Hello Exam Seekers,

Have you ever wondered why you used to struggle so much to learn things while in school? Have you ever felt frustrated with finding something hard while others found it easy? How about your performance in tests? Was it somehow upsetting when you could not get a good mark on them?

Well, let me break the news to you: the problem was (is) not you.

Ok, let me explain it better. Schools have a system. And, in general, it works pretty well for most students. However, as we all know, there aren’t two equal people in the world. That is also true when talking about education. Not two people will learn things the same way.

That leads to an issue that has been around for a while already: (traditional) school systems tend to be designed for only one type of learner, the one who can learn without any further difficulties under some conditions. They may include sitting down for too long just listening to a lecture, not speaking a single word throughout the class, not taking part in its learning process, and being told to do many exercises.

This, in fact, works for some. But it can be incredibly tiresome for others who struggle to understand what is happening. Some people learn by making movements, listening to songs, looking at pictures, or drawing, which is ok. Unlike what used to be taught before, it doesn’t make you less intelligent than others. It just means that the way you process things does not apply to the system you are currently in. When sitting for an exam, you will mostly be tested on your linguistic-verbal and logical-mathematical intelligence. This is one of the reasons why some people simply do not fit the system; they are not being tested according to their intelligences.

Nevertheless, it was only back in the 1980s that the discussion about different types of intelligence started. Howard Gardner introduced us to seven different ones back then, which are known as linguistic-verbal, visual-spatial, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal intelligences. Later on, he also presented a new one, called naturalistic intelligence.

My question for you is: does it mean that we can only have one type of intelligence? It definitely doesn’t. It mostly means that some of these intelligences may be more developed than others, making learning and understanding happen more efficiently when our environment allows us to use these already-developed skills.

By being aware of these results, students – and teachers – can make better decisions related to learning. New approaches may be chosen, different studying styles may be used, and learning will occur more and more. Knowing and understanding our differences and skills is of great importance, especially to ourselves, since we are offered the chance to broaden our horizons and to better understand ourselves in the process of learning and many other life aspects.

As you can see in the picture below, my strongest intelligences are intrapersonal and linguistic. However, I also have the other intelligences, but they are less developed than the first two.

Multiple Intelligence Test taken at Personality Max.com. Try finding out yours.

Now that you know the name of each intelligence, do you know how different they are? What does it mean to have an intrapersonal intelligence, for instance? Here they are:

Bodily-kinesthetic: if you learn through movements or hands-on activities, chances are your bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is more developed. That means that you learn a lot by doing things rather than merely listening to them. You have good physical control, and you are good at doing things that involve moving your body, such as dancing or doing sports.

Interpersonal: by having this intelligence more developed, you probably understand people well and are good at dealing with them. Your speech skills are excellent, and you communicate effectively with others. In general, you are a more empathic person and understand different points of view and analyze various perspectives by seeing them from an outside perspective. You can deal well with problems, and you are pretty aware of others’ emotions and intentions.

Intrapersonal: if you have this intelligence as a strong one, you are probably aware of what goes on with you. You are continually analyzing your attitude and are very immersed in what happens within you. You generally know a lot about yourself and your strengths and weaknesses. You are probably good at analyzing ideas and like theories.

Linguistic-verbal: it is how well you deal with language, that is if you can communicate appropriately, convince others, engage in conversation, and use language objectively, be it in spoken or written form. Besides that, you also enjoy reading, remembering things, and writing. If this is one of your strongest intelligences, you work well with words in an overall context.

Logical-mathematical: talks about your performance in problem-solving, patterns, deduction, logical thinking, etc. If this is your strongest intelligence, chances are you excel in solving complex problems, and you think you are good at analyzing numbers and understanding things more conceptually.

Musical: when you grasp rhythm and tones and remember song-related things quickly, this means your musical intelligence is more developed. Chances are you can play an instrument, enjoy music in general, and remember things better when you connect them to music. Be it by writing a song with the concepts you need for a test or creating the melody for some information you have learned.

Naturalist: if you enjoy exploring nature and understand things better when you relate them to nature, you have a high naturalist intelligence. You are sensitive to small changes and are highly connected to the environment around you. You enjoy nature as a whole, and being in touch with it is probably a necessity for you. You can categorize and catalog things more easily, and things that are not related to nature tend to be less interesting to you.

Visual-spatial: if you have this intelligence more developed, you are probably good at visualizing things. You deal well with maps, directions, pictures, and other visual arts.

Here are some images of things that are usually well-developed in each of the intelligences:

One of the aspects to be taken into account while studying multiple intelligences is that by knowing all of them and what they mean, one can even learn ways to develop the intelligences that are weaker. We say so because different activities can be done to sharpen different skills, which will lead to the development of different types of intelligence. This way, you will broaden your abilities even more and be more open to different ways of learning, which is always something to be considered positive.

Even though there are some school systems that are still taken as traditional, more and more schools are considering the different ways students learn and implementing different methodologies to reach those who don’t work well solely with linguistic-verbal and logical-mathematical intelligence. Therefore, there is already a change in the learning scenario, and offering a variety of activities that can include different skilled people is becoming more and more necessary nowadays.

What do you think about Multiple Intelligences? Do you agree? Which one is your strongest and weakest? Comment in the comment section below.

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Have a great week,
Patricia Moura