Multi-intelligentsia and the Path to Greatness

Imagine your 20 years old, you walk into the tutoring center and one of the foremost psychoanalysts of the 20th century is your instructor. How do this happen? Howard Gardner did it with Erik Erikson. So here is my question. There are smart people in the world, right? No one is denying it, but how do they choose specializations? How do they become great?

I know, I know… I’m off chasing some rabbit – but here is my thinking. Did you choose to become an educator or did inertia choose that path for you? Did Erikson show Gardner a door he could not resist walking through, or was Gardner convinced that he was smart and could master any field, he saw the renown of Erikson and considered the possibility that the universe had presented him an opportunity to become great as well?

I keep asking myself why I am becoming an educator. As part of my career I have always trained people and I feel that I have become strong at working with adults, especially older adults that don’t typically care to understand the process, but simply want to reap the results of technology. At some point I felt the need to combine this skill with my passion for learning about art. That has always lead me to think that I have found myself here via inertia. Is that some how better or worse? I am not sure but it does make me feel more comfortable knowing that someone previously has found their calling and found “success” by stepping into a path presented to them by inertia.

Okay, okay – I’ll get back on track.

This week Elizabeth and I presented our introduction to Howard Garder’s multiple intelligences. The subject matter was great to research, it is a perfect match for our program (and I should probably have already have known this stuff). I really enjoyed the discussion of our individual types, though I must admit I was hoping someone would secretly turn-out to be an analytical learner. I have considered Heather’s question of “Does society value certain types of learners more then others?” and though I know we do, I am really not sure how much we might value (or not) certain types. For instance: Do we really value kinesthetic learners, like football players; or musical, as in rock stars? Is there really a learning type we don’t value in some way? Perhaps Intrapersonal learners are less respected in our culture?