Since that time, awareness among educators about the theory of multiple intelligences has continued to grow steadily. From a model that was originally popular mostly in the field of gifted education and among isolated schools and teachers around the United States in the 1980s, MI theory during the 1990s expanded its reach to include hundreds of school districts, thousands of schools, and tens of thousands of teachers in the United States and in numerous countries across the globe. Educators have applied multiple intelligences concepts to a wide range of settings from early childhood programs (Merrefield, 1997) to community colleges (Diaz-Lefebvre & Finnegan, 1997) and centers for homeless adults (Taylor-King, 1997).
In this book, I present my own particular adaptation of Gardner's model for teachers and other educators. My hope is that people can use the book in several ways to help stimulate continued reforms in education:
- as a practical introduction to the theory of multiple intelligences for individuals new to the model;
- as a supplementary text for teachers in training in schools of education;
- as a study guide for groups of teachers and administrators working in schools that are implementing reforms; and
- as a resource book for teachers and other educators looking for new ideas to enhance their teaching experience.
Each chapter concludes with a section called “For Further Study” that can help readers integrate the material into their instructional practice. Several appendixes and a list of references alert readers to other materials related to MI theory that can enrich and extend their understanding of the model.
Since the publication of the 1st edition of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom in 1994, several new developments in MI theory have warranted its revision and expansion in this 2nd edition. First, and most important, is Howard Gardner's addition of an eighth intelligence to his original list of seven intelligences: the naturalist (Gardner, 1999b). The core of this intelligence includes a capacity to discriminate or classify different kinds of fauna and flora or natural formations such as mountains or clouds. Gardner added it to the theory after concluding that it met the same criteria for an intelligence as the original seven (see pages 3–8 of this text for a description of the general criteria, and Gardner, 1999b, pp. 48–52, for an application of the criteria to the naturalist intelligence). I have integrated the naturalist intelligence into all relevant text, strategies, activities, figures, charts, resources, and other aspects of this 2nd edition of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom.
Second, Gardner has also begun speaking about the possibility of a ninth intelligence—the existential—or the intelligence of concern with ultimate life issues (Gardner, 1999b, pp. 60–64). I have not integrated the existential intelligence into the body of this revised text, but have written a special chapter for this 2nd edition (Chapter 14, pp. 127–131) that discusses this candidate for a ninth intelligence and its potential applications to the classroom.
Finally, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of books, manuals, training programs, audio- and videotapes, CD-ROMs, and other resources related to the theory of multiple intelligences, and the expanded resources guide (pp. 132–134) reflects this exponential growth.
Increasingly, examples of schools that have successfully followed these principles have been appearing on the educational scene. Hoerr (2000), for example, details in his ASCD book Becoming a Multiple Intelligences School the process he and his colleagues went through to implement the principles of MI theory at the New City School in St. Louis, Missouri, where he is headmaster. Similarly, Campbell and Campbell (2000), in their ASCD book Multiple Intelligences and Student Achievement: Success Stories from Six Schools, chronicle the application of MI theory at several schools—both elementary and secondary—in Kentucky, Minnesota, Washington, Indiana, and California. Perhaps most significantly, Harvard Project Zero has been engaged in Project SUMIT (Schools Using Multiple Intelligence Theory), which is examining 41 schools nationwide that have been incorporating multiple intelligences into their curriculum. Outcomes thus far include improved test scores, improved discipline, improved parent participation, and improvements for students with the “learning disability” label (Kornhaber, 1999).
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Many people have helped make this book possible. First, I thank Howard Gardner, whose support of my work over the years has helped fuel my continued involvement in MI theory. I also thank Mert Hanley, director of the Teaching/Learning Center in the West Irondequoit School District in upstate New York, for providing me with the opportunity to work with several school districts in the Rochester area. Over a period of four years in those districts, I tried out many of the ideas in this book. Thanks also to the following individuals who helped in different ways to give form to Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom: Ron Brandt, Sue Teele, David Thornberg, Jo Gusman, Jean Simeone, Pat Kyle, DeLee Lanz, Peggy Buzanski, Dee Dickinson, and my wife, Barbara Turner. I also want to thank the editors, designers, and other members of the program development work group of ASCD for making this 2nd edition of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom possible. Finally, my special appreciation goes to the thousands of teachers, administrators, and students who responded to the ideas and strategies presented in these pages: This book has been created in recognition of the rich potential that exists in each of you.
Thomas Armstrong
Sonoma County, California
May 2000