Deepika Tandon, a curriculum specialist at Advento Kids in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, discusses the concept of multiple intelligences and how we can use this approach to give children multiple ways to explore and succeed.
So when we talk about multiple intelligences according to NEP, it is nothing but to keep the child in the centre and not outside of the circle. This means we have to understand the child completely, as to what the learning style of the child is, and what the pace of the child is. But this multiple intelligence is actually into that phase only where we understand how we need to teach one particular topic in different ways so that different types of learners find it very easy for them to understand.
This way of teaching places the child at the centre of the learning process. Instead of expecting every child to fit into a single method of teaching, the responsibility shifts onto the educator to understand each learner. The focus is on understanding what the learning style of the child is, what the pace of the child is, and then planning teaching strategies accordingly. This is the foundation of multiple intelligences as well as the essence of the new education policy.
What makes learning fun?
The teaching approaches for a pre-primary curriculum, which I found very static, inspired me to start writing for preschoolers. The pedagogical process makes it interesting for the children to learn. This process is actually Multiple Intelligences. When we want to teach the letter A to the children, we should not ask them to write lines in the books, but rather teach them to write the letter on their own. Rather, we must ensure that the educators understand the methods to make the curriculum easy and simple for the children. I get ideas through interaction with other schools and students, I keep learning constantly, and I understand that the present generation needs a different way to learn. I wanted to create a learning style to make it more enjoyable. They will not like any monotony, but they will love activities during the process of learning. Anything that is colourful appeals to the children and makes them understand easily. This creates confidence in them. They will start loving the book if it is colourful and full of images. There should be visuals and illustrations in the book.
What is a learning style?
So there are various learning styles. Now, what is learning style here? This means some students would like to learn through music. Some students would like to learn through kinaesthetic or maybe by doing some activities. Some learners will understand a few topics by maybe listening to stories, or by singing songs or doing some art and craft. So that is the learning style that caters to the different learning styles of each child.
When we look at a classroom, we cannot say that all children will learn in the same way. Each child has a unique way of understanding information. Some children connect better with sound and rhythm, while others need movement and physical involvement. Some children like to express themselves through art and craft. Learning style is therefore a very important component of multiple intelligences because it respects the individuality of each child.
Defining inclusive teaching
The second important point of multiple intelligences is inclusive teaching. What is inclusive teaching? This means we are not leaving out any student in a classroom. So we are not excluding any one particular child because his style of learning or his style of understanding is different.
So, here, inclusive teaching means that we have to incorporate or inculcate those teaching strategies that also invite the participation of all the children in the classes. So this is to encourage inclusive teaching strategies, which ultimately lead to academic success. It ensures the students’ engagement is there, and when the student is engaged in learning, automatically the child is confident, and we achieve the academic performance or whatever success mantra is there for learning.
Inclusive teaching ensures that no child feels excluded. Every child gets an opportunity to participate and feel valued in the classroom. When the child feels included, learning becomes enjoyable. Engagement increases naturally, and confidence grows. This confidence then results in better academic performance. Inclusive teaching again plays a very important role here. We are not leaving any child. We are not singling out any child. We are not making any child feel that his or her learning style is wrong. Instead, we are incorporating those teaching strategies that invite participation from all the children. When all children participate, student engagement is there. When engagement is there, confidence builds automatically. And when confidence builds, academic performance improves naturally. This is the success mantra for learning.
How to apply to teaching?
Next is applying. How do we apply? It is very easy to talk about what is important, but the main thing comes when we think of how to apply multiple intelligences in teaching.
So, the first thing is that we as educators need to design our lessons in such a way that it reaches all the students. For example, in one of my activities, if I’m teaching letter A. The letter A has to be taught through various methods, maybe through some songs, maybe through some craft, and maybe through some games where identification of the letter is done. So that is how we need to design our lessons to reach all students.
The second important point is different modalities. What does that mean? We learn things through visuals by eyes, auditory by listening, kinaesthetic by doing some activities, and logical thinking comes in the last, where the child has to apply the solution on their own. When we talk about application, we realise that lesson design is the key. Every lesson has to be designed in such a way that it reaches all learners. When we teach one letter, one concept, or one topic, we must think about songs, craft, games, discussions, visuals, and activities together. This is how multiple intelligence is practically applied in the classroom.
I came up with Fun for Ninos and Peek-a-Doodle series a few years ago, and I am coming up with one more under the name Little Pebbles. The books should be carefully designed so that they are appealing to the children, go with the curriculum and be teacher-friendly. The main idea should be within the first few pages.
Why personalised learning is important
Why has personalised learning become important? Because all students are different, their learning styles are different. So when I am different, I need my own personalised learning plans. So multiple intelligences create a more personalised learning experience for a child. So that is the application of multiple intelligences.
Applying multiple intelligences is not complicated when lesson planning is done with awareness. Each activity is planned in such a way that it touches multiple learning styles, ensuring that no learner is left behind.
What are the types of intelligences?
There are as many as nine intelligences. Now, when we look at the nine intelligences together, we clearly understand that each intelligence supports the other. Linguistic intelligence supports speaking and listening. Logical intelligence supports reasoning and problem-solving. Visual intelligence supports imagination and picture thinking. Bodily and kinaesthetic intelligence supports learning through movement. Musical intelligence supports memory and rhythm. Interpersonal intelligence supports collaboration. Intrapersonal intelligence supports self-reflection. Naturalistic intelligence supports learning from the environment. Existential intelligence supports understanding our own existence and choices. When educators consciously plan activities related to these intelligences, learning becomes holistic. A child is not learning only for marks. A child is learning to understand, analyse, express, perform, cooperate, and introspect. This makes education meaningful.
- Intrapersonal
If you look at the child with hands up, it says intrapersonal. Intrapersonal is all about how I explore myself. Verbal is through the discussion mode. The third one is musical, where we are learning through rhymes and stories. Interpersonal is a collaborative verb. Existential is a very recent one where we as humans exist for a purpose, and why this learning is important for our existence. Bodily or kinaesthetic is all gross motor skills. Logical, visual and naturalistic.
- Naturalistic
Naturalistic learning is when we are going outside and learning in the real environment. This idea was propagated by an educationist here in Gujarat by the name Moochhali Maa through his very nice book, which is all about naturalism. Even Ravindranath Tagore and Gandhiji propagated or promoted naturalistic learning. This means learning outside your classroom and gaining all the experiential learning from nature. Learning from nature allows children to experience real‑life learning. It connects concepts to the world around them and develops appreciation for the environment.
- Linguistic
What is linguistic? A person’s ability to use language effectively, both oral and written, is known as linguistic intelligence. Now the different kinds of activities that we can do through this are storytelling, writing, or maybe short poems or debates. Debates mean discussions. Debates are important even at a very small level, at a preschool level, and it is all about respecting others’ opinions. Debate is not always negative, but discussing the children’s opinions and sharing their opinions with conviction.
Storytelling is very important as the child does not forget it when taught through stories and rhymes. We can teach them about plants through science, through stories, and through rhymes. With importance to storytelling here, children absorb things easily.
Then, group discussions are again very healthy. It is very important because it allows the children to respect other people’s opinions, and it makes the children good listeners. Then come fill in the gaps kind of activities, conducting interviews, basically asking questions, and word games.
Suggested activities include brainstorming, riddles, crossword puzzles, discussions, lectures, and speaking activities using flash cards. These activities strengthen communication skills and confidence.
- Logical or mathematical
Second is the logical intelligence. It is also mathematical intelligence, which is again all around us. So, the children learn to be good at using numbers, solving problems, and enjoy facing new challenges in life. Activities include comparing and contrasting, codes, puzzles, trees as learning tools, questioning, demonstrations, and mathematical operations. Real-life scenarios like the egg on the slanting roof or estimating apples encourage thinking.
- Visual and spatial
Now, visual and spatial intelligence is the ability to imagine and form pictures and transform them into visual ideas and expressions. Activities include mind mapping, movies, collages, art, cartoons, and PPTs. Mind mapping helps brainstorm and expand ideas using branches.
- Bodily and kinaesthetic
Next is the bodily and kinaesthetic intelligence, which involves using the power of the entire body to solve a problem or perform a task. Field trips, role play, miming, dancing, building models, and grammar games all fall under this category. Activities involve listening and physical action, such as acting out sentences.
- Musical
Musical intelligence again is a very powerful tool for a child to learn something new. Singing songs, rhymes, humming, and jingles all help learning. Poems teach scientific and conceptual ideas through rhythm.
- Interpersonal
Interpersonal intelligence is respecting others and also empathising with others. Group meetings, decision-making, feedback, surveys, and classroom projects all fall under this. Comparing thumb impressions involves group participation.
- Intrapersonal
Intrapersonal is where we teach the children the need to self-reflect about their abilities. The Kaizen model focuses on self-improvement. Activities include journaling, diaries, emotion awareness, self-assessment, goal setting and self-talk. Listening is very important.
- Naturalistic
Naturalistic intelligence is observing and understanding nature. Outdoor learning, field trips, vocabulary, and environmental projects all support this.
- Existential
Existential intelligence is the sensitivity to our existence, needs and wants, cultural respect, self-awareness exercises, cleaning zones, volunteering, treasure hunts contribute to this. Activities like observing cats and relating to personal preferences connect learning to the self.
Culture‑connected learning
Now these are all practical strategies which are there to cater to multiple intelligence into the classroom. One topic, like a butterfly, can be taught through musical, interpersonal, bodily, naturalistic, logical and visual ways. So this is multiple intelligences in preschool. As I stated in the beginning, if my child is musical, if a child loves music, then they will learn. If a child is logical, they will understand symmetry. If the child is naturalistic, they will learn from nature.
We need to keep Indian culture in mind when we prepare the curriculum. Instead of talking about things that are not native to India, we can focus on things that are available in the markets easily. We need to teach them what they are quite familiar with. Some words, like escalator, they may not even know. So, Indianness should be in mind when we design the syllabus.
About technology, we have an LMS platform where the content is in digital form. Some screen time is important for children to understand technology and have awareness. We need to have both to go with the tide.
What challenges shape learning?
Coming to the challenges, the execution of the guidelines in teaching the student and getting feedback is a huge challenge. Some schools or parents may not agree with these. So we need to convince them that this is the right approach. We have to follow the Stick letter approach for a small kid to learn to write letters. I had to convince many parents and schools to make them understand the Stick letter approach. After this, some parents gave the feedback that they also should have had such a method in their childhood for a holistic curriculum.
I have often noticed that children want to finish off the colouring book in one go without following the syllabus, which really surprised me, as I had done a lot of art integration in the book. My next venture is based on stories from the Panchatantra, Ramayan, and Mahabharat, which are treasures of morals. The aspiring children’s book authors should make the base very strong, which can teach math, puzzles, and any subject.
Why multiple approaches matter?
To conclude and reflect on what multiple intelligences is, it is clear that multiple intelligences is to keep the child in the centre, understand the child very nicely, their learning style, and the pace of the child. They should become more empathetic, good listeners, and accept others’ views also. Multiple intelligences expect us to understand how we need to teach one particular topic in different ways. This is because different types of learners exist in the classroom. So when one topic is taught in multiple ways, learning becomes very easy for them to understand.
Through poems, discussions, art, dance, nature observation, symmetry, life stages, and patterns, one topic becomes rich and deep. Every child finds one way to connect with the topic. No child feels disconnected. This again proves that multiple intelligences is not only a theory. It is a practical classroom strategy. It helps teachers plan better lessons and helps children learn better. It respects differences, encourages participation, and builds confidence. This is why multiple intelligences are very relevant in preschool and early childhood education, especially in today’s education system.
So finally, multiple intelligences is about understanding children, respecting their learning styles, designing inclusive lessons, and teaching one topic in multiple ways. When we do this, learning becomes joyful, meaningful, and successful for every child in the classroom.
Contact details
Deepika Tandon,
Curriculum specialist, Advento Kids, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
M: 9909930992
E: deepikatndn@gmail.com