The nature of intelligence

As it relates to adult development and learning

Multiple Intelligences

• Howard Gardner, of Harvard University

• Identified Seven Forms of Intelligences

• Added an Eighth in the Mid-1990s

• Considering a Ninth

(Merriam & Bierema, 2014)

Multiple Intelligences

Seven Original Intelligences Include:

1. Linguistic

2. Logical-Mathematical

3. Musical

4. Spatial

5. Bodily-Kinesthetic

6. Interpersonal

7. Interpersonal

(Merriam & Bierema, 2014)

Multiple Intelligences

• Added in Mid-1990s:

8. Naturalist

• Being Considered:

9. Existential

(Merriam & Bierema, 2014)

Practical Intelligence

• Robert Sternberg

• Asserted that “the problems faced in everyday life often have little relationship to the knowledge and skills acquired through formal education or the abilities used in classroom activities”

• Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

• Consists of Three Components of Intelligence

(Merriam & Bierema, 2014)

Practical Intelligence

Three Components of Intelligence:

1. Analytical

• Comparable to “General Intelligence”

• What is Typically Measured by IQ Tests

2. Creative

• Ability to Think “Out of the Box” (Creatively)

3. Practical

• How We Deal With Everyday Experience in Real-World Contexts

(Merriam & Bierema, 2014)

Emotional Intelligence

• Daniel Goleman

• Published Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ

• Argued that success in life is equally, if not more dependent, on how well one understands and employs emotions than the more academic aspects of IQ

• Comparable to Sternberg's interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences and consists of five domains

(Merriam & Bierema, 2014)

Emotional Intelligence

Five Domains:

1. Knowing One’s Emotions

2. Managing Emotions

3. Motivating Oneself

4. Recognizing Emotions in Others

5. Handling Relationships

(Merriam & Bierema, 2014)

Culture Influences

• Culture is “a pattern of shared basic assumptions that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valued and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems” (Schein, 2004, p. 17)

• Culture deeply influences nations, ethnic groups, geographical regions, organizations, social groups, neighborhoods, and classrooms

• Culture can be examined from several perspectives in adult education including positionality, privilege, context, and power

(Merriam & Bierema, 2014)

Culture Influences

Positionality

• A visible or invisible attribute such as ableness, age, class, culture, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, language, and so forth

• Unique for each person and is derived from and influences life experiences and relationships with others

• Each of us has intersecting “positions” that combine in unique ways to shape how we both experience the world, and how the world experiences us

(Merriam & Bierema, 2014)

Culture Influences

Privilege

• Unearned power based on race, gender, class, or another positionality

• Something carried by certain people, often without awareness

• Oppression is the marginalization of a nondominant person or group by the privileged group

• Within every culture you will find the dynamics of privilege and oppression between social groups

(Merriam & Bierema, 2014)

Culture Influences

Context

• The social system that shapes the thought and action of people within a particular setting such as a classroom, school, organization, community, or nation

• When two or more people engage within a social context, dynamics between their cultures, positionalities, and privileges result in power relations

(Merriam & Bierema, 2014)

Culture Influences

Power

• The ability to influence others or to bring about change

• The exercise of power happens through relationships, such as those among students or between the students and teacher

• All individuals have some degree of power, although it may be equal or unequal, stable, shifting, or changing, depending on the context and their privilege

(Merriam & Bierema, 2014)

Culture Influences

As Mahatma Gandhi observed,

“No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive”

(Merriam & Bierema, 2014)

References

Merriam, S. B., & Bierema, L. L. (2014). Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice . San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.