Available online at: http://howardgardner01.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/festschrift-_-volumes-1-2-_-final.pdf.
• Gardner, H. and Davis, K. (2013). The App Generation: How today's youth navigate identity, intimacy, and imagination in a digital world . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Translated into: Italian, Korean, Spanish, Romanian, and Chinese (simple characters).
• Gardner, H. (2011). Truth, beauty, and goodness reframed: Educating for the virtues in the era of truthiness and twitter . (Paperback edition, with new preface). New York, NY: Basic Books.
• James, C., Davis, K., Flores, A., Francis, J., Pettingill, L., Rundle, M., & Gardner, H. (2009). Young people, ethics, and the new digital media: A synthesis from the GoodPlay Project . Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
• Gardner, H. (2007). Five minds for the future . Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Translated into Korean, Italian, Japanese, Danish Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Romanian.
• Gardner, H., Ed. (2007). Responsibility at work: How leading professionals act (or don't act) responsibly . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Gardner, H. (2006). The development and education of the mind: The collected works of Howard Gardner . London, UK: Routledge. Translated into Italian, Spanish.
• Gardner, H. (2006). Multiple intelligences: New horizons . New York: Basic Books. Translated into: Romanian, Chinese (SC), Vietnamese, Indonesian, Korean, and Bulgarian.
• Gardner, H. (2004). Changing minds: The art and science of changing our own and other people’s minds . Boston MA: Harvard Business School Press. Paperback edition (2006). Translated into French, Spanish, Japanese, Danish, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Greek, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Chinese (CC), Chinese (SC), Chinese (short version), Danish, Romanian, Norwegian, and Croatian. Awarded Strategy + Business's Best Business Books of the Year (2004). 2011 Edition with updated preface and bibliography: New York, NY, Basic Books.
• Fischman, W., Solomon, B., Greenspan, D., Gardner, H. (2004). Making good: How young people cope with moral dilemmas at work . Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Translated into Spanish, Korean, and Chinese.
• Gardner, H. (2002). Howard Gardner in Hong Kong . L.Lo (Ed.). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Institute of Educational Research.
• Gardner, H., Csikszentmihalyi, M. and Damon, W. (2001). Good Work: When excellence and ethics meet . New York: Basic Books. Paperback edition with Afterword (2002). Translated into Korean, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Swedish, Chinese and Romanian. Selected as one of ten most important books in Hong Kong (2003). Chosen as a Book of Distinction by the Templeton Foundation.
• Gardner, H. (1999). The Disciplined mind: What all students should understand . New York: Simon and Schuster. Translated into Portuguese, German, Spanish, Chinese (Taiwan), Italian, Swedish, Korean, Hebrew, Danish, Turkish, Romanian, Croatian. Excerpted in The Futurist , 34, (2), 30-32, (Mar/Apr 2000) . Paperback edition with new afterword, "A Tale of Two Barns": Penguin Putnam, New York, 2000.
• Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence reframed: Multiple intelligences for the 21st Century . New York, NY: Basic Books. Translated into German, Spanish, Korean, Hebrew, Chinese (SC), Swedish, Portuguese, Japanese, Italian, Bulgarian, Polish, Turkish, Dutch, and Croatian.
• Gardner, H. (1997). Extraordinary minds: Portraits of exceptional individuals and an examination of our extraordinariness . New York: Basic Books. British edition, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1997. Translated into French, Portuguese, Chinese (Taiwan), Chinese (PRC), Polish, Hungarian, Czech, Spanish, Korean, Indonesian, and German.
• Gardner, H., with the collaboration of Laskin, E. (1995). Leading minds: An anatomy of leadership . New York: Basic Books. Translated into German, Italian, Swedish, Portuguese, Chinese (Taiwan), Greek, Korean, Spanish, and Japanese. British Edition: HarperCollins, 1996. Basic Books Paperback.
• Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple intelligences: The theory in practice . New York: Basic Books. Selected by three book clubs. Excerpted in the magazine Behinderte in Familie , Schule und Gesellschaft , vol. 2 , 1997. Abridged, Danish translation, 1997, Copenhagen: Glydendal Undervisning. Translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Chinese (Taiwan), Hebrew, Korean, Polish, Chinese (R.C.), Danish, Ukranian, and Japanese.
• Gardner, H. (1993). Creating minds: An anatomy of creativity seen through the lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi . New York: Basic Books. Quality Paperback Book Club. Translated into Swedish, German, Spanish, Chinese (Taiwan), Portuguese, Italian, Slovenian, Korean, Polish, and French.
• Gardner, H. (1990). Art education and human development . Los Angeles, CA: The Getty Center for Education in the Arts. Translated into Italian and Spanish.
• Gardner, H. (1989). To open minds: Chinese clues to the dilemma of contemporary education . New York, NY: Basic Books. Basic Books Paperback with new introduction, 1991. Translated into Italian and Korean.
• Gardner, H. (1985). The mind's new science: A history of the cognitive revolution . New York: Basic Books. Translated into Spanish, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Chinese, and Portuguese. Adopted by six book clubs. Basic Books Paperback with new Epilogue, 1987.
• Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences . New York: Basic Books. Selected by five book clubs. British Edition, W. Heinemann. Translated into Spanish, Japanese, Italian, Hebrew, Chinese, French, and German. Basic Books Paperback, 1985. Tenth Anniversary Edition with new introduction, New York: Basic Books, 1993. Twentieth Anniversary Edition with new introduction. New York: Basic Books, 2004. Translated into Swedish, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Chinese (Taiwan), French, Norwegian, Hebrew, Slovenian, Korean, and Czech. Selected by three book clubs. Selected by the Museum of Education for Books of the Century exhibit, Columbia, SC, 1999. Tenth Anniversary British Edition, London: HarperCollins (Fontana Press), 1993.
• Gardner, H. (1982). Art, mind, and brain: A cognitive approach to creativity . New York, NY: Basic Books. Basic Books Paperback, 1984. Translated into Spanish, Hebrew, Japanese, Italian, Chinese, and Portuguese.
• Gardner, H. (1980). Artful Scribbles: The significance of children's drawings . New York: Basic Books. Behavioral Sciences book service selection. Basic Books Paperback, 1982. Translated into Japanese, French, Spanish, and Chinese.
• Gardner, H. (1979). Developmental psychology: An introduction . Boston: Little Brown, International Edition. Second Edition, 1982.
• Gardner, H. (1975). The shattered mind . New York: Knopf. Main Selection, Psychology Today Book Club, Jan. 1974; Vintage Paperback, 1976. Quality Paperback Book Club Selection. Routledge and Kegan Paul, British Edition. Translated into Japanese.
• Gardner, H. (1973). The quest for mind: Jean Piaget, Claude Levi-Strauss, and the structuralist movement . New York: NY: Knopf. Vintage paperback, 1974; coventure publication in England, 1975. Second Edition, 1981, University of Chicago Press. Translated into Italian and Japanese.
• Gardner, H. (1973). The arts and human development . New York, NY: Wiley. Translated into Chinese and Portuguese. Second Edition, 1994, New York: Basic Books.
• Brock International Prize in Education (2015)
• Prince of Asturias Award (2011)
• Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Republic, International Scientific Committee of the Pio Manzu Centre (2001)
• Guggenheim Fellowship (2000)
• Grawemeyer Award in Education (1990)
• MacArthur Prize Fellowship (1981)

Associations

• American Philosophical Society, Council Member,(2013-2016)
• Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, England,(2007-)
• American Academy of Political and Social Sciences,(2000-)
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences,(1995-)
• Author's Guild,(1985-)
• American Association for the Advancement of Science, Fellow,(1980-)

Sponsored Projects

Making ethics central in higher education: expanding and disseminating a promising approach (2022-2025) kern family foundation.

This project focuses on expanding and disseminating an intervention that prods college students to think and act beyond the self. It also seek to create a “hub” for similar approaches in higher education. The overarching goal is to help students become more aware of and sensitive to ethical dilemmas. As documented in the researchers’ national study of higher education, students routinely describe these issues in terms of how they are affected personally (the “I”), with little acknowledgement of how these issues affect others, or how the consequences of their own actions may affect a broader community (the “we”). This project seeks to “move the needle” on character and ethics from “I” to “we” in the personal and professional lives of young citizens. In a two-year pilot project supported by the Kern Family Foundation, the researchers developed and tested an intervention (hereafter referred to as “Beyond the Self”) with 150 students at four different colleges. The documentation provides evidence that the intervention helped students to reflect more deeply and more broadly on situations and decisions they face themselves, learn about in class, and observe on campus and beyond. To scale-up this work, this three-year project that has three major objectives: 1. To disseminate the approach to other institutions—to help others implement “Beyond the Self” with students. 2. To network with others engaged in similar work; 3. Drawing on the researchers’ decades of creating powerful syntheses in education, to collate their efforts with others across higher education and produce a coherent integrated account that will prove useful across higher education and perhaps beyond.

• Life-Long Learning Blog (https://howardgardner.com/category/life-long-learning-a-blog-in-education/)
• The Good Project

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Howard Gardner Named 2024 Convocation Speaker

Celebrated psychologist and originator of the theory of multiple intelligences will address HGSE graduates on May 22

The Real World of College

The Questionable Ethics of College Students

Advice to an Aspiring Researcher

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Howard Gardner's Contributions to Psychology

Biography and Theories

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

 James Lacy, MLS, is a fact-checker and researcher.

• Gardner's Contributions to Psychology
• Contrasting Views

Howard Gardner is a developmental psychologist whose best-known contribution to psychology is his theory of multiple intelligences . He believed that the conventional concept of intelligence was too narrow and restrictive and that measures of IQ often miss out on other "intelligences" that an individual may possess.

His 1983 book Frames of Mind,  outlined his theory and eight major types of intelligence. Gardner's theory had a particular impact in the field of education, where it inspired teachers and educators to explore new ways of teaching aimed at these different intelligences .

At a Glance

Howard Gardner's contributions to psychology have helped expand our understanding of learning and knowledge. Instead of focusing on traditional ways of learning and testing, he suggests that there are many types of knowledge and that things can be taught in various ways. His theory of multiple intelligence proposes that this can include interpersonal, intrapersonal, kinesthetic, verbal, mathematical, musical, natural, and visual intelligence.

Brief Biography of Howard Gardner

Howard Gardner was born on July 11, 1943 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He described himself as "a studious child who gained much pleasure from playing the piano." He completed his post-secondary education at Harvard, earning his undergraduate degree in 1965 and his Ph.D. in 1971.

While he had originally planned to study law, he was inspired to study developmental psychology by the works of Jean Piaget . He also cited the mentoring he received from the famous psychoanalyst Erik Erikson as part of why he set his sights on psychology.

His influences at Harvard, including Erikson, sociologist David Riesman, and cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner, had a major impact on Gardner's ideas and work.

Gardner's Contributions to Psychology

After spending time working with kids and adults who had experienced brain damage, Gardner began developing a theory designed to synthesize his research and observations. In 1983, he published Frames of Mind, which outlined his theory of multiple intelligences.

According to this theory, people have many different ways of learning. Unlike traditional theories of intelligence that focus on one single, general intelligence , Gardner believed that people instead have multiple different ways of thinking and learning.

The Eight Intelligences

He has since identified and described eight different kinds of intelligence:

• Interpersonal intelligence
• Intrapersonal intelligence
• Kinesthetic intelligence
• Linguistic-verbal intelligence
• Mathematical intelligence
• Musical intelligence
• Naturalistic intelligence
• Visual-spatial intelligence

He has also proposed the possible addition of a ninth type which he refers to as "existential intelligence."

Impact on Education

Gardner's theory has perhaps had the greatest impact within the field of education, where it has received considerable attention and use. His conceptualization of intelligence as more than a single, solitary quality has opened the doors for further research and different ways of thinking about human intelligence.

The theory has become enormously popular among educators, in part because it validates their everyday experiences in the classroom. Many teachers can say how much kids vary in terms of how they learn, as well as how they display that knowledge.

The theory has helped provide a framework that helps guide how teachers organize their curriculum, assess learning, and create their teaching practices. It has also help teachers develop new approaches that can help a broader range of learners succeed in the classroom.

Gardner previously served as the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Research Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He was also an adjunct professor of psychology at Harvard University and senior director of Harvard Project Zero.

While he retired from teaching in 2019, Gardner continues to research and write. He published a memoir of his life, "A Synthesizing Mind," in 2020.

Howard Gardener's Publications and Awards

Gardner's publications include "Frames of Mind" (1983), "Intelligence Reframed" (1999), "The App Genderation" (2013), and "A Synthesizing Mind" (2020).

Due to his significant contributions to psychology, Howard Gardner has also received a number of awards.

• 1981 , MacArthur Prize Fellowship
• 1987 , William James Book Award, American Psychological Association
• 1990 , University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Education
• 2000 , John S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
• 2011 , Prince of Asturias Award in Social Sciences
• 2015, Brock International Prize in Education
• 2020, American Education Research Association's Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award

Multiple Intelligences vs. Learning Styles

In his 2013 book The App Generation , Gardner and co-author Katie Davis suggested that the theory of multiple intelligences has too often been conflated with the idea of learning styles . Gardner says that the two are not the same and uses a computer analogy to demonstrate the differences between the ideas.

Gardner distinguishes between his multiple intelligences and the idea of learning styles by defining intelligences as a mental computational power in a certain area such as verbal ability or spatial intelligence. He defines learning styles as to how an individual learner approaches different educational materials.

Traditional conceptions of a single intelligence suggest that the mind possesses a single, central and all-purpose "computer," suggests Gardner in his book. This computer then determines how people perform in every aspect of their lives.

Gardner's conception of multiple intelligences, on the other hand, proposes that the mind possesses a number of "computers" that act mostly independently of one another and contribute to different mental abilities. Gardner initially outlined eight multiple intelligences but is researching the inclusion of existential intelligence.

Learning styles, on the other hand, relate to an individual's personality and learning preferences. The problem with the concept of learning styles, Gardner explains, is that not only are they only vaguely defined, but research has also found little evidence that teaching to a student's preferred style affects learning outcomes.

What This Means For You

Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences has had a meaningful impact on how we think about human intelligence. Rather than simply focusing on a single measure of human cognitive ability, it can be helpful to consider all of the different mental strengths that you possess.

Cerruti C. Building a functional multiple intelligences theory to advance educational neuroscience .  Front Psychol . 2013;4:950. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00950

Edutopia. Big thinkers: Howard Gardner on multiple intelligences .

Martin DJ, Loomis KS. Building Teachers: A Constructivist Approach to Introducing Education . Cengage Learning; 2013.

Scherer M, Gardner H. The understanding pathway: a conversation with Howard Gardner . The Constructivist Classroom . 1999; 57(3):12-16.

Watson TS, Skinner CH. Encyclopedia of School Psychology. Springer Science & Business Media; 2012.

Langworth RM, Gardner H. Multiple Intelligences. ReadHowYouWant.com; 2010.

Kornhaber ML. In Palmer-Cooper, J. A., Cooper, D. E., & Bresler, L.,  Fifty modern thinkers on education: From Piaget to the present day . London: Routledge; 2001.

Gardner H, Davis K. The App Generation, How Today's Youth Navigate Identity, Intimacy, and Imagination in a Digital World . Yale University Press; 2013.

Newton PM, Miah M. Evidence-based higher education - Is the learning styles 'myth' important ?  Front Psychol . 2017;8:444. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00444

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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Gardner is best known in educational circles for his theory of multiple intelligences, a critique of the notion that there exists but a single human intelligence that can be assessed by standard psychometric instruments. For twenty years, he carried out neuropsychological research at the Boston Veterans Administration Medical Center. He is also a co-founder of the Mind, Brain, and Education concentration at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

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Howard Gardner (Intelligence Psychologist Biography)

In the late 20th century, a psychologist named Howard Gardner believed that the way people thought about intelligence was too narrow and that was more helpful to recognize other mental strengths individuals may have. What he proposed has made him one of the most well-known psychologists living today.

Who Was Howard Gardner?

Howard Gardner is an American psychologist who specializes in cognitive and developmental psychology. He is best known for his theory of multiple intelligences. His theory has helped many professionals in the field of education to embrace the idea that there are many ways to be intelligent.

Howard Gardner's Birth

Howard Earl Gardner was born on July 11, 1943 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His parents were Ralph and Hilde Gardner. Gardner’s parents were German-Jewish immigrants who fled from Nazi persecution in Germany. They arrived in the United States with their three year old son, Eric, on November 9, 1938, just before the outbreak of World War II.

Howard Gardner's Family Life

Ralph and Hilde Gardner moved to Scranton soon after they landed in America. At the time, Scranton was a small coal-mining town. Ralph Gardner and a few associates “traced the fate of every family member in Europe or elsewhere in the Diaspora” in an attempt to provide aid during and after the Holocaust. It was not uncommon for family members to spend many nights at their small residence in Scranton.

Four years after the Gardner family settled in Scranton, Hilde watched as Eric died in a tragic sledding accident. Eric did not speak any English when he first arrived, but he demonstrated ability beyond his years and did very well in school. Gardner’s parents were overcome with grief and felt as if they lost everything. Many years later, Gardner’s parents told him they may have considered suicide if Hilde was not pregnant with him at the time Eric died.

After Howard Gardner was born in 1943, his parents had a daughter named Marion three years later. According to Gardner, the Holocaust and the death of his older brother Eric “cast large shadows” on his childhood. Gardner’s parents did not speak about what happened during the Nazi regime to him, his sister, or to acquaintances. And they did not tell him about his older brother Eric either. He believes they were unable to. When Gardner asked about the little boy in all the pictures around the house, his parents told him that it was a child from the neighborhood. Gardner eventually uncovered the truth when he was ten years old after he found clippings about Eric’s death.

Howard Gardner's Childhood

Gardner describes his childhood self as “a dark-haired, slightly chubby, bespectacled boy of above average height, who walked and moved somewhat awkwardly.” He was born with crossed eyes and had poor eyesight, but he also had a very curious mind and loved to read and write. Gardner would often ask his parents, teachers, adults, and older children very difficult questions. When he was seven years old he considered himself a journalist and began publishing his own home and school newspapers.

Gardner was also a talented piano player and may have pursued a career in music. However, he stopped playing as a teenager because he thought it was too troublesome to practice. Gardner’s parents discouraged him from getting involved in athletics or risky physical activities due to the circumstances of Eric’s death. He spent several years as a Cub Scout and Boy Scout, reaching the rank of Eagle Scout at the age of thirteen.

Although Gardner eventually had a successful career as a psychologist and scientist, as a boy he was not particularly fond of exploring the outdoors. He was not interested in studying insects or dissecting mice unless he was trying to earn a scouting merit badge. His youth was not spent taking cars or gadgets apart and putting them back together. His only exposure to psychology occurred during his teenage years when he read an interesting discussion on color blindness in a psychology textbook.

Nevertheless, education was of great importance in the Gardner household. Gardner’s parents wanted him to attend Phillips Academy Andover, but he chose to go to Wyoming Seminary because it was closer to home. He was an excellent student who did very well in math and science, but his main interests were in literature, history, and the arts. He believes his parents had a major impact on his development, especially after they transferred their aspirations to him following the death of his talented older brother.

Educational Background

Gardner enrolled at Harvard College in September 1961. When he first arrived, he was a bit intimidated by the fact he now had peers who could match him in academics and the arts. However, he soon regained his focus and took advantage of the wide variety of academic courses available to him.

Gardner’s initial objective at Harvard was to major in history. In his junior and senior years, he was tutored by psychoanalyst Erik Erikson. Over time, Gardner’s interest in the social sciences grew as he studied under cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner and sociologist David Riesman. Interestingly, he also took a number of pre-med and pre-law courses to prove to himself and his parents that he could have had a successful career in those fields had he chosen to stick with them. In 1965, Gardner graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in social relations.

After receiving his first degree, Gardner spent a year at the London School of Economics studying philosophy and sociology as a Harvard Fellow. However, he decided to return to Harvard to pursue graduate studies in developmental psychology after being inspired by the works of psychologist Jean Piaget. In 1967, Gardner became a founding member of Project Zero—a research group that studied cognition with a focus on creativity and artistic thought. He earned his PhD in developmental psychology in 1971.

With his doctoral studies complete, Gardner worked with behavioral neurologist Norman Geschwind at Boston Veterans Administration Hospital as a postdoctoral fellow. He conducted neuropsychology research at the hospital for more than 20 years. According to Gardner, he “probably could have had a reasonably successful career as a cognitive neuroscientist, or perhaps even a developmental neurobiologist,” but he eventually “left the straight science track and moved to issues of educational reform and social policy.”

Gardner accepted a teaching position at Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1986. Since 1995, he has spent most of his time working on The GoodWork Project—a program that promotes ethics and excellence in work and life. In 1998, Gardner was selected as the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard. He retired from teaching at the end of the 2019 academic year.

How Did Howard Gardner Develop His Theory of Multiple Intelligences?

Gardner developed his theory of multiple intelligences (MI theory) in the late 1970’s to early 1980’s. Up to that time, intelligence was generally conceived of as a singular quality influencing performance on all cognitive tasks. Gardner felt that this view of intelligence was too narrow and failed to capture the full range of human intellectual faculties. He argued instead that humans do not possess a unitary intelligence but rather, several different types of intelligence. He proposed eight different forms of intelligence, namely:

• Linguistic  - The ability to learn and use languages in oral and written form, for example, through reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
• Logical-mathematical - The ability to engage in logical reasoning, display scientific thought, solve abstract problems, and perform mathematical calculations.
• Spatial - The ability to recognize and manipulate spatial images; involves a propensity for learning visually.
• Musical - The ability to compose, produce, and derive meaning from music and sound patterns.
• Bodily-kinesthetic - The ability to use one’s body skilfully to solve problems, create products, and express oneself.
• Naturalistic - The ability to recognize and differentiate elements of the natural world, including plants, animals, and weather patterns; involves close attention to nature and the ability to understand environmental issues.
• Interpersonal - The ability to discern, understand, and respond appropriately to other people’s moods, desires, intentions, and motivations.
• Intrapersonal - The ability to identify and understand one’s own moods, desires, intentions and motivations.

What Makes This a Theory?

One common question about the Theory of Multiple Intelligences is why it's called a  theory.  This Reddit post (and its comments) provide the answer!

"I would say that the main distinction between "laws" and "theories" is just that a law is a simple statement, while a theory is something more complicated. Neither of them necessarily explain "why" something happens - for example both Newton's law of universal gravitation and the theory of general relativity are models of gravity, but neither of them really explain why gravity exists, they just state how it works."

About Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Gardner did not rule out the possibility that other forms of intelligence exist. He himself later considered adding a ninth form of intelligence known as existential intelligence. This involves the ability to consider life’s big questions, such as those relating to life, death and love. However, existential intelligence was never formally included in MI theory since Gardner was not convinced that it sufficiently met the criteria for identification as a unique intelligence.

The eight intelligences are said to be independent of each other and can function autonomously. However, many tasks require a blend of intelligences. For example, when performing an operation, a surgeon needs both spatial intelligence in order to guide the scalpel to the correct location, as well as bodily-kinesthetic intelligence in order to manipulate the scalpel with dexterity. Similarly, a rousing musical performance requires not just musical intelligence, but also bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. Even a measure of interpersonal intelligence is needed in order for one to successfully engage members of the audience and stir their emotions.

Linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence are the two types of intelligence traditionally emphasized in formal educational settings. They are also the ones on which conventional tests of intelligence have been based. These tests purport to give an estimate of the test-taker’s general intelligence which can then be used to predict performance on diverse tasks. However, Gardner dismissed the idea of a ‘general’ intelligence, noting that people who perform exceptionally well in one cognitive domain will not necessarily display the same level of aptitude in another.

Another point of departure between MI theory and more traditional theories of intelligence has to do with the origin of intelligence. Many other theories describe intelligence as an inborn capacity that remains fairly constant throughout life. The idea is that one’s intellectual ability is set from birth and there is very little one can do to modify it. By way of contrast, MI theory suggests that intelligence is as much a function of ‘nurture’ as it is ‘nature.’ Even though individuals are born with a certain set of skills and potentials, Gardner suggests that these can be enhanced (or diminished) by environmental factors.

Gardener believed that all humans (except in cases of severe brain damage) possess varying levels of all eight intelligences. It would therefore be incorrect to state that an individual lacks a particular form of intelligence. Gardner believed that we all have unique patterns of cognitive strengths and weaknesses, with no two individuals displaying the same profile of abilities.

In recent years, Gardner suggested two broad types of intelligence profiles: searchlight and laser-like. These profiles describe the relative strengths of intelligences within an individual. People with searchlight profiles readily shift among intelligences that tend to be comparable in strength.  Those with laser-like profiles have one or two intelligences that are more dominant than the others and are used in greater depth. Gardner believes the searchlight profile is typical of politicians and businessmen, while the laser-like profile is characteristic of artists, scholars and scientists.

The Goodwork Project

Since the mid 1990’s, much of Gardner’s attention has been focused on The Goodwork Project (recently renamed The Good Project), which began as a collaboration between himself and two of his colleagues, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and William Damon. The purpose of the project is to determine the factors that enable people to carry out “good work” in their chosen disciplines and to increase the incidence of such work throughout society.

“Good work” is a term used to describe work that reflects the three Es: (1) Excellence - work that is high in quality, (2) Ethics - work that is socially and morally responsible, and (3) Engagement - work that is meaningful and beneficial to the worker. Having interviewed hundreds of professionals across several disciplines, the researchers identified several variables associated with “good work,” including:

• Positive early experiences within the family
• Religious and spiritual values
• Collaboration with peers and colleagues
• Support and inspiration from authority figures and mentors

Gardner and his colleagues make no attempt to offer a specific formula for “good work.” However, they believe that if workers routinely consider and seek powerful answers to four specific questions, they will be well on their way to producing “good work.” The four questions (or four Ms) are:

• What is the Mission of our field?
• What are the positive and negative Models that we need to keep in mind?
• When we look into the Mirror as individual professionals, are we proud or embarrassed by what we see?
• When we hold up the Mirror to our profession, are we proud or embarrassed by what we see?

Applications of Gardner’s Theory

Gardner’s MI theory has been applied primarily in educational circles. Hundreds of schools across many countries have used the core principles of the theory to revise their mission, curriculum, and approach to teaching and assessment. Some of the educational interventions derived from his theory include:

• Individualizing students’ instruction by becoming familiar with their strengths, weaknesses and interests.
• Presenting lessons in a variety of non-traditional ways, for example, through art, music, field trips, games, multimedia presentations, and role-playing.
• Employing a variety of non-traditional assessment methods, including portfolios, projects, videos and other creative or performance-based tasks.
• Establishing learning centers in the classroom, each dedicated to a different form of intelligence. Students can move through the centers, exploring the topic being taught in different ways.
• Team teaching in which teachers focus on their own intellectual strengths, allowing students to be exposed to a variety of instructional methods.
• Cooperative learning teams in which students are grouped either (a) homogeneously, according to a shared intellectual strength, or (b) heterogeneously, according to varying intellectual strengths. Homogenous groups allow learners to challenge one another in their areas of strength, while heterogeneous groups allow them to learn from one another and develop their weaker abilities.

MI theory has also been applied in occupational spheres, particularly in the areas of hiring, job placement, and team assembly. Multiple intelligence evaluations can assist HR managers and CEOs to better align the skills and abilities of potential candidates with the functions associated with each role.

MI theory may also be used during career counseling to help students understand the range of careers typically associated with their intellectual profile. In this way, students are able to make more informed vocational decisions and are in a better position to choose careers that best suit their interests and abilities.

Criticisms of Gardner’s Theory

A popular criticism of MI theory is that it was not developed on the basis of empirical research. This critique stems from the fact that Gardner himself did not undertake any form of psychometric testing or empirical study to support his classification system or test his theory. Instead, he relied on existing research findings across various disciplines, including neuroscience, anthropology, evolutionary biology, and psychology. In Gardner’s view, this multi-disciplinary synthesis of research findings provides a sufficient empirical framework for the theory, despite the fact that it has not been subjected to in-depth experimental investigation.

As it relates to the number of intelligences identified, Gardner’s critics fall into one of two camps. On one hand, there are critics who claim that MI theory expands the concept of intelligence to such an extent that it is no longer a useful construct. On the other hand, some argue that the eight intelligences are not specific enough and need to be further expanded. Gardner acknowledged the latter argument, suggesting the possibility that there may be sub-intelligences within each of the eight abilities he specified. However, in Gardner’s view, any attempt to list all of these sub-intelligences would render the theory too complex and unwieldy, making application more difficult.

Other critics have argued that:

• Multiple Intellignece theory fails to explain how the various intelligences interact with one another.
• Gardner’s criteria for identifying unique intelligences is arbitrary and subjective.
• What Gardner calls intelligences are simply talents, cognitive styles, or personality traits.

Howard Gardner's Books, Awards, and Accomplishments

Howard Gardner has authored and co-authored thirty books which have been translated into several languages. Some of his literary works include:

• Intelligence: Multiple Perspectives,  1995
• Practical Intelligence for School, 1997
• The Disciplined Mind: Beyond Facts and Standardized Tests, the K-12 Education that Every Child Deserves, 2000
• Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century, 2000
• Development and Education of the Mind, 2005
• Making Good: How Young People Cope with Moral Dilemmas at Work, 2005
• Changing Minds, 2006
• Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons in Theory and Practice, 2006
• Responsibility at Work: How Leading Professionals Act (or Don't Act) Responsibly, 2007
• Extraordinary Minds: Portraits of Four Exceptional Individuals and an Examination of Our Own Extraordinariness , 2008
• Good Work: When Excellence and Ethics Meet, 2008
• Five Minds for the Future, 2009
• GoodWork: Theory and Practice, 2010
• Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership, 2011
• The Unschooled Mind: How Children Think and How Schools Should Teach, 2011
• Creating Minds: An Anatomy of Creativity Seen Through the Lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Ghandi, 2011
• Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, 2011
• Truth, Beauty, and Goodness Reframed: Educating for the Virtues in the Age of Truthiness and Twitter, 2012
• The App Generation: How Today’s Youth Navigate Identity, Intimacy, and Imagination in a Digital World, 2013
• Mind, Work, and Life: A Festschrift on the Occasion of Howard Gardner’s 70th Birthday, 2014

Gardner has also received 31 honorary degrees from universities around the world. A few of his other awards include:

• MacArthur Prize Fellowship, 1981
• Book Award, The National Psychology Awards for Excellence in the Media, 1985
• William James Book Award, American Psychological Association, 1987
• University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Education, 1990
• John S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, 2000
• Prince of Asturias Award in Social Sciences, 2011
• Awarded the Brock International Prize in Education, 2015

Gardner is a member of the American Philosophical Society, the National Academy of Education, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. He is also a board member at the American Philosophical Society and the New York Museum of Modern Art.

Is Howard Gardner Married?

Howard Gardner married his first wife, Judy Krieger, in 1966. Like Gardner, she was a graduate student in psychology at the time of their marriage. For their honeymoon they went to Geneva to meet renowned Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. The couple had three children together—Kerith, Jay, and Andrew⁠—before they went through a difficult divorce years later.

In 1973, Gardner met his second wife, Ellen Winner. Winner was eager to pursue graduate studies in clinical psychology after majoring in literature and studying painting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. However, a job opening at Harvard as a research assistant in the psychology of art caught her attention. Winner committed to the job for two years but she would remain with Gardner long after. They were married in 1982. The couple adopted a child from Taiwan named Benjamin in 1986.

Is Howard Gardner Alive Today?

Yes! Today, Kerith oversees the National Academy of Education, Jay works as a photographer, and Andrew is a teacher. Gardner also has five grandchildren—Oscar, Agnes, Olivia, Faye Marguerite, and August Pierre.

Biography of Howard Gardner. (n.d.). Howard Gardner. Retrieved from https://howardgardner.com/biography/

Davis, K., Chistodoulou, J., Seider, S., & Gardner, H. (2011). The theory of multiple intelligences. In R. J. Sternberg & S. B.Kaufman (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of intelligence (pp.485-503). UK: Cambridge University Press.

Encyclopedia Britannica. (n.d.). Howard Gardner. In Encyclopedia Britannica . Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Howard-Gardner

Gardner, H. (n.d.). One way of making a social scientist. Retrieved from https://howardgardner01.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/one-way-of-making-a-social-scientist2.pdf

Gardner, H. & Winner, E. (2006, November 1). On being a couple in psychology. Retrieved from https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/on-being-a-couple-in-psychology

Goodwork Project. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://coa.stanford.edu/research/goodwork-project

Howard Gardner: Factfile . (2001, May 22). The Irish Times. Retrieved from https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/howard-gardner-factfile-1.309216

McInerney, D. M. (2014). Educational psychology: Constructing learning (6th ed.). Australia: Pearson.

Mineo, L. (2018, May 9). The greatest gift you can have is a good education, one that isn’t strictly professional. The Harvard Gazette. Retrieved from https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/05/harvard-scholar-howard-gardner-reflects-on-his-life-and-work/

Verducci, S., & Gardner, H. (2005). Good work: Its nature, its nurture. In F. A. Huppert, N. Baylis, & B. Keverne (Eds.), The science of well-being (pp.343-359). New York: Oxford University Press.

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Gardner, Howard

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Gardner, Howard (1943–) is a leading theorist in cognitive development, an activist in education, and is best known for his Multiple Intelligence Theory.

Biographical Information

Howard Gardner was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1943, to his mother and father who had managed to flee Germany in 1938 at the heart of World War II. Howard was the second of two children, but his older brother Eric, was killed just prior to Howard’s birth. Gardner personally expressed that as he grew up and came to terms with his brother’s death, and his family’s Jewish traditional values and faith, he had a hard time relating to his parents and peers (Smith 2008).

Gardner grew up in a house where education was praised and something sought after. His parents encouraged him to attend Philips Andover, a superior and highly noted private school in Massachusetts. However, Gardner chose to attend a prep school closer to home in Kingston, Pennsylvania. He excelled in his academics, and was stimulated by...

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Gardner, H. (1993). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences . New York: Basic. Print.

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Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence reframed: Multiple intelligences for the twenty-first century . New York: Basic. Print.

Smith, M. K. (2008). Howard Gardner, multiple intelligences and education. Contents @ the informal education homepage. http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm . Accessed 13 Dec 2010.

Winner, E. (2010). Howard Gardner biography. Howard Gardner. Harvard graduate school of education. http://www.howardgardner.com/bio/bio.html . Accessed 13 Dec 2010.

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education, community-building and change

Howard Gardner, multiple intelligences and education

Howard gardner, multiple intelligences and education. howard gardner’s work around multiple intelligences has had a profound impact on thinking and practice in education – especially in the united states. here we explore the theory of multiple intelligences; why it has found a ready audience amongst educationalists; and some of the issues around its conceptualization and realization..

Contents : introduction · howard gardner – a life · howard gardner on multiple intelligences · the appeal of multiple intelligences · are there additional intelligences? · howard gardner’s multiple intelligences – some issues and problems · conclusion · further reading and references · how to cite this article

I want my children to understand the world, but not just because the world is fascinating and the human mind is curious. I want them to understand it so that they will be positioned to make it a better place. Knowledge is not the same as morality, but we need to understand if we are to avoid past mistakes and move in productive directions. An important part of that understanding is knowing who we are and what we can do… Ultimately, we must synthesize our understandings for ourselves. The performance of understanding that try matters are the ones we carry out as human beings in an imperfect world which we can affect for good or for ill. (Howard Gardner 1999: 180-181)

Howard Earl Gardner’s (1943- ) work has been marked by a desire not to just describe the world but to help to create the conditions to change it. The scale of Howard Gardner’s contribution can be gauged from following comments in his introduction to the tenth anniversary edition of his classic work Frames of Mind. The theory of multiple intelligences :

In the heyday of the psychometric and behaviorist eras, it was generally believed that intelligence was a single entity that was inherited; and that human beings – initially a blank slate – could be trained to learn anything, provided that it was presented in an appropriate way. Nowadays an increasing number of researchers believe precisely the opposite; that there exists a multitude of intelligences, quite independent of each other; that each intelligence has its own strengths and constraints; that the mind is far from unencumbered at birth; and that it is unexpectedly difficult to teach things that go against early ‘naive’ theories of that challenge the natural lines of force within an intelligence and its matching domains. (Gardner 1993: xxiii)

One of the main impetuses for this movement has been Howard Gardner’s work. He has been, in Smith and Smith’s (1994) terms, a paradigm shifter. Howard Gardner has questioned the idea that intelligence is a single entity, that it results from a single factor, and that it can be measured simply via IQ tests. He has also challenged the cognitive development work of Piaget. Bringing forward evidence to show that at any one time a child may be at very different stages for example, in number development and spatial/visual maturation, Howard Gardner has successfully undermined the idea that knowledge at any one particular developmental stage hangs together in a structured whole.

In this article we explore Howard Gardner’s contribution and the use to which it has been put by educators.

Howard Gardner – a life

Howard Gardner was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1943. His parents had fled from Nürnberg in Germany in 1938 with their three-year old son, Eric. Just prior to Howard Gardner’s birth Eric was killed in a sleighing accident. These two events were not discussed during Gardner’s childhood, but were to have a very significant impact upon his thinking and development (Gardner 1989: 22). The opportunities for risky physical activity were limited, and creative and intellectual pursuits encouraged. As Howard began to discover the family’s ‘secret history’ (and Jewish identity) he started to recognize that he was different both from his parents and from his peers.

His parents wanted to send Howard to Phillips Academy in Andover Massachusetts – but he refused. Instead he went to a nearby preparatory school in Kingston, Pennsylvania (Wyoming Seminary). Howard Gardner appears to have embraced the opportunities there – and to have elicited the support and interest of some very able teachers. From there he went to Harvard University to study history in readiness for a career in the law. However, he was lucky enough to have Eric Erikson as a tutor. In Howard Gardner’s words Erikson probably ‘sealed’ his ambition to be a scholar (1989: 23). But there were others:

My mind was really opened when I went to Harvard College and had the opportunity to study under individuals—such as psychoanalyst Erik Erikson, sociologist David Riesman, and cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner—who were creating knowledge about human beings. That helped set me on the course of investigating human nature, particularly how human beings think. (Howard Gardner quoted by Marge Sherer 1999)

Howard Gardner’s interest in psychology and the social sciences grew (his senior thesis was on a new California retirement community) and he graduated summa cum laude in 1965.

Howard Gardner then went to work for a brief period with Jerome Bruner on the famous MACOS Project (‘Man: A course of study’). Bruner’s work, especially in The Process of Education (1960) was to make a profound impact, and the questions that the programme asked were to find an echo in Gardner’s subsequent interests. During this time he began to read the work of Claude Levi-Strauss and Jean Piaget in more detail. He entered Harvard’s doctoral programme in 1966, and in the following year became part of the Project Zero research team on arts education (with which he has remained involved to the present). Howard Gardner completed his PhD in 1971 (his dissertation was on style sensitivity in children). He remained at Harvard. Alongside his work with Project Zero (he now co-directs it with David Perkins) he was a lecturer (1971-1986) and then professor in education (1986- ). His first major book, The Shattered Mind appeared in 1975 and some fifteen have followed. Howard Gardner is currently Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and adjunct professor of neurology at the Boston University School of Medicine.

Project Zero provided an environment in which Howard Gardner could begin to explore his interest in human cognition. He proceeded in a very different direction to the dominant discourses associated with Piaget and with psychometric testing. Project Zero developed as a major research centre for education – and provided an intellectual home for a significant grouping of researchers. A key moment came with the establishment of the Project on Human Potential in the late 1970s (funded by Bernard van Leer Foundation) to ‘assess the state of scientific knowledge concerning human potential and its realization’. The result was Frames of Mind (1983) Howard Gardner’s first full-length statement of his theory of multiple intelligences.

Howard Gardner on multiple intelligences – the initial listing

Howard Gardner viewed intelligence as ‘the capacity to solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural setting’ (Gardner & Hatch, 1989). He reviewed the literature using eight criteria or ‘signs’ of an intelligence:

Potential isolation by brain damage.The existence of idiots savants, prodigies and other exceptional individuals. An identifiable core operation or set of operations. A distinctive development history, along with a definable set of ‘end-state’ performances. An evolutionary history and evolutionary plausibility. Support from experimental psychological tasks. Support from psychometric findings. Susceptibility to encoding in a symbol system. (Howard Gardner 1983: 62-69)

Candidates for the title ‘an intelligence’ had to satisfy a range of these criteria and must include, as a prerequisite, the ability to resolve ‘genuine problems or difficulties’ ( ibid .: 60) within certain cultural settings. Making judgements about this was, however, ‘reminiscent more of an artistic judgement than of a scientific assessment’ ( ibid. : 62).

Howard Gardner initially formulated a list of seven intelligences. His listing was provisional. The first two have been typically valued in schools; the next three are usually associated with the arts; and the final two are what Howard Gardner called ‘personal intelligences’ (Gardner 1999: 41-43).

Linguistic intelligence involves sensitivity to spoken and written language, the ability to learn languages, and the capacity to use language to accomplish certain goals. This intelligence includes the ability to effectively use language to express oneself rhetorically or poetically; and language as a means to remember information. Writers, poets, lawyers and speakers are among those that Howard Gardner sees as having high linguistic intelligence.

Logical-mathematical intelligence consists of the capacity to analyze problems logically, carry out mathematical operations, and investigate issues scientifically. In Howard Gardner’s words, it entails the ability to detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically. This intelligence is most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking.

Musical intelligence involves skill in the performance, composition, and appreciation of musical patterns. It encompasses the capacity to recognize and compose musical pitches, tones, and rhythms. According to Howard Gardner musical intelligence runs in an almost structural parallel to linguistic intelligence.

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence entails the potential of using one’s whole body or parts of the body to solve problems. It is the ability to use mental abilities to coordinate bodily movements. Howard Gardner sees mental and physical activity as related.

Spatial intelligence involves the potential to recognize and use the patterns of wide space and more confined areas.

Interpersonal intelligence is concerned with the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people. It allows people to work effectively with others. Educators, salespeople, religious and political leaders and counsellors all need a well-developed interpersonal intelligence.

Intrapersonal intelligence entails the capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate one’s feelings, fears and motivations. In Howard Gardner’s view it involves having an effective working model of ourselves, and to be able to use such information to regulate our lives.

In Frames of Mind Howard Gardner treated the personal intelligences ‘as a piece’. Because of their close association in most cultures, they are often linked together. However, he still argues that it makes sense to think of two forms of personal intelligence. Gardner claimed that the seven intelligences rarely operate independently. They are used at the same time and tend to complement each other as people develop skills or solve problems.

In essence Howard Gardner argued that he was making two essential claims about multiple intelligences. That:

The theory is an account of human cognition in its fullness. The intelligences provided ‘a new definition of human nature, cognitively speaking’ (Gardner 1999: 44). Human beings are organisms who possess a basic set of intelligences. People have a unique blend of intelligences. Howard Gardner argues that the big challenge facing the deployment of human resources ‘is how to best take advantage of the uniqueness conferred on us as a species exhibiting several intelligences’ ( ibid. : 45).

These intelligences, according to Howard Gardner, are amoral – they can be put to constructive or destructive use.

The appeal of multiple intelligences to educators

Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences has not been readily accepted within academic psychology. However, it has met with a strongly positive response from many educators. It has been embraced by a range of educational theorists and, significantly, applied by teachers and policymakers to the problems of schooling. A number of schools in North America have looked to structure curricula according to the intelligences, and to design classrooms and even whole schools to reflect the understandings that Howard Gardner develops. The theory can also be found in use within pre-school, higher, vocational and adult education initiatives.

This appeal was not, at first, obvious.

At first blush, this diagnosis would appear to sound a death knell for formal education. It is hard to teach one intelligence; what if there are seven? It is hard to enough to teach even when anything can be taught; what to do if there are distinct limits and strong constraints on human cognition and learning? (Howard Gardner 1993: xxiii)

Howard Gardner responds to his questions by first making the point that psychology does not directly dictate education, ‘it merely helps one to understand the conditions within which education takes place’. What is more:

Seven kinds of intelligence would allow seven ways to teach, rather than one. And powerful constraints that exist in the mind can be mobilized to introduce a particular concept (or whole system of thinking) in a way that children are most likely to learn it and least likely to distort it. Paradoxically, constraints can be suggestive and ultimately freeing. ( op. cit. )

Mindy L. Kornhaber (2001: 276), a researcher involved with Project Zero, has identified a number of reasons why teachers and policymakers in North America have responded positively to Howard Gardner’s presentation of multiple intelligences. Among these are that:

… the theory validates educators’ everyday experience: students think and learn in many different ways. It also provides educators with a conceptual framework for organizing and reflecting on curriculum assessment and pedagogical practices. In turn, this reflection has led many educators to develop new approaches that might better meet the needs of the range of learners in their classrooms.

The response to Howard Gardner is paralleled by the adoption of Kolb’s model of experiential learning by adult and informal educators. While significant criticism can be made of the formulation (see  below) it does provide a useful set of questions and ‘rules of thumb’ to help educators to think about their practice. The way in which Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences has been translated into policy and practice has been very varied. Howard Gardner did not, initially, spell out the implications of his theory for educators in any detail. Subsequently, he has looked more closely at what the theory might mean for schooling practice (e.g. in The Unschooled Mind , Intelligence Reframed , and The Disciplined Mind ). From this work three particular aspects of Gardner’s thinking need noting here as they allow for hope, and an alternative way of thinking, for those educators who feel out of step with the current, dominant product orientation to curriculum and educational policy. The approach entails:

A broad vision of education . All seven intelligences are needed to live life well. Teachers, therefore, need to attend to all intelligences, not just the first two that have been their tradition concern. As Kornhaber (2001: 276) has noted it involves educators opting ‘for depth over breadth’. Understanding entails taking knowledge gained in one setting and using it in another. ‘Students must have extended opportunities to work on a topic’ ( op. cit. ).

Developing local and flexible programmes . Howard Gardner’s interest in ‘deep understanding’, performance, exploration and creativity are not easily accommodated within an orientation to the ‘delivery’ of a detailed curriculum planned outside of the immediate educational context. ‘An “MI setting” can be undone if the curriculum is too rigid or if there is but a single form of assessment’ (Gardner 1999: 147). In this respect the educational implications of Howard Gardner’s work stands in a direct line from the work of John Dewey .

Looking to morality . ‘We must figure out how intelligence and morality can work together’, Howard Gardner argues, ‘to create a world in which a great variety of people will want to live’ (Gardner 1999: 4). While there are considerable benefits to developing understanding in relation to the disciplines, something more is needed.

Are there additional intelligences?

Since Howard Gardner’s original listing of the intelligences in Frames of Mind (1983) there has been a great deal of discussion as to other possible candidates for inclusion (or candidates for exclusion). Subsequent research and reflection by Howard Gardner and his colleagues has looked to three particular possibilities: a naturalist intelligence, a spiritual intelligence and an existential intelligence. He has concluded that the first of these ‘merits addition to the list of the original seven intelligences’ (Gardner 1999: 52).

Naturalist intelligence enables human beings to recognize, categorize and draw upon certain features of the environment. It ‘combines a description of the core ability with a characterization of the role that many cultures value’ ( ibid. : 48).

The case for inclusion of naturalist intelligence appears pretty straightforward, the position with regard to spiritual intelligence is far more complex. According to Howard Gardner (1999: 59) there are problems, for example, around the ‘content’ of spiritual intelligence, its privileged but unsubstantiated claims with regard to truth value, ‘and the need for it to be partially identified through its effect on other people’. As a result:

It seems more responsible to carve out that area of spirituality closest ‘in spirit’ to the other intelligences and then, in the sympathetic manner applied to naturalist intelligence, ascertain how this candidate intelligence fares. In doing so, I think it best to put aside the term spiritual , with its manifest and problematic connotations, and to speak instead of an intelligence that explores the nature of existence in its multifarious guises. Thus, an explicit concern with spiritual or religious matters would be one variety – often the most important variety – of an existential intelligence.

Existential intelligence , a concern with ‘ultimate issues’, is, thus, the next possibility that Howard Gardner considers – and he argues that it ‘scores reasonably well on the criteria’ ( ibid .: 64). However, empirical evidence is sparse – and although a ninth intelligence might be attractive, Howard Gardner is not disposed to add it to the list. ‘I find the phenomenon perplexing enough and the distance from the other intelligences vast enough to dictate prudence – at least for now’ ( ibid. : 66).

The final, and obvious, candidate for inclusion in Howard Gardner’s list is moral intelligence . In his exploration, he begins by asking whether it is possible to delineate the ‘moral domain’. He suggests that it is difficult to come to any consensual definition, but argues that it is possible to come to an understanding that takes exploration forward. Central to a moral domain, Howard Gardner suggests, ‘is a concern with those rules, behaviours and attitudes that govern the sanctity of life – in particular, the sanctity of human life and, in many cases, the sanctity of any other living creatures and the world they inhabit’ ( ibid. : 70). If we accept the existence of a moral realm is it then possible to speak of moral intelligence? If it ‘connotes the adoption of any specific moral code’ then Howard Gardner does not find the term moral intelligence acceptable ( ibid .: 75). Furthermore, he argues, researchers and writers have not as yet ‘captured the essence of the moral domain as an instance of human intelligence’ ( ibid .: 76).

As I construe it, the central component in the moral realm or domain is a sense of personal agency and personal stake, a realization that one has an irreducible role with respect to other people and that one’s behaviour towards others must reflect the results of contextualized analysis and the exercise of one’s will…. The fulfilment of key roles certainly requires a range of human intelligences – including personal, linguistic, logical and perhaps existential – but it is fundamentally a statement about the kind of person that has developed to be. It is not, in itself, an intelligence. ‘Morality’ is then properly a statement about personality, individuality, will, character – and, in the happiest cases, about the highest realization of human nature. ( ibid .: 77)

So it is, that Howard Gardner has added an eighth intelligence – naturalist intelligence – to his list. He has also opened the door to another possibility – especially that of existential intelligence – but the court is out on that one.

Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences – some issues and problems

There are various criticisms of, and problems around, Howard Gardner’s conceptualization of multiple intelligences. Indeed, Gardner himself has listed some of the main issues and his responses (1993: xxiii-xxvii; 1999: 79-114). Here, I want to focus on three key questions that have been raised in debates. (There are plenty of other questions around – but these would seem to be the most persistent):

Are the criteria Howard Gardner employs adequate? John White (1997) has argued that there are significant issues around the criteria that Howard Gardner employs. There are questions around the individual criteria, for example, do all intelligences involve symbol systems; how the criteria to be applied; and why these particular criteria are relevant. In respect of the last, and fundamental question, White states that he has not been able to find any answer in Gardner’s writings ( ibid .: 19). Indeed, Howard Gardner himself has admitted that there is an element of subjective judgement involved.

Does Howard Gardner’s conceptualization of intelligence hold together? For those researchers and scholars who have traditionally viewed intelligence as, effectively, what is measured by intelligence tests – Howard Gardner’s work will always be problematic. They can still point to a substantial tradition of research that demonstrates correlation between different abilities and argue for the existence of a general intelligence factor. Howard Gardner (1993: xxiv) disputes much of the evidence and argues that it is not possible, as yet, to know how far intelligences actually correlate. More recent developments in thinking around intelligence such as Robert Sternberg’s (1985, 1996) advancement of a ‘triarchic model’ have shared Gardner’s dislike of such standard intelligence theory. However, in contrast to Howard Gardner, Robert Sternberg does not look strongly at the particular material that the person is processing. Instead he looks to what he calls the componential, experiential and contextual facets of intelligence. A further set of criticisms centre around the specific intelligences that Howard Gardner identified. For example, it can be argued that musical intelligence and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence are better approached as talents (they do not normally need to adapt to life demands).

Is there sufficient empirical evidence to support Howard Gardner’s conceptualization? A common criticism made of Howard Gardner’s work is that his theories derive rather more strongly from his own intuitions and reasoning than from a comprehensive and full grounding in empirical research. For the moment there is not a properly worked-through set of tests to identify and measure the different intelligences.

I once thought it possible to create a set of tests of each intelligence – an intelligence-fair version to be sure – and then simply to determine the correlation between the scores on the several tests. I now believe that this can only be accomplished if someone developed several measures for each intelligence and then made sure that people were comfortable in dealing with the materials and methods used to measure each intelligence. (Gardner 1999: 98)

Howard Gardner himself has not pursued this approach because of a more general worry with such testing – that it leads to labelling and stigmatization. It can be argued that research around the functioning of the brain generally continues to support the notion of multiple intelligence (although not necessarily the specifics of Howard Gardner’s theory).

There are further questions around the notion of selfhood that Howard Gardner employs – something that he himself has come to recognize. In the early 1990s he began to look to the notion of distributed cognition as providing a better way of approaching the area than focusing on what goes on in the mind of a single individual (Hatch and Gardner 1993) (see the discussion of social/situational orientations to learning ).

While there may be some significant questions and issues around Howard Gardner’s notion of multiple intelligences, it still has had utility in education. It has helped a significant number of educators to question their work and to encourage them to look beyond the narrow confines of the dominant discourses of skilling, curriculum, and testing. For example, Mindy Kornhaber and her colleagues at the Project SUMIT (Schools Using Multiple Intelligences Theory) have examined the performance of a number of schools and concluded that there have been significant gains in respect of SATs scores, parental participation, and discipline (with the schools themselves attributing this to MI theory). To the extent that Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory has helped educators to reflect on their practice, and given them a basis to broaden their focus and to attend to what might assist people to live their lives well, then it has to be judged a useful addition.

Project SUMIT (2000) uses the metaphor of Compass Points -‘routes that educators using the theory have taken and which appear to benefit students’. They have identified the following markers that characterize schools with some success in implementing practices that attend to multiple intelligences theory.

Culture: support for diverse learners and hard work. Acting on a value system which maintains that diverse students can learn and succeed, that learning is exciting, and that hard work by teachers is necessary. Readiness: awareness-building for implementing MI. Building staff awareness of MI and of the different ways that students learn. Tool : MI is a means to foster high quality work. Using MI as a tool to promote high quality student work rather than using the theory as an end in and of itself. Collaboration : informal and formal exchanges. Sharing ideas and constructive suggestions by the staff in formal and informal exchanges. Choice : meaningful curriculum and assessment options. Embedding curriculum and assessment in activities that are valued both by students and the wider culture. Arts . Employing the arts to develop children’s skills and understanding within and across disciplines.

Informal educators can usefully look at this listing in respect of their projects and agencies. The multiple intelligences themselves also provide a good focus for reflection. Arguably, informal educators have traditionally been concerned with the domains of the interpersonal and the intrapersonal, with a sprinkling of the intelligences that Howard Gardner identifies with the arts. Looking to naturalist linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences could help enhance their practice.

Further reading and references

The main Howard Gardner writings on multiple intelligences are as follows:

Gardner, Howard (1983; 1993) Frames of Mind: The theory of multiple intelligences, New York: Basic Books. The second edition was published in Britain by Fontana Press. 466 + xxix pages. (All references in this article refer to this second, 10th Anniversary, edition). A major addition to the literature of cognitive psychology being the first full length explication of multiple intelligences.

Gardner, Howard (1989) To Open Minds: Chinese clues to the dilemma of contemporary education , New York: Basic Books. This book includes a significant amount of material on Gardner’s early life.

Gardner, H. (1991) The Unschooled Mind: How children think and how schools should teach , New York: Basic Books.

Gardner, Howard (1999) Intelligence Reframed. Multiple intelligences for the 21st century , New York: Basic Books. 292 + x pages. Useful review of Gardner’s theory and discussion of issues and additions.

Gardner, Howard (1999) The Disciplined Mind: Beyond Facts And Standardized Tests, The K-12 Education That Every Child Deserves , New York: Simon and Schuster (and New York: Penguin Putnam).

Brualdi, A, C. (1996) ‘Multiple Intelligences: Gardner’s Theory. ERIC Digest’, Eric Digests , [ http://www.ericdigests.org/1998-1/multiple.htm . Accessed June 15, 2008]

Bruner, J (1960) The Process of Education , Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

Gardner, Howard (1975) The Shattered Mind , New York: Knopf.

Gardner, Howard (2006) Changing Minds. The art and science of changing our own and other people’s minds . Boston MA.: Harvard Business School Press.

Gardner, H., Csikszentmihalyi, M. and Damon, W. (2001) Good Work: Where Excellence and Ethics Meet , New York: Basic Books.

Gardner, H., & Hatch, T. (1989). Multiple intelligences go to school: Educational implications of the theory of multiple intelligences. Educational Researcher , 18 (8), 4-9.

T. Hatch and H. Gardner (1993) ‘Finding cognition in the classroom: an expanded view of human intelligence’ in G. Salomon (ed.) Distributed Cognitions. Psychological and educational considerations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kornhaber, M. L. (2001) ‘Howard Gardner’ in J. A. Palmer (ed.) Fifty Modern Thinkers on Education. From Piaget to the present , London: Routledge.

Project SUMIT (2000) SUMIT Compass Points Practices. [ http://pzweb.harvard.edu/Research/SUMIT.htm . Accessed June 15, 2008]

Scherer, M. (1999) ‘The Understanding Pathway: A Conversation with Howard Gardner’, Educational Leadership 57(3) [ www.georgejacobs.net/MIArticles/Gardner%20ASCD%201999.doc . Accessed June 15, 2008].

Smith, L. G. and Smith, J. K. (1994) Lives in Education. A narrative of people and ideas 2e, New York: St Martin’s Press.

Sternberg, R. J. (1985) Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of human intelligence . New York: Cambridge University Press.

Sternberg, R. J. (1996) Successful intelligence . New York: Simon & Schuster.

White, J. (1998) Do Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences add up? London: Institute of Education, University of London.

Williams, W. M., Blythe, T., White, N., Li, J., Sternberg, R. J., & Gardner, H. (1996). Practical intelligence for school. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers.

Acknowledgement : The picture of Howard Gardner is reproduced here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Licence. It is part of the Aspen Institute’s photostream at Flickr.

To cite this article : Smith, Mark K. (2002, 2008) ‘Howard Gardner and multiple intelligences’, The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education , https://www.infed.org/mobi/howard-gardner-multiple-intelligences-and-education .

© Mark K. Smith 2002, 2008

Last Updated on October 19, 2019 by infed.org

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Howard Gardner, the Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education, recently reflected on his influences. “We are the sum of whoever we worked with,” he said.

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Howard Gardner: ‘A Blessing of Influences’

Corydon Ireland

Harvard Staff Writer

Wide-ranging scholar praises counsel from others of similar breadth

We all owe our lives to someone, starting with mother and father and then outward along a spreading tree of life going back in time.

For those who make a living in the academic realm, a second tree of life is entwined with the first: a branching series of mentors and intellectual influences. “We are the sum of whoever we worked with,” said developmental psychologist Howard Gardner , a celebrated, wide-ranging scholar based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE).

For him, that sum includes a few names everyone knows. Erik Erikson and David Riesman were both at Harvard when Gardner was an undergraduate. Jean Piaget and Claude Levi-Strauss corresponded with the young scholar before he earned his Harvard Ph.D. in 1971. (The two men were soon the subjects of his first trade book.) In 1970, by chance, each of these iconic revolutionaries in the realm of ideas — one a theorist of cognition and the other an anthropologist — wrote letters to Gardner on the same day, April 10.

The Levi-Strauss letter, in response to Gardner’s first journal article, is framed in his Longfellow Hall office. It expresses general agreement with the young scholar, but also delivers the kind of stings that academics sometimes inflict on one another. “To be quite frank,” the letter reads in part, “the kind of criticism you level at me makes me shrug.” (The men went on to become friends and frequent correspondents.)

Wall of fame

Gardner, who himself is now a longtime important influence on two generations of students, keeps an office in Longfellow Hall.

In lieu of diplomas and awards, Gardner lines his office walls with memorable letters and other reminders of his mentors and academic friends.

One framed letter is from Erik Erikson, a legendary developmental psychologist who was Gardner’s tutor at Harvard College.

Another framed letter is from celebrated sociologist David Riesman, author of “The Lonely Crowd” and an important Harvard influence.

A letter from anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, who corresponded (and argued) with Gardner for decades.

An early letter from Jean Piaget, whom Gardner credits as intellectually “the single biggest influence in my life.”

Gardner framed a copy of his 1976 review of a book by Piaget, whose picture captures the older scholar’s Gallic charm.

“Two of the most distinguished people in the world wrote back to me,” said Gardner, amazement still in his voice, along with admiration for an example of generosity he still follows. “I answer every letter I get, as long as it’s not designed to irritate. That’s how I pay these people back, by responding.”

In a typical day, that might mean writing a half dozen letters, along with emails — a time-eater of enormous proportions, he said.

Gardner keeps old letters and similar artifacts on his office walls partly for the students who come in and out. “It gives them a sense of lineage and continuity,” he said. “I’m very historically minded.”

Not everything in Gardner’s office has such apparent import. Decorations include a toy VW (yellow), a carving of an outrigger canoe, five labeled chairs (one says “High Priority”), a candy dish decorated with sea horses, an alarm clock, and a quill pen. The last two items, perhaps, underscore Gardner’s still-fervent scholar’s life after 52 years at Harvard. The clock is still ticking on what is left to do (he turned 70 in July), and much of that involves writing.

The prolific Gardner, officially the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education, is the author of more than 20 books. His latest, released in late September, is “ The App Generation ,” co-written with young University of Washington digital media scholar Katie Davis , Ed.D. ’11. She considers Gardner a mentor, and he agrees. Such relationships “are always dualistic,” Gardner said of such mutual intellectual attractions. “It’s seeing facets of oneself in the other person.”

Such relationships have enriched his life for decades. “Howard,” he remembered a friend saying, “you have a talent for attracting mentors.” Their number and variety is evident in “Howard Gardner Under Fire” (2006), a book of essays critiquing his work. (“It was undertaken with my blessing,” he said of the volume, which includes responses to each of his critics.) It opens with “A Blessing of Influences,” an essay on those who positively impacted his life. It is 30 pages long.

Pressed for time, Gardner supplied the highpoints of his mentored life, beginning with the comfort of his upbringing in Scranton, Pa. His Jewish parents — sensitive and cultured, though without university educations — had fled Nazi Germany in 1938. Around them gathered like-minded exiles in that Pennsylvania coal-mining town, an early simulacrum of the largely Jewish and European scholars who would later influence Gardner’s flowering life of the mind.

“Intellectually,” he said of one of them, “Piaget was probably the single biggest influence in my life.” He came to know the burly Swiss psychologist and philosopher, even though Gardner’s French was as limited as Piaget’s halting English. (In person, they used an interpreter.) In his office, Gardner has a framed blowup of a 1975 review of a Piaget book he wrote for The New York Times. Until the elder psychologist’s death in 1980, it was a sign of his influence, Gardner said, that he spent decades trying to prove Piaget wrong.

In personal terms, other mentors came into Gardner’s life earlier and more directly, starting at Harvard College in the fall of 1961. Erikson, a polymathic explorer of ideas and inventor of the term “identity crisis,” taught in what was then the Social Relations concentration. (Gardner still laments the passing of this short-lived amalgam of psychology, sociology, and anthropology.) “He was intellectually charismatic,” said Gardner of his junior- and senior-year tutor.

Blond, blue eyed, and Viking-tall, Erikson was “the most arresting figure on campus,” Gardner said, remembering his straight-backed stride. In those days, swimmers at Harvard’s Indoor Athletic Building did their laps without wearing bathing suits. “Even naked,” a friend told Gardner back then, “Erikson looks 10 percent more distinguished than anyone else.”

Erikson also established what became an accidental type for the men who influenced his early academic path, said Gardner. (And they were only men, he said apologetically. “Fifty years ago, there were very few women in the academy.” But he credited American philosopher Susanne Langer for her later inspiration on symbol systems. One of her letters is on Gardner’s office wall too.)

The men who influenced him early on were not only largely Jewish and of European origin, they were intellectuals who took a lot of interdisciplinary turns in their own young lives. “Many of my mentors had unusual paths,” said Gardner, who to this day espouses the richness of seeing a problem through the lens of many disciplines.

Erikson never went to college; was a painter who held that “an artist is a person of some talent with no place to go”; and taught in a primary school in Vienna run by Anna Freud, daughter of Sigmund Freud. It was an unusual occupation for a man, but a formative one for a scholar who would spend his life investigating psychological development in children.

Once in the United States, Erikson attracted patrons, despite his lack of academic credentials. “He must have been brilliant and vulnerable,” said Gardner of his Harvard mentor. “People wanted to help him. This is an incredibly unusual trait, which I don’t have.”

Riesman was also at Harvard during Gardner’s undergraduate years. He was another restless polymath, who in this case turned from a brilliant law career to sociology, in which he had no formal training. His co-authored 1950 study of postwar American conformity, “The Lonely Crowd,” remains a classic.

Riesman postulated that in the 19th century most people were inner-directed, with a focus on independence and self-exploration. After two World Wars, however, he held that Americans had become more “other-directed,” and that social rewards followed from conformity and not independence. In Gardner’s latest book, he and co-author Davis suggest a new generation that is “app-directed” — citizens of a digital world that may encourage superficial relationships and stifle creativity. The work draws on sociology from Riesman and psychology from Erikson, said Gardner, and brings the ideas of his old mentors into the 21st century. “My intellectual lineage endures today,” he said. “I’m still using their ideas for what I do.”

In the summer of 1965, as a new graduate of Harvard College, Gardner met Jerome Bruner , “the most famous psychologist of the ’60s and ’70s,” he said, and a pioneer of cognitive psychology, which studies how people actually think, remember, and learn. Bruner also had a deep interest in how children learn, setting off in the young Gardner a lifelong interest in pre-collegiate education.

More than that, Bruner ran his research groups in a nonconfrontational, collaborative way that Gardner took to heart in his own life. “He is the person who has had the most influence both on what I do, and how I do it,” he said. Like Gardner’s other mentors, Bruner used more than one discipline as a lens for learning. At age 70, he started teaching at the New York University School of Law — and still does, at age 98.

Gardner is a polymath in his own right. He spent 20 years after earning his Ph.D. studying neurology, from the point of view of both brain-damaged adults and gifted children. “I’m not a physician,” said Gardner, but “I used to joke: I’m a neurologist from the neck up.”

In that realm came another mentor, Norman Geschwind , a Harvard-trained physician who pioneered behavioral neurology, the study of how the architecture of the brain directs thoughts and behaviors. When that architecture is altered (Geschwind was an expert on brain lesions), conditions like aphasia can result.  Gardner spent a lot of formative time in a series of Boston aphasia clinics. He said of himself and Antonio Damasio, the noted behavioral neurologist, “We think of ourselves as being children of Norman.”

Geschwind is the author of another letter on Gardner’s office wall, one that was part of their dialogue on where visual, auditory, and spatial perception reside in the human brain. His late friend helped establish the links between brain and mind, in part by taking another step that Gardner admires: acknowledging the past. Geschwind rediscovered the work of 19th century German and French proto-neurologists. “This whole source of knowledge was forgotten,” said Gardner, lost in the United States because of enmities stirred up during the World Wars.

The last of Gardner’s main early influences was not a public intellectual in the way Piaget, Erikson, or Riesman were. Still, Nelson Goodman “was already one of the most esteemed philosophers in the English-speaking world,” Gardner wrote recently in a personal history of Harvard’s Project Zero .

Gardner was a second-semester graduate student at Harvard in 1967 when he joined Goodman in founding the project, an HGSE research group intended to study how children, adults, and organizations learn. Gardner’s recently authored history was “bus writing,” he said — that is, something to have in place in case he got hit by a bus.

As a philosopher, Goodman was interested in the nature of knowledge. He was also a student of the arts, was married to a painter, once managed a Boston art gallery, and so was drawn to founding Project Zero as a way of investigating artistic knowledge and creativity. These were interests that became central to Gardner’s own work. “Nelson had a lot of intellectual influence on me,” he said.

Goodman ’28 also had classical ideas about clarity, and would say that he stopped reading something when it no longer made sense. Gardner took Goodman’s lesson to heart: “I’m a demon for clear writing, in myself and others,” he said.

So many influences, and so much work still to do. Gardner jokes that despite all the turns his work has taken and all the disciplines it has tapped for insight, the short version of his obituary will still likely say, “Father of multiple intelligences.” His groundbreaking “Frames of Mind” appeared in 1983, and Gardner fanned the flames of the discussion for years, though he has since “moved on,” he said.

As for actually moving on, as in retiring: Gardner considered it five years ago, when he turned 65. But his family rose up “vociferously” against the idea, he said.

“At a certain point I will kick myself out,” added Gardner. “Unless I kick the bucket first.”

  One of an occasional story on senior Harvard faculty members who recall the mentoring influences that helped to shape their academic lives.   

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Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Michele Marenus

Research Scientist

B.A., Psychology, Ed.M., Harvard Graduate School of Education

Michele Marenus is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Michigan with over seven years of experience in psychology research.

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Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

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Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

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On This Page:

Howard Gardner first proposed the theory of multiple intelligences in his 1983 book “Frames of Mind”, where he broadens the definition of intelligence and outlines several distinct types of intellectual competencies.

Gardner developed a series of eight inclusion criteria while evaluating each “candidate” intelligence that was based on a variety of scientific disciplines.

He writes that we may all have these intelligences, but our profile of these intelligences may differ individually based on genetics or experience.

Gardner defines intelligence as a “biopsychological potential to process information that can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create products that are of value in a culture” (Gardner, 2000, p.28).

What is Multiple Intelligences Theory?

• Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences proposes that people are not born with all of the intelligence they will ever have.
• This theory challenged the traditional notion that there is one single type of intelligence, sometimes known as “g” for general intelligence, that only focuses on cognitive abilities.
• To broaden this notion of intelligence, Gardner introduced eight different types of intelligences consisting of: Linguistic, Logical/Mathematical, Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Musical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalist.
• Gardner notes that the linguistic and logical-mathematical modalities are most typed valued in school and society.
• Gardner also suggests that there may other “candidate” intelligences—such as spiritual intelligence, existential intelligence, and moral intelligence—but does not believe these meet his original inclusion criteria. (Gardner, 2011).

Linguistic Intelligence (word smart)

Linguistic Intelligence is a part of Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory that deals with sensitivity to the spoken and written language, ability to learn languages, and capacity to use language to accomplish certain goals.

Linguistic intelligence involves the ability to use language masterfully to express oneself rhetorically or poetically. It includes the ability to manipulate syntax, structure, semantics, and phonology of language.

People with linguistic intelligence, such as William Shakespeare and Oprah Winfrey, have the ability to analyze information and create products involving oral and written language, such as speeches, books, and memos.

Potential Career Choices

Careers you could dominate with your linguistic intelligence:

Lawyer Speaker / Host Author Journalist Curator

Logical-Mathematical Intelligence (number/reasoning smart)

Logical-mathematical intelligence refers to the capacity to analyze problems logically, carry out mathematical operations, and investigate issues scientifically.

Logical-mathematical intelligence involves the ability to use logic, abstractions, reasoning, and critical thinking to solve problems. It includes the capacity to understand the underlying principles of some kind of causal system.

People with logical-mathematical intelligence, such as Albert Einstein and Bill Gates, have an ability to develop equations and proofs, make calculations, and solve abstract problems.

Careers you could dominate with your logical-mathematical intelligence:

Mathematician Accountant Statistician Scientist Computer Analyst

Spatial Intelligence (picture smart)

Spatial intelligence involves the ability to perceive the visual-spatial world accurately. It includes the ability to transform, modify, or manipulate visual information. People with high spatial intelligence are good at visualization, drawing, sense of direction, puzzle building, and reading maps.

Spatial intelligence features the potential to recognize and manipulate the patterns of wide space (those used, for instance, by navigators and pilots) as well as the patterns of more confined areas, such as those of importance to sculptors, surgeons, chess players, graphic artists, or architects.

People with spatial intelligence, such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Amelia Earhart, have the ability to recognize and manipulate large-scale and fine-grained spatial images.

Careers you could dominate with your spatial intelligence:

Pilot Surgeon Architect Graphic Artist Interior Decorator

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (body smart)

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is the potential of using one’s whole body or parts of the body (like the hand or the mouth) to solve problems or to fashion products.

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence involves using the body with finesse, grace, and skill. It includes physical coordination, balance, dexterity, strength, and flexibility. People with high bodily-kinesthetic intelligence are good at sports, dance, acting, and physical crafts.

People with bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, such as Michael Jordan and Simone Biles, can use one’s own body to create products, perform skills, or solve problems through mind–body union.

Careers you could dominate with your bodily-kinesthetic intelligence:

Dancer Athlete Surgeon Mechanic Carpenter Physical Therapist

Musical Intelligence (music smart)

Musical intelligence refers to the skill in the performance, composition, and appreciation of musical patterns.

Musical intelligence involves the ability to perceive, discriminate, create, and express musical forms. It includes sensitivity to rhythm, pitch, melody, and tone color. People with high musical intelligence are good at singing, playing instruments, and composing music.

People with musical intelligence, such as Beethoven and Ed Sheeran, have the ability to recognize and create musical pitch, rhythm, timbre, and tone.

Careers you could dominate with your musical intelligence:

Singer Composer DJ Musician

Interpersonal Intelligence (people smart)

Interpersonal intelligence is the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations, and desires of other people and, consequently, to work effectively with others.

Interpersonal intelligence involves the ability to understand and interact effectively with others. It includes sensitivity to other people’s moods, temperaments, motivations, and desires. People with high interpersonal intelligence communicate well and can build rapport.

People with interpersonal intelligence, such as Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa, have the ability to recognize and understand other people’s moods, desires, motivations, and intentions.

Careers you could dominate with your interpersonal intelligence:

Teacher Psychologist Manager Salespeople Public Relations

Intrapersonal Intelligence (self-smart)

Intrapersonal intelligence is the capacity to understand oneself, to have an effective working model of oneself, including one’s desires, fears, and capacities—and to use such information effectively in regulating one’s own life.

It includes self-awareness, personal cognizance, and the ability to refine, analyze, and articulate one’s emotional life.

People with intrapersonal intelligence, such as Aristotle and Maya Angelou, have the ability to recognize and understand his or her own moods, desires, motivations, and intentions.

This type of intelligence can help a person understand which life goals are important and how to achieve them.

Careers you could dominate with your intrapersonal intelligence:

Therapist Psychologist Counselor Entrepreneur Clergy

Naturalist intelligence (nature smart)

Naturalist intelligence involves the ability to recognize, categorize, and draw upon patterns in the natural environment. It includes sensitivity to the flora, fauna, and phenomena in nature. People with high naturalist intelligence are good at classifying natural forms.

Naturalistic intelligence involves expertise in recognizing and classifying the numerous species—the flora and fauna—of his or her environment.

People with naturalistic intelligence, such as Charles Darwin and Jane Goddall, have the ability to identify and distinguish among different types of plants, animals, and weather formations that are found in the natural world.

Careers you could dominate with your naturalist intelligence:

Botanist Biologist Astronomer Meteorologist Geologist

Critical Evaluation

Most resistance to multiple intelligences theory has come from cognitive psychologists and psychometricians. Cognitive psychologists such as Waterhouse (2006) claimed that there is no empirical evidence to the validity of the theory of multiple intelligences.

Psychometricians, or psychologists involved in testing, argue that intelligence tests support the concept for a single general intelligence, “g”, rather than the eight distinct competencies (Gottfredson, 2004). Other researchers argue that Gardner’s intelligences comes second or third to the “g” factor (Visser, Ashton, & Vernon, 2006).

Some responses to this criticism include that the multiple intelligences theory doesn’t dispute the existence of the “g” factor; it proposes that it is equal along with the other intelligences. Many critics overlook the inclusion criteria Gardner set forth.

These criteria are strongly supported by empirical evidence in psychology, biology, neuroscience, among others. Gardner admits that traditional psychologists were valid in criticizing the lack of operational definitions for the intelligences, that is, to figure out how to measure and test the various competencies (Davis et al., 2011).

Gardner was surprised to find that Multiple Intelligences theory has been used most widely in educational contexts. He developed this theory to challenge academic psychologists, and therefore, he did not present many educational suggestions. For this reason, teachers and educators were able to take the theory and apply it as they saw fit.

As it gained popularity in this field, Gardner has maintained that practitioners should determine the theory’s best use in classrooms. He has often declined opportunities to aid in curriculum development that uses multiple intelligences theory, opting to only provide feedback at most (Gardner, 2011).

Most of the criticism has come from those removed from the classroom, such as journalists and academics. Educators are not typically tied to the same standard of evidence and are less concerned with abstract inconsistencies, which has given them the freedom to apply it with their students and let the results speak for itself (Armstrong, 2019).

Shearer (2020) provides extensive empirical evidence from neuroscience research supporting MI theory.

Shearer reviewed evidence from over 500 functional neuroimaging studies that associate patterns of brain activation with the cognitive components of each intelligence.

The visual network was associated with the visual-spatial intelligence, somatomotor networks with kinesthetic intelligence, fronto-parietal networks with logical and general intelligence, auditory networks with musical intelligence, and default mode networks with intra- and interpersonal intelligences. The coherence and distinctiveness of these networks provides robust support for the neural validity of MI theory

He concludes that human intelligence is best characterized as being multiple rather than singular, with each person possessing unique neural potentials aligned with specific intelligences.

Implications for Learning

The most important educational implications of the theory of multiple intelligences can be summed up through individuation and pluralization. Individuation posits that because each person differs from other another there is no logical reason to teach and assess students identically.

Individualized education has typically been reserved for the wealthy and others who could afford to hire tutors to address individual student’s needs.

Technology has now made it possible for more people to access a variety of teachings and assessments depending on their needs. Pluralization, the idea that topics and skills should be taught in more than one way, activates an individual’s multiple intelligences.

Presenting a variety of activities and approaches to learning helps reach all students and encourages them to be able to think about the subjects from various perspectives, deepening their knowledge of that topic (Gardner, 2011b).

A common misconception about the theory of multiple intelligences is that it is synonymous with learning styles. Gardner states that learning styles refer to the way an individual is most comfortable approaching a range of tasks and materials.

Multiple intelligences theory states that everyone has all eight intelligences at varying degrees of proficiency and an individual’s learning style is unrelated to the areas in which they are the most intelligent.

For example, someone with linguistic intelligence may not necessarily learn best through writing and reading. Classifying students by their learning styles or intelligences alone may limit their potential for learning.

Research shows that students are more engaged and learn best when they are given various ways to demonstrate their knowledge and skills, which also helps teachers more accurately assess student learning (Darling-Hammond, 2010).

Therapeutic Benefits of Incorporating Multiple Intelligences Within Therapy

Pearson et al. (2015) investigated the experiences of 8 counselors who introduced multiple intelligences (MI) theory and activities into therapy sessions with adult clients. The counselors participated in a 1-day MI training intervention and were interviewed 3 months later about their experiences using MI in practice.

The major themes that emerged from qualitative analysis of the interviews were:

• MI helped enhance therapeutic alliances. Counselors felt incorporating MI strengthened their connections with clients, increased counselor and client comfort, and reduced client suspicion/resistance.
• MI led to more effective professional work. Counselors felt MI provided more tools and flexibility in responding to clients. This matches findings from education research on the benefits of MI.
• Clients responded positively to identifying strengths through MI. The MI survey helped clients recognize talents/abilities, which counselors saw as identity-building. This aligns with the literature on strength-based approaches.
• Clients appreciated the MI preference survey. It provided conversation starters, increased self-reflection, and was sometimes a catalyst for using music therapeutically.
• Counselors felt comfortable with MI. They experienced increased confidence and professional comfort. Counselor confidence contributes to alliance building (Ackerman & Hilsenroth, 2003).
• Music use stood out as impactful. In-session and extratherapeutic music use improved client well-being after identifying musicality through the MI survey. This matches the established benefits of music therapy (Koelsch, 2009).
• MI training opened up therapeutic possibilities. Counselors valued the experiential MI training. MI appeared to expand their skills and activities.

The authors conclude that MI may enhance alliances, effectiveness, and counselor confidence. They recommend further research on long-term impacts and optimal training approaches. Counselor education could teach MI theory, assessment, and tailored interventions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can understanding the theory of multiple intelligences contribute to self-awareness and personal growth.

Understanding the theory of multiple intelligences can contribute to self-awareness and personal growth by providing a framework for recognizing and valuing different strengths and abilities.

By identifying their own unique mix of intelligences, individuals can gain a greater understanding of their own strengths and limitations and develop a more well-rounded sense of self.

Additionally, recognizing and valuing the diverse strengths and abilities of others can promote empathy , respect, and cooperation in personal and professional relationships.

Why is multiple intelligence theory important?

Understanding multiple intelligences is important because it helps individuals recognize that intelligence is not just about academic achievement or IQ scores, but also includes a range of different abilities and strengths.

By identifying their own unique mix of intelligences, individuals can develop a greater sense of self-awareness and self-esteem, as well as pursue career paths that align with their strengths and interests.

Additionally, understanding multiple intelligences can promote more inclusive and personalized approaches to education and learning that recognize and value the diverse strengths and abilities of all students.

Are certain types of intelligence more valued or prioritized in society than others?

Yes, certain types of intelligence, such as linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence, are often prioritized in traditional education and assessment methods.

However, the theory of multiple intelligences challenges this narrow definition of intelligence and recognizes the value of a diverse range of strengths and abilities.

By promoting a more inclusive and personalized approach to education and learning, the theory of multiple intelligences can help individuals recognize and develop their unique mix of intelligences, regardless of whether they align with traditional societal expectations.

What is the difference between multiple intelligences and learning styles?

The theory of multiple intelligences proposes that individuals possess a range of different types of intelligence. In contrast, learning styles refer to an individual’s preferred way of processing information, such as visual, auditory, or kinesthetic.

While both theories emphasize the importance of recognizing and valuing individual differences in learning and development, multiple intelligence theory proposes a broader and more diverse range of intelligences beyond traditional academic abilities, while learning styles are focused on preferences for processing information.

Armstrong, T. (2009). Multiple intelligences in the classroom . Ascd.

Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). Performance Counts: Assessment Systems That Support High-Quality Learning . Council of Chief State School Officers .

Davis, K., Christodoulou, J., Seider, S., & Gardner, H. E. (2011). The theory of multiple intelligences.  Davis, K., Christodoulou, J., Seider, S., & Gardner, H.(2011). The theory of multiple intelligences . In RJ Sternberg & SB Kaufman (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence , 485-503.

Edutopia. (2013, March 8). Multiple Intelligences: What Does the Research Say? https://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-research

Gardner, H. E. (2000). Intelligence reframed: Multiple intelligences for the 21st century . Hachette UK.

Gardner, H. (2011a). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences . Hachette Uk.

Gardner, H. (2011b). The theory of multiple intelligences: As psychology, as education, as social science. Address delivered at José Cela University on October, 29, 2011.

Gottfredson, L. S. (2004). Schools and the g factor . The Wilson Quarterly (1976-), 28 (3), 35-45.

Pearson, M., O’Brien, P., & Bulsara, C. (2015). A multiple intelligences approach to counseling: Enhancing alliances with a focus on strengths.  Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 25 (2), 128–142

Shearer, C. B. (2020). A resting state functional connectivity analysis of human intelligence: Broad theoretical and practical implications for multiple intelligences theory.  Psychology & Neuroscience, 13 (2), 127–148.

Visser, B. A., Ashton, M. C., & Vernon, P. A. (2006). Beyond g: Putting multiple intelligences theory to the test . Intelligence, 34 (5), 487-502.

Waterhouse, L. (2006). Inadequate evidence for multiple intelligences, Mozart effect, and emotional intelligence theories . Educational Psychologist, 41 (4), 247-255.

Further Information

• Multiple Intelligences Criticisms
• The Theory of Multiple Intelligences
• Multiple Intelligences FAQ
• “In a Nutshell,” the first chapter of Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons
• Multiple Intelligences After Twenty Years”
• Intelligence: Definition, Theories and Testing
• Fluid vs Crystallized Intelligence

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• Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning
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Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Many of us are familiar with three broad categories in which people learn: visual learning, auditory learning, and kinesthetic learning. Beyond these three categories, many theories of and approaches toward human learning potential have been established. Among them is the theory of multiple intelligences developed by Howard Gardner, Ph.D., John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Research Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. Gardner’s early work in psychology and later in human cognition and human potential led to his development of the initial six intelligences. Today there are nine intelligences, and the possibility of others may eventually expand the list.

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Summarized

• Verbal-linguistic intelligence (well-developed verbal skills and sensitivity to the sounds, meanings and rhythms of words)
• Logical-mathematical intelligence (ability to think conceptually and abstractly, and capacity to discern logical and numerical patterns)
• Spatial-visual 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)
• Musical intelligences (ability to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch and timber)
• Interpersonal intelligence (capacity to detect and respond appropriately to the moods, motivations and desires of others)
• Intrapersonal (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, “What is the meaning of life? Why do we die? How did we get here?”

(“Tapping into Multiple Intelligences,” 2004)

Gardner (2013) asserts that regardless of which subject you teach—“the arts, the sciences, history, or math”—you should present learning materials in multiple ways. Gardner goes on to point out that anything you are deeply familiar with “you can describe and convey … in several ways. We teachers discover that sometimes our own mastery of a topic is tenuous, when a student asks us to convey the knowledge in another way and we are stumped.” Thus, conveying information in multiple ways not only helps students learn the material, it also helps educators increase and reinforce our mastery of the content. 

… regardless of which subject you teach—“the arts, the sciences, history, or math”—you should present learning materials in multiple ways.

Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory can be used for curriculum development, planning instruction, selection of course activities, and related assessment strategies. Gardner points out that everyone has strengths and weaknesses in various intelligences, which is why educators should decide how best to present course material given the subject-matter and individual class of students. Indeed, instruction designed to help students learn material in multiple ways can trigger their confidence to develop areas in which they are not as strong. In the end, students’ learning is enhanced when instruction includes a range of meaningful and appropriate methods, activities, and assessments.

Multiple Intelligences are Not Learning Styles

While Gardner’s MI have been conflated with “learning styles,” Gardner himself denies that they are one in the same. The problem Gardner has expressed with the idea of “learning styles” is that the concept is ill defined and there “is not persuasive evidence that the learning style analysis produces more effective outcomes than a ‘one size fits all approach’” (as cited in Strauss, 2013). As former Assistant Director of Vanderbilt University’s Center for Teaching Nancy Chick (n.d.) pointed out, “Despite the popularity of learning styles and inventories such as the VARK, it’s important to know that there is no evidence to support the idea that matching activities to one’s learning style improves learning.” One tip Gardner offers educators is to “pluralize your teaching,” in other words to teach in multiple ways to help students learn, to “convey what it means to understand something well,” and to demonstrate your own understanding. He also recommends we “drop the term ‘styles.’ It will confuse others and it won’t help either you or your students” (as cited in Strauss, 2013).

… “pluralize your teaching,” in other words to teach in multiple ways to help students learn, to “convey what it means to understand something well,” and to demonstrate your own understanding.

Gardner himself asserts that educators should not follow one specific theory or educational innovation when designing instruction but instead employ customized goals and values appropriate to teaching, subject-matter, and student learning needs. Addressing the multiple intelligences can help instructors pluralize their instruction and methods of assessment and enrich student learning.

Chick, N. (n.d.). Learning styles . Retrieved from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/learning-styles-preferences/

Gardner, H. (2013). Frequently asked questions—Multiple intelligences and related educational topics. Retrieved from https://howardgardner01.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/faq_march2013.pdf

Strauss, V. (2013, Oct. 16). Howard Gardner: “Multiple intelligences” are not “learning styles.” The Washington Post . Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2013/10/16/howard-gardner-multiple-intelligences-are-not-learning-styles/

Tapping into multiple intelligences . (2004). Retrieved from https://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/mi/index.html

Selected Resources

MI OASIS: The Official Authoritative Site of Multiple Intelligences. Access at https://www.multipleintelligencesoasis.org/

Suggested citation

Northern Illinois University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. (2020). Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. In Instructional guide for university faculty and teaching assistants. Retrieved from https://www.niu.edu/citl/resources/guides/instructional-guide

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Commencement | 5.22.2024

“The Heart of Teaching”

Howard gardner addresses the harvard graduate school of education..

Howard Gardner | Photograph by Jay Gardner

Howard Gardner ’65, Ph.D. ’71, first walked through Radcliffe Yard, where he today addressed the Graduate School of Education’s class of 2024, as a College freshman in 1961. Since then, the Hobbs research professor of cognition and education reflected, much about the world has changed. But some things have stayed the same: “Ever since 1967, this is the site—the cluster of neo-Georgian buildings—that I call my working home.”

Throughout Gardner’s six-decade career, he has researched child development, leadership, creativity, intelligence, higher education , and fulfilling work . While pursuing this research, he said, he’s thought often about “two well-known adages” that reflect truths about continuity and change: “There is nothing new under the sun,” and “you can never step in the same river twice.” (Because of the nearly 90-degree heat, Gardner delivered his speech through a pre-recorded video, with brief in-person remarks at the beginning and end.)

For today’s educators, perhaps change is easiest to see, as technologies such as video conferencing and generative artificial intelligence transform how students learn. Closer to home, HGSE, too, is in the midst of a transition, as Dean Bridget Terry Long steps down at the end of this academic year, to be succeeded for now by interim Dean Nosie Leseaux . “Thanks to Bridget,” Gardner said, “for many years a valued colleague, scholar, academic dean, and then dean. … You are still young, especially in comparison to some of us—indeed still a kid—with many more years of productive scholarship and service to go.”

But it’s also important to look out for continuities, Gardner said—from “the stability of the solar system” to “the familiar individuals and familiar conflicts” that characterize literature from different eras and around the world. Across the diverse work HGSE graduates pursue, the ability to identify continuity while responding to change will be important: “All of us in education—whether teaching preschoolers or mentoring post docs,” he said, “need to be aware of, monitor, and deal with the continuities in education, even as we need as well to monitor the changes.”

To demonstrate his point, Gardner expanded on three areas of research he’s pursued with Project Zero, an educational think tank housed at HGSE that seeks to “understand and nurture human potentials, such as learning, thinking, ethics, intelligence, and creativity.” This research has pursued truths that “could have been investigated in earlier times—that is continuity,” he said. “But they can and should be revisited frequently in terms of what we know today and what we will learn tomorrow—that is change.”

One of those research areas concerns the arts , which “used to be thought of as entertainment, just pleasure,” he said. But his research, he continued, helped show that arts are “highly cognitive, as well, involving thinking, problem-solving, problem-finding, and especially creating something new.” Another major area of inquiry has involved intelligence: “Sixty years ago, there was a widespread belief that intelligence is a fixed, single capacity,” he said, able to be captured by an IQ score. Gardner’s groundbreaking work on multiple intelligences showed that humans possess different forms of intelligence “that can be discovered, built up, put together in new ways,” he said. Where general intelligence was thought to be fixed, multiple intelligences are not: intelligences can be strengthened and supplemented, not just with other forms of intelligence but also with technology. “Perhaps, working together with ‘smart machines,’” Gardner said, “we can accomplish what not even the writers of science fiction in my childhood could have imagined.”

The final research area Gardner addressed—Project Zero’s “most sustained work”—concerns “ethics and morality,” he said: “What does it mean to be a good worker, and to do good work in our time?” To understand what constitutes good work , Project Zero studied more than 1,000 adult professionals, finding that good work consists of three elements: excellence (the worker is technically skilled), engagement (the worker looks forward to work), and ethics (the work avoids unnecessary harms to others and tries to achieve the profession’s core values). More recently, Gardner said, he and colleagues have begun to expand their work on ethics to include children. “We realize that ethics and morality begin much younger, when as human beings we just think of ‘I’ or ‘me’ or ‘we’ or ‘us’—or whether we take into account the needs or desires of others, the larger collectivity,” he said.

Continuity and change have also characterized Gardner’s teaching. When he was hired to teach developmental psychology at HGSE 40 years ago, he taught classes by himself. Then, he said, he began to collaborate with fellow cognitive scientist Kurt Fischer . The co-teachers, at first, spent most of their class time lecturing, then posed and answered questions at the end. “But then, around 1990—before most of you were born—there was a new technology,” Gardner said: video recording. “We both recorded all of our lectures in advance…this freed class time for discussion and debate.”

With the addition of another new colleague, educational entrepreneur David Rose , Gardner found his teaching practice transformed yet again. With Rose and Fischer, Gardner began to center his pedagogy around discussion: “The three of us taught together. No more lectures—we discussed themes with one another, then with the class, then discussion continued with teaching fellows,” he said. “This struck me as a great way to teach, and not one easily replicated online: walking up and down the aisles of Askwith Hall, and spilling over after class to the Gutman cafeteria or the sunken garden behind you.”

The fundamental principles underlying effective teaching stayed the same, even as the methods Gardner used to achieve those principles shifted. “The heart of teaching is thoughtful teachers interacting with one another and with students,” he said, “as old as Plato’s Republic and as contemporary as computer-based flipped classes.”

Concluding his speech, Gardner quoted the American historian Henry Adams, A.B. 1858 , to remind the graduates that their work will have impacts beyond what they can imagine: “A teacher affects eternity; he never knows when his influence ends.” In the spirit of change and continuity, Gardner reworded the quote with a contemporary twist: “Educators affect eternity—they never know where their influence ends.”

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Howard Gardner

2004 Mahatma M.K. Gandhi Fellow

About Howard Gardner

Howard Gardner is the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education and Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He is also senior director of Project Zero, an educational research group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education dedicated to understanding and enhancing learning and thinking. Dr. Gardner is best known for his theory of multiple intelligences, a critique of the notion that a single human intelligence exists that can be assessed by standard psychometric instruments, which he outlined in his breakthrough book,  Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (1983). During the past three decades, Dr. Gardner has been heavily involved in school reform efforts in the United States. He and colleagues at Project Zero have been working on the design of performance-based assessments, education for understanding, and the use of multiple intelligences to achieve more personalized curricula, instruction, and assessment. Over the years, Project Zero has maintained a strong research commitment in the arts while gradually expanding its concerns to include education across all disciplines—not just for the individual, but for whole classrooms, schools, and other educational and cultural organizations. Much of his work takes place in American public schools, particularly those that serve disadvantaged populations.

In the mid-1990s, Dr. Gardner began conducting intensive case studies of exemplary creators and leaders. With psychologists Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and William Damon, he launched The Good Project, a group of initiatives that promote excellence, engagement, and ethics in education. Through research-based concepts, frameworks, and resources, the project helps students to reflect on the ethical dilemmas that arise in everyday life and gives them the tools to make thoughtful decisions, preparing them to be good citizens who contribute to the overall well-being of society. Dr. Gardner’s research with The Good Project has also focused on pre-college education in an era of globalization, and on the nature of interdisciplinary study and teaching.

Most recently, working with Project Zero, Dr. Gardner has undertaken a national study at ten institutions of higher learning, looking at how various campus constituencies—incoming and graduating students, faculty, administrators, parents, alumni, trustees, and job recruiters—think about the goals of college and the value of liberal arts study. The study aims to understand how these views may impact the college experience and ultimately seeks to provide suggestions of how best to deliver quality higher education in the twenty-first century.

Dr. Gardner is the author of dozens of books. His most recent books include The App Generation: How Today’s Youth Navigate Identity, Intimacy, and Imagination in the Digital World , co-authored with Katie Davis (2013), and Multiple Intelligences around the World,  edited with Jie-Qi Chen and Seana Moran (2009). Others include  Five Minds for the Future (2006),  Changing Minds (2004),  Making Good  (with W. Fischman, B. Solomon, and D. Greenspan, 2004), Good Work: When Excellence and Ethics Meet  (with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and William Damon, 2001),  Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century  (1999), and The Disciplined Mind: What All Students Should Understand (1999), as well as several hundred articles. A festschrift entitled Mind, Work, and Life was edited in 2014 by Mindy L. Kornhaber and Ellen Winner in honor of Dr. Gardner’s 70th birthday.

Dr. Gardner received his PhD from Harvard University. He is winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship (2000); the Grawemeyer Award in Education (1990); and a MacArthur Prize Fellowship (1981). He has received honorary degrees from twenty-nine colleges and universities, including institutions in Ireland, Italy, Israel, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Spain, and Hong Kong. In 2004 he was named an Honorary Professor at East China Normal University in Shanghai. In 2005 and 2008 he was selected by  Foreign Policy  and  Prospect  magazines as one of 100 most influential public intellectuals in the world. In 2008, Dr. Gardner was selected by the  Wall Street Journal  as one of the five most sought-after thinkers in business and was named as one of the most influential people in business ethics by  Ethisphere Magazine . He was listed as one of the top 30 leaders in business by the American Management Association in 2014.

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