YOUNG MINDS 11

Eight is Always Better than One!

     Intelligence is not a single entity but a multi-faceted one. Look through the types of intelligence that people usually possess and figure out your strong areas.

Linguistic intelligence refers to our ability to use spoken and written words to achieve a particular goal. People who are high on this dimension have a great capacity to pick up languages, love reading books, enjoy solving word games and puzzles and have a fondness for sticking their heads out of the car window to read all the advertisement hoardings along the roads. 

     Such linguistically gifted students benefit greatly from story-telling, lectures and debates, brainstorming sessions, writing activities, and extemporaneous speaking.

     Then there are the children of logic! They love asking lots of questions to figure out how something works and how to calculate, quantify and measure objects and ideas. They understand cause-effect relationships between phenomena and reason well. These students possess logical-mathematical intelligence. They will benefit greatly from scientific demonstrations, logical puzzles and problem solving activities, mathematical exercises and sequential presentation of ideas.

     If you were asked to imagine a prism in your mind and rotate it by 45 degrees clockwise, what would you say it looks like? Some people can only answer this with an expression of mild pain but some others can explain wonderfully what this rotation looks like. Such students have spatial intelligence. They enjoy reading maps, solving jig-saw puzzles, drawing and geometry. They may be great at figuring out directions even in a new place. Students high on this dimension will benefit from learning through graphs, diagrams, maps and charts; visual puzzles and mazes; 3D construction kits; picture metaphors; telescopes, microscopes, and binoculars; painting, collage, visual arts and visual thinking exercises.

     Every group has at least one clumsy character, the one that always drops things or walks into objects. These people are the ones that can do with a little training in bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence. People high on this dimension can handle objects skilfully; are very good at sports and dancing; and most importantly, have very good muscular memory i.e. remembering things through movement like how dancers, pilots, and surgeons do. They may benefit greatly from cooperative and competitive games, physical education activities and field trips.

     If there is a hummer in your class who likes to burst into song often, you know what musical intelligence is. Such people are sensitive to rhythms, sounds and music, have the ability to master musical instruments and even compose their own tunes. They will benefit greatly from music appreciation activities, group singing and learning musical concepts.

     What will we ever do without that one social butterfly that goes around the class in the morning greeting everyone boisterously? These students have interpersonal intelligence which refers to their ability to interact effectively with people and to understand others’ motivations, desires and emotions. They may benefit greatly from peer teaching/ group studying, conflict resolution activities, involvement in social and academic clubs and cooperative games.

     If you are the kind that likes to sit by yourself and spend quality time with your own thoughts and ideas, you possess what is called intrapersonal intelligence, which refers to your capacity for self- awareness. You use introspection to know who you are, what you can do and what you want to do. Such students can benefit from learning through self teaching, independent studying, journal keeping and individualized projects.

     If you have ever had your ears blown off for littering or plucking a flower, you have been in the company of a person who has naturalistic intelligence. These individuals readily notice and categorize objects in the natural world. They enjoy the outdoors, and take great pleasure in caring for animals and plants. They will greatly benefit from planetarium visits, ecological awareness exercises, and exposure to animals and botanical species.

     There are so many wonderful career paths to choose from. Just keep your foremost passion in mind and take a pick. The world is your playground!

SANGEETHA MADHU & JYOTHI RAVICHANDRAN, 

THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS- SCHOOL EDITION