Essay On Cognitive Development

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Question 1
According to Gardner multiple intelligence concerns how one knows the world through spatial representation, logical-mathematics analysis, musical thinking, and language to understand individuals and the self. Multiple intelligences also involve body-kinesthetic, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence, and existential intelligence (“Multiple Intelligence,” n.d). Gardner’s ideas are well founded since different individuals have different abilities and hence may not learn the same material just like everyone else. Recognizing these abilities would, therefore, help teachers and students to understand their abilities and help focus on what one can do the best. In addition, multiple intelligence knowledge helps one to realize full potential by focusing on specific areas as opposed to try and error of numerous fields (“Howard Gardener’s Theory of Multiple Intelligence,” n.d. p. 1). I have taken multiple intelligence tests, and my top areas are music, sound, and rhythm, logic and numbers, and language.

Question 2

It is true that most of the learning in schools do not encourage critical and creative thinking. Most a times, as noted, students are required to remember what was learned and reproduce it in as much similarity as possible. In this case, the students’ do not succeed in thinking beyond what is learned or get time to criticize it. The result is that in as much as the students have gone through school, there are no clear connections between what one learned and the life after school. The student faces challenges in application of what one learned in solving actual problems. My education experience has focused on my strength of rote learning where one is required to remember what was taught and replicate it. Such does not support either critical thinking or creative thinking that requires one to think reflectively and alternative solutions to the same problem (Paul and Elder, 2006).

References

Elder L. and Paul R. (2006). Critical Thinking: concepts and Tools. Retrieved from http://www.criticalthinking.org/files/Concepts_Tools.pdf
Howard Gardener’s Theory of Multiple Intelligence. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.niu.edu/facdev/resources/guide/learning/howard_gardner_theory_multiple_in telligences.pdf
Multiple Intelligence. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.tecweb.org/styles/gardner.html