Intelligence: a non-Boolean value

We all have different ways of experiencing the world, and as a result, different people learn best in different ways. One-size-fits-all pedagogy fails to cater to different types of intelligence. Teachers who fail to recognise the neurodiversity in students prove detrimental to the whole educational system. Educational psychologists identify in students different types of intelligence whose knowledge can motivate teachers to devise individualised pedagogy to help students live up to their full potential in the educational institutions.

The old concept of binary nature of intelligence i.e. either one is intelligent or not has marred the future of many a student, and it still is on the rampage in schools. Though in 1983, Howard Gardner, an American developmental psychologist, introduced the concept of numerous intelligences, we are still adamant on treating intelligence as a Boolean value. As per his theory, there are eight different categories of intelligence, all of which stand alone from one another.

First is Logical-mathematical intelligence which makes students solve mathematical problems, and think logically. Now such students perform poor when they come to express subjective information. Second is Linguistic intelligence with which students feel it easier to learn and acquire different languages, and love to communicate in words. These students read, memorise and write stories masterfully.

Students with spatial intelligence, the third type, feel at home at drawing, painting and solving puzzles. They can easily navigate through maps, charts, pictures and directions. The students of the second type of intelligence find it a nightmare to decipher the visual-spatial phenomena. Students with the fourth type of intelligence which is musical intelligence can distinguish between different types of music patterns, sounds and rhythms; they possess a flair for remembering songs, notes and tones.

Some students have marvellous muscle memory displaying healthy hand-eye coordination. They often memorise by doing rather than by sensory functions. Such an intelligence is called kinesthetic or tactile: the fifth type. Some students feel it cozy to remain in a ruminative mode. Monologue is their favourite pastime wherein they self-reflect and explore different types of relationships with others. They are a little bit touchy, and a slight bullying gesture destabilises them. This sixth type is called intrapersonal intelligence.

The seventh type, interpersonal intelligence, concerns dealing with stranger persons and venturing into unknown places. Such students are good at starting conversations, assessing situations from different angles and resolving conflicts. Students with the naturalistic intelligence, the last type, explore their environment and nature, and love hiking, camping or gardening. They are more interested in the study of plants and animals.

Educators and parents must never seal the fate of students and wards if they don’t perform well in one subject. Students can be visual, auditory or tactile learners. Educational psychologists aver that it is possible that a particular intelligence remains latent till some favourable stimulus stirs it out of its latency. They argue that different students accelerate at different levels: some at schools while others at college or university, depending upon the availability of befitting stimulants and enabling milieu. All must never be lost for a student!

Ashfaq Ahmed, the illustrious Urdu novelist and short story writer, failed the tenth class exam. Maths was his bete noire, as he disclosed in an interview with Anwar Maqsood in a programme Private Eye, available on YouTube. Doesn’t it corroborate that failing in one subject requiring a particular type of intelligence never means you are not intelligent? As Einstein phrases this violence on the soul of such a misadjudged student: “If you judge a fish by its ability to ride a bicycle, it’ll die believing it’s a failure.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2023.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.