Conflicting Beliefs

Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences has been embraced by thousands of early childhood and primary school teachers across the world, as it helps them understand and cater for the vast range of individual difference they encounter daily in their classrooms. Yet while MI theory has been associated with a range of positive outcomes across a variety of educational settings, it continues to have little impact on secondary school practice.§§This book documents the experiences of four junior secondary school teachers, as they set out to plan and implement MI-based programmes for their different classroom contexts. While the teachers achieved a number of positive outcomes, their efforts were hampered by a wide range of structural and cultural barriers that are characteristic of the secondary school context. While the implications of this research project and the author's recommendations will be of interest to educational administrators and policy makers, the book also provides a useful and practical resource for educators keen to develop their understanding of MI theory and how it might be applied to meet the needs of diverse learners in different classroom contexts.