MI+B2+Chapter+14

Chapter Fourteen Abstract and Synthesis by Linda McLaughlin
Abstract: This chapter was about the ninth intelligence, which is the [|existential intelligence]. This intelligence is all about deeper thinking and asking questions about life's ultimate issues, questions such as "Who am I?" Some people think this could be a controversial intelligence to incorporate into the classroom, not only because of the fact that it would be difficult to do so, but also because it might involve incorporating religion into the classroom. Howard Gardner thinks this intelligence fits the criteria for MI theory and looks at it more of a way for a student to understand his or her significance in the world and what life really means.

Synthesis: We all seem to have concerns about not being sure how to[| incorporate] this ninth intelligence into our classrooms. We all seem to agree that this could be a touchy subject to bring up in class so that we don't make students uncomfortable or feel like they have to discuss or do something they don't want to do. I think we all agree and realize that we have to do a lot more research on this ninth intelligence so that we are better equipped to try to bring it into the classroom. toc

Kassaundra
Chapter 14: MI Theory and Existential Intelligence Besides the eight established intelligences Gardner has spent time looking into a possible ninth intelligence called existential. Existential intelligence deals with our efforts to answer and understand life’s ultimate questions. The concept of existential meets most of the criteria that Gardner has set for an intelligence and should be taken into consideration by educators. As a teacher, though, one will need to be cautious about the religious implications that the existential intelligence can seem to carry. There are several subject areas where this intelligence may play a role. One of these is in science because science is always pushing beyond what we know to find out more about our world and universe. Also, it can be helpful to use the theme of existential intelligence in math to bring multicultural instruction into the classroom. History also has many aspects that can be existential. A lot of the important events in history actually had a component of this intelligence including the Puritans coming to America, the Enlightenment and the Holocaust. What will impact me the most is how existential intelligence is used in literature. Many stories and novels have some component of religion or philosophy whether directly referenced or implied and I will need to be careful when it comes to discussions of religion in literature because some students may take it the wrong way. Of course one of the other subjects is the arts. Artists often ponder life’s ultimate questions or represent them when creating a piece. Though it may not be effective to apply this intelligence to every lesson as we have seen with the others, it is important to keep it in mind.

Charli Sayward
Chapter 14: MI Theory and Existential Intelligence This chapter covers the possibility of a ninth intelligence called existential. Existential Intelligence has to do with concerns of “ultimate life issues” such as the meaning of life and death. Deep theoretical questions can be asked in all subject matters such as science, math, history and literature. In plenty of my literature classes I have touched upon existential questions such as who am I? As a future math teacher, I could ask my students to study the history of certain equations and ask why certain equations were derived. Most mathematics comes from trying to make meaning of the real world. This could grab the interest of many students who are more existential.

Linda McLaughlin
//Chapter Fourteen: MI Theory and Existential Intelligence// This chapter discussed the possibility of a ninth intelligence. This intelligence, existential intelligence, has been defined as “a concern with ultimate life issues” (p. 182). Existential intelligence can be addressed by asking deeper, theoretical, questions that can be asked in every content area. This impacted me because I’m a little unsure, still, of what this ninth intelligence actually means in the classroom. This impacts my classroom because I’ll be pushing my students to delve more deeply into the material that is being presented to them.

Jenn Baum
Chapter 14: MI Theory and Existential Intelligence This chapter discusses the possibility of a ninth intelligence, proposed by Howard Gardner as the existential intelligence. This can be a controversial topic for many people because some people argue that this concept of existential intelligence means including religion into class, which violates the constitutional protection of separating the church and the state. The way that Howard approaches this possible intelligence is that it is more a way for a person to understand their significance in the world and the general meaning of life. I personally remember being introduced to evolution in high school biology where my teacher introduced both sides of the spectrum, in a non-biased way, which allowed us to make our own opinions. Although this may not be considered part of this ninth intelligence, I think it falls into the aspect of understanding the meaning of life. As a science teacher, there are many ways in which I would be able to include this possible intelligence and I think that it would be beneficial and interesting to many of the students because, even without including religion, existential thinking would bring up a series of controversial topics that would promote opinion, discussion, and passion for a given topic, thus engaging students in learning.

Kelly Steinhagen
Even though existentialism cannot be called an intelligence yet, and would most likely cause controversy in public schools, there are ways to integrate it into various aspects of education while respecting separation of church and state. It will be helpful in an English class to know the basics of some existential ideas because some classic literature is based upon religious influences. For example, a student would not grasp the full concept of Arthur Miller's //The Crucible// or Nathaniel Hawthrone's //The Scarlett Letter// without prior knowledge as to why puritans fled England and how religious ideals affected their lives. However, during some units it would be extremely challenging to incorporate existential ideas, another point that this chapter makes. Teachers should not force existentialism where it simply does not work which may happen often. There will be times that I can effectively use existential intelligence in my classroom in order to promote greater understanding, and other times that I must ignore it if it has no relevance.

Brianna Douglass
In this chapter it discusses the possibility of there being a ninth intelligence. Existential does not fit perfectly into Gardner’s requirements but it has many connections and should be taken seriously within the classroom. They define it as “a concern with ultimate life issues” (182) asking questions such as “Who are we?” “What’s it all about” “Is there meaning to life?” (183). I thought that some of the other intelligences were going to be hard to incorporate into the classroom but this one by far is the most difficult. I would have to do some heavy research into existential issues and relating them into the classroom. They give some examples for mathematics such as zero to infinity and negative numbers but I’m not entirely sure how to relate them to this ninth intelligence.

Justin Stewart
A ninth, potential intelligence, was introduced in chapter fourteen. The existentialist intelligence incorporates the big ideas of life, such as “why are we here?” and “who are we?”. These topics are challenging because they may lead into religion or morals. These are touching subjects, especially religion which was banned with the separation of church and state. Science can be difficult to incorporate this intelligence within my lessons. The material in chemistry could lead to existential questions, but it could also lead to religious talks very quickly. I’m worried about bringing up touchy subjects and causing problems with my students and the subject that I teach.

Erin
In Chapter 14: MI Theory and Existential Intelligence, a ninth intelligence is somewhat introduced. The creator of this intelligence, Howard Gardner, feels that this new intelligence, called the existential, should be considered an intelligence because it fits any other criteria of the other eight intelligences. Generally, the existential intelligence is about self knowledge where a person thinks deeply about life, death, and fate. I completely agree with this discovery of a new intelligence. I believe that there are definitely more intelligences being developed, but these eight are the ones most commonly found in the classroom. This impacted me because I might have students in my class who feel like they are more in tune with themselves and are concerned with fundamental issues. In my class, to satisfy the students with existential intelligence, I should cover the origins of math and other subjects like the concept of infinity, imaginary numbers, and topology to keep them engaged.

Ryan Pelletier
This chapter discusses the possibility of a ninth intelligence. Existential is an area that focuses on the “ultimate life issues” (p. 182). This is an interesting intelligence, which needs to be handled with care. Anything that has the possibility of religion arising is a difficult issue. As a health educator I focus a lot on controversial health issues. I believe that this ninth intelligence will be in my classroom regularly. I cannot imagine what issues will be brought up during the discussion of birth control or abstinence. I am going to have to be very careful of not allowing my class to get out of hand. This is a subject that everyone has a say on, and religion will be brought up. I am going to have to a lot of assessing and reassessing during this unit.

Matt Towle
This chapter talked all about the reputed ninth intelligence given the name existential. Gardner's theory on this intelligence is not complete as there are still many holes in its' compatibility. The existential intelligence is all about one's awareness of the "greater questions" in life. This makes it very difficult to address in a classroom as it can be hard to avoid insulting students' religious beliefs. It is, however, very important to cover in a classroom as students should be able to ponder the greater questions in life. This will impact my classroom because as well as teaching history courses, I would like to be able to teach a philosophy course. Philosophy is becoming a more common course in High Schools throughout Maine, giving students a chance to experience its' facets before reaching college. I have been taking philosophy courses here at UMF and hope to turn it into a minor in addition to my current major.

Darcie Simmons
Existential intelligence is “a concern with ultimate life issues” (182). Teaching this in the classroom could become a very touchy subject for the educator, the students, the administrators, as well as parents. However, in almost every subject you are able to apply the existential intelligence to it. Howard Gardner claims that this may be the 9th intelligence to the MI Theory. Personally, while I think it is a very interesting intelligence, I think that apply it into the classroom, while it may be very easy to do for some subjects, it may be a very sticky situation to get into. Just because it brings a lot of political issues along with it. However, it is a very cool intelligence to consider.

Lyzz Stevenson
Chapter 14: In this chapter, a ninth intelligence is uncovered. This intelligence, existential intelligence, focuses on ultimate life issues. I feel that this is very relevant to science as many scientific theories are deep and meaningful questions that do not have a simple answer. I also think that there are other intelligences besides this possible ninth intelligence that have not been categorized yet. This is important to keep in mind as students may fit into an intelligence but it may not be their true intelligence.

Megan Wallace
I learned that the ninth possible intelligence, existential, has to do with concerns about life issues. Thinking about the meaning of life or death and our place in the universe fall into this intelligence. While it is not yet considered one of the intelligences, due to the fact that it does not meet all of the criteria, it is still an important thing to remember in the classroom. The tricky part about this intelligence is that it also borders on religion and that can be a controversial subject in public schools. Because this deals with more personal ideas I can work it into my units reasonably well. Asking questions like why one people created their culture the way they did or why they believed in human sacrifice work very well into what I will do as a history teacher.

Alyssa Wadsworth
The major idea in this chapter was the possible ninth intelligence—existential intelligence. This was related to different subject areas. It is a touchy subject when usually approached in classes, but it is something that can be approached in an unbiased way when only teaching about different beliefs in reference to existentialism. It is okay for teachers to teach about religion, but teachers are not constitutionally protected for practicing religion in the classroom. As a teacher, I need to know how to approach the subject of existentialism neutrally. This means that my students are not forced to do uncomfortable “rituals” associated with unfamiliar beliefs, and they are not forced to face “ultimate life issues” at the age of a high school student, only to understand them (page 182).

Taylor Kemp
This chapter talks about the possibility of a ninth intelligence., which would be existential intelligence. This is the thought about a bigger picture, deeper thoughts, answering the big questions of life. It fits in with most of the criteria for it to be a MI but not all. It certainly has its place in just about every subject taught at a school. It is interlaces with history very often as well as math and science. When the subjects areas came about they had a lot of background in existential intelligence. I am not exactly sure how this will impact my classroom. It is definitely a subject to be careful with while teaching. I guess I will have to do some more research. = =

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Kaitlyn Haase
In chapter 14 I learned about Howard Gardner’s idea of a potential ninth intelligence; the existential intelligence. Gardner himself defines existential intelligence as “a concern with ultimate life issues.” This chapter was interesting because the authors explained how this potential ninth intelligence could apply to many different concentrations. For example, in mathematics there have been many mathematicians who have related their research to huge life issues. One example given in the chapter is Pythagoras (a Greek thinker), and his theory that “number patterns revealed the ultimate harmony of the cosmos” (pg. 186).

Olivia Norris
Chapter 14 discussed the ninth intelligence known as the existential intelligence. This intelligence has to do with "life issues." The ninth intelligences is a touchy subject for many teachers, and when I become a teacher, I will be aware of this. I hope that I will be able to incorporate the existential intelligence in my classroom, even though I'm not sure how I will do that right now. I know that with more experience with students and classroom environments I can become more comfortable with using the intelligence in my lessons. Because this intelligence comes up in history, I think that there will be many opportunities where I will be able to use it in my lessons.