Howard Gardner defines intelligence as a The ability to solve problems or make products that are valuable in one or more cultures. The importance of the definition of Gardner is twofold: – First, it extends the scope of what is intelligence and recognizes the we all knew intuitively, and that academic brilliance is not everything. When function in this life is not enough to have a great academic record. There are people of great intellectual capacity but unable to, for example, choose good friends and, on the contrary, people are less bright in school who are succeeding in business or personal life. – Second and no less important, Gardner defines intelligence as a capability. Until very recently, intelligence was deemed innate and unchangeable. Was born intelligent or not, and education could not change that fact. So much so that in times very close to the mentally handicapped are not educated, because they considered it a wasted effort. In defining intelligence as a capacity Gardner makes a skill that can be developed.

Gardner does not deny the genetic component. Everyone is born with a potential marked by genetics. But that potential will be developed one way or another depending on the environment, our experiences, upbringing, etc. No elite athlete reaches the top without training, however good they are their natural qualities. The same is true of mathematicians, poets, or emotionally intelligent people. The nine multiple intelligences Howard Gardner adds that just as there are many types of problems to solve, there are many types of intelligence.

To date, Gardner and his team at Harvard University have identified nine different types: logical mathematical intelligence Intelligence Linguistic Intelligence Spatial Intelligence Musical Intelligence Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence Interpersonal Intelligence Intra-personal Intelligence Naturalist. Multiple Intelligences Howard Gardner in schools emphasizes that all minds are equally important. The problem is that our school system does not treat them equally and has focused on the first two of the list (the mathematical – logical intelligence and linguistic intelligence) to the point of denying the existence of others. However, it appears that the proposal to UNESCO for education will change this situation, because in each and every one of the powers referred to multiple intelligences.

Starting this Sunday, February 6, El Espectador reaches Colombian households with a new collectible work, English, developed by D.K., one of the most important British publishers in the world. It’s an innovative work by its visual presentation that through real-life examples, involving all kinds of situations, makes the task of learning English in a fun and agile matter. In the last census, DANE found only 4.09% of the Colombian population over five years spoke English. Among young university students that percentage becomes slightly higher, with 7.2%. And in a country where, according to the Ministry of education, half of teachers in basic education and media reach the basic level of performance in this area, learning English becomes a task necessarily self taught or in the best of cases supported by private institutions. The collectible that presents the Viewer is designed to be a tool both for those who zero start this second language learning for those looking to refresh knowledge. In a globalized world such as ours, with communication technologies that put us in contact with all corners of the planet in fractions of a second, nobody disputes the long list of social and labour advantages that implies the command of English.

But in recent years neuroscientists have been added to that list some unexpected effects on brain health. In November of last year, for example, a group of Canadian scientists from Baycrest s Rotman Research Institute found evidence that speak two languages could delay the onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms for up to five years among the population susceptible to this disease. Years ago, when reviewing the medical history of 132 patients with symptoms of mental decline this same group had discovered that those who were bilingual exhibited greater cognitive control and ease to concentrate than those who spoke one language. Another study in which is It assessed the performance school of bilingual children in Israel found that those who dominated a second language showed greater proficiency in reading achievement tests. Mila Schwartz, of the University of Haifa, said that the linguistic complexity of a language may offer certain advantages in the understanding of another.

These and other differences in the brains of bilingual children may begin to be observed in periods of only two years, as showed it a paper published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology by psychologists from the University of York, in Canada, and the University of Provence in France. There are definitely advantages for the bilingual when learning to read, I explained some time ago the psychologist Ellen Bialystok, from York University, at age four bilingual children have gone much further in understanding of symbols and their functions than monolingual children. The truth is that beyond these advantages are few who are they dare to deny the importance of speaking a second language. And, for those who para los que superan exceed this test, the professors Salim Abu-Rabia and Ekaterina Sanitsky, Department of special education at the University of Haifa, in Israel, have good news. After evaluating a group of bilingual students discovered that the learning of a third language is even easier.