SOFT TISSUE BRINGING THE

BODY TO LIFE: USING MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE THEORY IN THE

CLASSROOM

It is proposed that the learning experiences of sport massage/sports therapy students can be optimised by harnessing the power of ‘multiple intelligences’ (MI) (1) in the classroom. A case study of an under-graduate anatomy course will be reviewed and pedagogy inspired by MI theory (1,2) will be highlighted. By teaching to all types of learners, it is proposed that students’ engagement, enjoyment, retention and under-standing will be enhanced. In the workshop, participants will experience a variety of

learning

activities eg. building muscles in clay, working with an interactive computer system and much more.

BOX 1 - TYPES OF INTELLIGENCE Gardner (7) suggests that there are eight or possibly nine types of intelligence. He outlines these as being the following: ■ Linguistic intelligence - the intelligence of a writer or orator ■ Logical mathematical intelligence - the intelligence of a mathematician or scientist ■ Musical intelligence - the capacity to create, perform and appreciate music ■ Spatial intelligence - the ability to create mental images and build or manipulate them

■ Bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence - the capacity to solve problems using the body (athletes, actors, craftspeople, body workers, surgeons)

■ Interpersonal intelligence - understanding the moods, motivations and intentions of others

■ Intrapersonal intelligence - the capacity to understand oneself ■ Naturalistic intelligence - the ability to make accurate classifications in nature ■ Gardner is also suggesting the presence of a ninth intelligence which is termed existential intelligence. This is the capacity to ask the ‘big questions’ eg. when we ponder death, love, conflict, the future of the planet.

6 By Fiona Holland, MA, PGCE

Research indicates that some students thrive academically in situations where theory is applied in highly practical and relevant ways. In comparison to traditional lecture-based teaching methods, problem-based scenarios have been utilised successfully with sports students and show increased levels of engagement, enjoyment and application of knowledge (3). Studies incorporating experiential activities (such as building musculature in clay on scaled-down skeletons) as opposed to traditional anatomy teaching strategies also demonstrate promising results (4,5).

It is proposed that the learning experiences of sports therapy students can be optimised if academics harness the power of the ‘multiple intelligences’ (1) and understand how to incorporate a variety of learning activities into their courses. By utilising different styles of instruction inspired by Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence (MI) theory (1,2), sports massage and sports therapy students may benefit greatly as learners and as practitioners.

TRADITIONAL VIEW OF INTELLIGENCE Traditional views of intelligence (eg. IQ) favour the logical and linguistic types of intelligence, common in many higher education institutions. Barrington (6) states that: ‘Traditionally, higher educational institutions tend to focus mostly on just two intelligences – the verbal/linguistic

and logical/mathe-

matical and teachers essentially teach, test, reinforce and reward these intelligences.’

Gardner (7) proposes that as human beings, we have a complex

range of

intelligences, with some dominant and others more recessive and each relatively independent of the others.

Theory suggests that restricting the focus of educational programmes to just one or two of the intelligence types eg. the traditional linguistic and mathematical intelligences, the more this undermines the importance of other forms of knowing and learning. This leads to the risk that students who don’t learn as well through these methods, are likely to be held in

sportEX dynamics 2007:14(Oct):6-8