Learning Profiles

This very cool dude by the name of Howard Gardner started thinking about intelligence and how we decide who is smart. It used to be that people thought if you were good at reading and writing and math that you were smart. They also thought that if you had a big vocabulary, that meant you were very smart. Then Howard Gardner did some studies and found out that there are a lot of ways you can be smart. Like Michael Jordon and Andre Agassi are truly smart people. They are very smart in what Gardner calls Kinesthetic intelligence. They have a sense about how to move their bodies that the average joe doesn't have. Below is a description of some of the intelligences and what they mean.

Linguistic Intelligence: If you are smart in linguistic intelligence, it means that you are probably a good writer; you love reading and learning new words. You probably love crossword puzzles too. Poets, authors, journalists, lawyers are just a few types of people who have linguistic intelligence.

Logical-Mathematical Intelligence: If you are smart in math or logic, it means that you are probably really good at solving puzzles that involve reasoning without words. Like Rubik's cube and Sudoku puzzles. Math teachers, scientists, computer programmers, stockbrokers and bankers are just a few types of people who have logical-mathematical intelligence.

Visual-Spatial Intelligence: A picture is worth a thousand words. That is the feeling of people with this intelligence. Spatial people can find their way in the dark when they are lost. It's truly a gift- especially to those of us who are spatially disabled. Spatial people who are also kinesthetic are really good at team sports. They do really well in geometry and shop class. Visual people get much more information quickly from pictures than they do words. They appreciate art and if they have good motor ability, they can be really great artists. Artists, surgeons, team athletes, sailors, architects, computer programmers, pilots are just a few types of people who have visual-spatial intelligence.

Musical Intelligence: This one is pretty obvious. These are the songwriters and composers. But they are also the people who love to sing or play an instrument. They hear music differently from the way random people hear it. They listen in chunks or sections. Like, they can hear a harmony or a baseline while they are listening to the entire piece at the same time. They are drawn to music and remember music easily. Songwriters, composers, music engineers, disc jockeys, music critics, music teachers, are just a few types of people with musical intelligence.

Kinesthetic Intelligence: If you have kinesthetic intelligence it means that you learn and understand through movement. Your body is in sync with itself and you are either a great athlete or dancer or both. You are active and need to touch and experience your environment. When you combine kinesthetic movement with spatial intelligence, you have someone who is like Pele and Mia Hamm. Dancers, figure skaters, and gymnasts tend to have both kinesthetic and musical intelligence.

Interpersonal Intelligence: These are the "people smart" people. They love to be with other people and get along really well with others. They have excellent social skills. There have been some theorists who say that interpersonal intelligence is more important that any other kind of intelligence because most of us will need to be able to work well with others when we grow up. Politicians, diplomats, teachers, negotiators, lawyers are just a few types of people with interpersonal intelligence.

Intrapersonal Intelligence: This is the ability to understand ourselves. People with intrapersonal intelligence spend a lot of time thinking about their own feelings and how they think about stuff. They are interested in the reasons why they feel the way they do. Psychologists and psychiatrists, astrologists, religious clergy, social workers are just a few people who have intrapersonal intelligence.

Naturalist Intelligence: Well, you might say these are the tree huggers. They love nature and are most at home outside. They love to go camping instead of staying in a hotel. They are really good at gardening and can remember both the simple and the formal name of a ton of different plant species. Forest Rangers, trail guides, horticulturists, farmers, landscape architects, tree surgeons are just a few types of people who have environmental intelligence. 

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