Science

The ability to reason and calculate; to think things through in a logical, systematic manner.
These are the kind of skills which are highly developed in engineers, scientists, economists, accountants, detectives (police investigators), animal trackers, lawyers, and accountants.

Likely traits:

• Likes abstract thinking
• Likes being precise
• Enjoys counting
• Likes being organised
• Uses logical structure
• Enjoys computers
• Enjoys problem-solving
• Enjoys experimenting in a logical way
• Prefers orderly note-taking
• Enjoys strategic and analytical thinking
• Keen on statistical reliance and verification
• Often enjoys accounting or banking careers

How to strengthen for learning:

• Stimulate problem-solving
• Do mathematical computation games
• Analyse and interpret data
• Use reasoning
• Encourage own strengths
• Encourage practical experiments
• Use prediction
• Integrate organisation and mathematics into other curricula areas
• Have a place for everything
• Practice how to do things step-by-step
• Use deductive thinking
• Use computers for spreadsheets, calculations

The ability to think in pictures, to visualise a future result.
To imagine things in one’s mind’s eye. Architects, artists, sculptors, sailors, photographers, navigators, chess players, naturalists, theoretical physicists, battlefield strategists and strategic planners normally have this type of intelligence. People use it when they have a sense of direction, when they navigate or draw, or when they develop from mind ideas or flowcharts and find new ways of presenting ideas and things.

Likely traits:

• Think in pictures
• Creates mental images
• Uses metaphor
• Has sense of gestalt
• Likes art: drawing, crafts, painting, building and sculpting
• Easily reads maps, charts, and diagrams
• Remembers with pictures
• Has good colour sense
• Uses all senses for imaging
• Likes engineering

NOTE: Profiles with a blocked left eye in stress, although they are highly visual people may have difficulty in following directions from maps, even though maps are visually accurate!

How to strengthen for learning:

• Use pictures to learn
• Create doodles, symbols while listening
• Draw diagrams, maps
• Integrate art with other subjects
• Use mind mapping to organise ideas
• Do visualisation activities
• Watch videos or create your own
• Use peripheral stimuli on the walls to reinforce learning of the day
• Use mime
• Change places in the classroom from time to time to gain different perspectives
• Use advance organisers or goal-setting charts
• Encourage gardening
• Use clustering
• Highlight with colour
• Use computer graphics

The ability to make or compose music, to sing well, or to understand and appreciate music, to keep rhythm.
This is a talent obviously enjoyed by musicians, composers, and recording engineers. But most people have a basic musical intelligence that can be developed.

Likely traits:

• Sensitive to pitch, rhythm, timbre
• Sensitive to emotional power of music
• Sensitive to complex organisation of music
• May be deeply spiritual
• May create own music with computer software
• Knows a lot of music selections, artists, and genre
• Often tries to use music for learning

How to strengthen for learning:

• Play a musical instrument
• Sing in a choir
• Learn through changing the theory into songs
• Use active concerts for learning
• Use passive concerts to relax
• Exercise with music
• Write music
• Integrate music with other subject areas
• Change your mood with music
• Imagine/make pictures with music
• Learn through raps such as timetables, whole language poems, choral reading
• Compose music on computer

The ability to use one’s body skilfully to solve problems, create products, or present ideas and emotions.
Obviously, this is ability for athletic and sporting pursuits, artistic pursuits such as dancing and acting, inventors, mimics, karate teachers, race car drivers, outdoor careers, building or construction, and mechanically gifted. One can include surgeons in this category, but many people who are physically talented “good with their hands” don’t recognise that this form of intelligence as being of equal value to the others.

Likely traits:

• Exceptional control of one’s body
• Control of objects
• Good timing
• Trained responses
• Good reflexes
• Learns best by moving
• Likes to engage in physical sport
• Likes to touch
• Skilled at handcrafts
• Likes to act (when expressive)
• Likes to use manipulatives
• Learns by participating in the learning process
• Remembers what was done rather than what was said or observed
• Fidgety if lessons are boring
• Mechanically minded

How to strengthen for learning:

• Use physical exercises wherein you become the object you are learning about
• Use dancing to learn
• Use movement to learn
• Use manipulatives in science, mathematics
• Take lots of “state changes” and breaks
• Integrate movement into all curricula areas
• Mentally review while you are swimming, jogging
• Build models, machines, technic Lego, handcrafts
• Use karate for focusing
• Do field trips
• Play classroom games
• Do drama, role play
• Finger snapping, clapping, stomping, jumping, climbing

The ability to recognise flora and fauna, to make other consequential distinctions in the natural world, and to use this ability productive.
For example: Gardening, farming, or biological science. Farmers, botanists, anthropologists, explorers, conservationists, biologists, environmentalists, and zoologists fit into this category. Any professional working with plants and animals fits into this category!

Likely traits:

• Negotiates well
• Good knowledge of nature
• Sensitive to ecology
• Sensitive to environmental and animal abuse
• Often vegetarian or vegan for environmental or cruelty reasons
• Sees pattern in nature
• Keen sense of balance with nature and the body

How to strengthen for learning:

• Use nature metaphors
• Teach via inquiry
• Bring plants into the class
• Permit sharing of pets
• Connect nutrition to learning
• Encourage project work
• Use art and nature and natural phenomenon
• Encourage planting of own vegetable garden
• Teach outdoors

The ability to work effectively with others, to relate to other people and display empathy and understanding, to notice their motivations and goals.
This is a vital human intelligence exhibited by good teachers, facilitators, therapists, counsellors, managers, public relations, politicians, religious leaders, and salespeople.

Likely traits:

• Negotiates well
• Relates well, mixes well (unless receptive)
• Able to read others’ intentions
• Enjoys being with people (unless receptive)
• Has many friends (unless receptive)
• Communicates well, sometimes manipulates (more likely when expressive)
• Enjoys group activity (unless receptive)
• Likes to mediate disputes (especially when expressive)
• Likes to cooperate
• “Reads” social situations well
• Has a need to be liked (more so expressive and emotional profiles)
• Often likes attention (more so expressive and emotional profiles)

How to strengthen for learning:

• Do cooperative learning activities
• Plan to socialise with others
• Use “pair and share” learning activities
• Develop communication skills
• Make learning fun
• Learn to listen to others’ opinions
• Integrate socialisation into all curricular areas
• Use “people search” activities where you have to talk to others to get answers
• Work in teams
• Learn through service
• Tutor others
• Learn about cause and effect

The ability for self-analysis and reflection.
To be able to quietly contemplate and assess one’s accomplishments, to review one’s behaviour and innermost feelings, to make plans and set goals, to know oneself objectively. Philosophers, counsellors, and many peak performers in all fields fit into this category.

Likely traits:

• Self-knowledge
• Sensitive to one’s own values
• Deeply aware of one’s own feelings
• Sensitivity to one’s purpose in life
• Has a well-developed sense of self
• Intuitive ability
• Self-motivated
• Deeply aware of own strengths and weaknesses
• Very private person (especially when receptive)
• Wants to be different from mainstream

How to strengthen for learning:

• Have personal “heart-to-heart” talks
• Use personal growth activities to break learning blockages
• Debrief activities
• Think about your thinking through “pair and shares” and “think and listen”
• Take time for inner reflection
• Keep a journal
• Do independent studies
• Listen to your intuition
• Discuss, reflect, or write what you experienced and how you felt
• Permit freedom to be different from the group
• Make “My Books” and journals of your own life story
• Take control of your own learning
• Question things

The ability to appreciate and accommodate views and opinions from people of other spiritual denominations
Church leaders, teachers, and journalists are all people who are faced with people with different world views and should have a strong spiritual intelligence. Apart from a job requiring a person to be respectful of others’ belief systems, all people should strive to be more accommodating towards others.

Likely traits:

• Deep self-knowledge
• Sensitive to one’s values
• Sensitive to higher purpose
• Often believes in transcendence
• Often sensitive to ecology
• Often a very private person
• Self-motivated

How to strengthen for learning:

• Have time for reflection
• Discuss opinions peacefully given the other person option to disagree
• Do independent studies on other beliefs
• Respect and celebrate similarities of different beliefs and perspectives
• Be kind and aware of others’ real circumstances and difficulties without judging

The ability to reason logically and objectively.
Componential intelligence is that facet of people’s mental ability that enables them to reason logically, to think analytically, to identify connections among ideas, and to see various aspects or 􀂳components􀂴􀀃of a problem.
Psychologists, sociologists, futurists, political leaders, legal professionals, and scientists are prime examples

How to strengthen for learning:

• Do the De Bono courses on
  • The Thinking Hats
  • Medal Values
  • Action Shoes
• Learn to listen actively
• Read autobiographies and history books to understand the other person􀂶s point of view
• Do debating
• Read newspapers

The ability to think and solve challenges with new and ingenious solutions.
Experiential intelligence is a facet of mental ability associated with a person’s capacity to combine disparate experiences in insightful ways. Like engineers, business engineers, architects, super specialists, environmentalists, advertisers, and marketers.

How to strengthen for learning:

• Do the De Bono courses on
  • The Thinking Hats
  • Medal Values
  • Action Shoes
• Think out of the box
• Read books on famous inventors
• Build 5 new things with the same Lego set
• Do debating on how ordinary stuff can be used for a different purpose of recycled
• Read books about how people adapted their lifestyle to survive in a different climate
• Have conversations with people from another culture and find out how you might do the same thing in a different way and why!

The ability to think and solve challenges with new and ingenious solutions.
Experiential intelligence is a facet of mental ability associated with a person’s capacity to combine disparate experiences in insightful ways. Like engineers, business engineers, architects, super specialists, environmentalists, advertisers, and marketers.

How to strengthen for learning:

• Do the De Bono courses on
  • The Thinking Hats
  • Medal Values
  • Action Shoes
• Do debating about what in the world is out of fashion
• Debate what new knowledge is needed in the future
• Watch programmes on the 4th Revolution
• Work in groups and come up with ideas how to make your immediate neighbourhood more practical and to allow for leisure and sport
• Think of projects to take on to assist specific people with disability or some disadvantage to give them some independence!

The ability to think before one act and to take full responsibility for the consequences thereof when decisions and actions might involve or affect others (human or inhuman).

Caring for core ethical values such as:

• Life – Human and Natural
• Wellbeing – Social and Economic
• Respecting Property
• Open and Honest Communication
• Basic Civil Rights

Every core value represents positive reciprocity, a form of mutually beneficial social interaction, or exchanges. If everyone benefits to a mutually satisfactory degree, it is better than if only a few benefits, or if some are seriously harmed. Win-Win relationships are better than Win-Lose or Benefit-Harm relationships. Such relationships offer significant positive reinforcement leading to a desire to continue such mutually beneficial behaviour and activities.
This is a minimal list of core values. It is a starting point, not the finish line.

How to strengthen for learning:

• EMPATHY: Develop empathy for another person􀂶s point of view.
• CONSCIENCE: Foster moral discipline to help kids learn right from wrong.
• SELF-CONTROL: Regulate your thoughts and actions so that you stop any pressures from within or without and act the way you know, and feel is right.
• TOLERANCE: Respect the dignity and rights of all persons, even those whose beliefs and behaviours you may disagree with. Instil an appreciation for diversity.
• FAIRNESS: Choose to be open-minded and to act in a just and fair way.

Always remember that the intelligences do not operate in isolation. We are born with a tacit potential for specific intelligences, while we need to develop others.
The life experiences of each learner will determine how much and how many they develop, predetermining their emotional intelligence, intellectual abilities, and common sense.