Some light bedtime reading...

I am now officially into the first week of my literature review, and I have found the best way to concentrate is to go to bed at 8pm with my post-it notes and I am currently Frames of Mind - The Theory of Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner.

I familiarised myself with his work in my Module 2 literature review but now I am reading his work with more focus on the Ethical considerations of his theory and applying this to my practice as a dance teacher.

I have enjoyed how reflexive Gardner's writing is, at no point does he portray his theory as 'The be-all and end-all' and for every intelligence, he highlights the cultural perspectives and considerations of disabilities and different cognitive abilities.

His introduction hi-lights that there is no definitive explanation for intelligence and probably will never be one. And in fact, we need to think critically about our attachment to the word 'Intelligence' and also apply this thought to many things that we label.

'There is a universal human temptation to give credence to a word to which we have become attached, perhaps because it has helped us to understand a situation better.... Intelligence is such a word; we use it so often that we have come to believe in its existence, as a genuine tangible, measurable entity, rather than as a convenient way of labelling some phenomena that may (but may well not) exist.' (Gardner, 1993 pg 69)

My reading also reminded me why I found interest in this topic, I hate the idea that we are all measured by the same system when our talents and intelligence are different.

'There must be more to intelligence than short answers to short questions- answers that predict academic success; and yet, in the absence of a better way of thinking about intelligence, and of better ways to assess an individual's capabilities, this scenario is destined to be repeated' (Gardner, 1993 pg 3)

This has made me think about how we measure dance ability. Is it only those with the highest kicks, best technique and performance that are the best dancers? 

Gardner places his theory of intelligence across lots of different cultures from the Anang of Nigeria who by the age of five sing hundreds of songs, play several percussion instruments and perform dozens of intricate dance movements (Gardner, 1993) and how skills that to the western world may seem primitive actually require a high level of intelligence. Such as in Kikuyu in Kenya, a young child is taught how to recognize every head of livestock in his family's herd from its colour, markings and size and type of its horns. (Gardner, 1993)


How would these children fair in an audition? They clearly have remarkable talents but these would not necessarily be tested if they were just mirroring a choreographer. Or their talents would not be realised if they were just judged on a dance they had presented by themselves.

Instead of looking at the aesthetic of a performer and that being the marker of their talent, could we look further into their intelligence so that they can develop from a deeper place?



Bibliography
Gardner, H (1993) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Fontana Press.