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This is how our TEFL graduates feel they have gained from their course, and how they plan to put into action what they learned:
Multiple Intelligences There is nothing more frustrating for a teacher when, despite of all his or her effort, a student cannot follow or understand the lesson. As every person learns differently from each other it is important that teachers be aware of how to deal with mixed abilities classes.
To avoid this kind of frustration, when planning a lesson teachers should take in account how the students learn and most important than this it is to know how to teach in many different ways .
By understanding the many different learning styles of the students teachers can get not only better responses from them but also improve his/her own teaching skills .
These many different learning styles are called Multiple Intelligences. The Multiple Intelligences Theory was proposed by Howard Gardner in 1983 .
Gardner, instead of considering intelligence in terms of mental performances, regards it behaviorally. According to him, an intelligence is the ability or captivity to solve problems or to fashion products.
Instead of seeing people as rational or irrational, Gardner described human beings as organisms possessing a set of intelligences. We each have a blend of intelligences that need to be cherished and taken good advantage of. As Gardner indicates most people can be outstanding in one or two intelligences.
Through his theory there have been identified 9 different Intelligences as following :
1. Verbal Linguistic : those who are conscious of words. They enjoy reading , writing, listening to stories, word and board games and pair practice.
Writers, poets, lawyers and speakers are among those that Howard Gardner sees as having high linguistic intelligence.
2. Math Logic: those who are number and reasoning smart. They enjoy asking questions, puzzles and thinking in a logical way.
This intelligence is most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking.
3. Spatial: those who are picture smart. They enjoy actions , gestures and visual aids.
4. Bodily Kinesthetic : those who like to use their bodies to understand things better. students who are bodily kinesthetic enjoy movement.
5. Music and Rhythm Smart: those who learn through music and rhythm.
According to Howard Gardner musical intelligence runs in an almost structural parallel to linguistic intelligence.
6.Interpersonal: those who like working with people, they enjoy pair work and interactive activities.
Educators, salespeople, religious and political leaders and counsellors all need a well-developed interpersonal intelligence.
7. Intrapersonal: self smart students, they like working by themselves because of their high self confidence, enjoy reading and homework.
8. Naturalist: natural environment smart students who enjoy being outdoors, they learn about animals and plants and enjoy putting things in categories, like working with colors and shapes.
9. Existencial People: wondering smart students, they ask questions about the reason of everything.
The Multiple Intelligences 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.
When teachers are aware of these many different ways that children learn they can plan lessons with more variety, developing through this the many students aptitudes. Even when teaching the same thing we should have variety. By using in a single class songs, actions, role plays, learning games, storytelling, textbooks, workbooks and visual aids we will be providing possibilities to all the students to learn according to their intelligence.
Therefore, a successful teacher is the one who actively responds to the differences , helps all the students discover and develop their strengths and facilitate maximizing students potential. The learning process will be a more effective and active experience rather than a frustrating one for both teacher and students.
