Personal Insights on Module 2: Theories of Intelligence
How do I define intelligence personally?
I believe that intelligence is the mental ability to learn and to adapt to the changing environment. Personally, I think intelligence quotient is as important as emotional intelligence when it comes to determining if a person will be successful in academics, in life or at work because the definition of success also varies from one person to another.
The nature of intelligence is highly debatable until now and this explains how complex intelligence is.
I have four siblings and I can say that we are all very different from each other including academic performance. My knowledge about intelligence and Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences made me understand better why each of us have different responses to learning and why we have different skills and abilities. I can say that by nature intelligence is mostly inherited from the mother because they are carried on the X chromosome and women (XX) have two of these chromosomes compared to men (XY). With the complexity of human’s genetic code even if we are siblings it does not mean that we will all have equal learning potential based from our mother. There are a lot of other factors that can affect a child’s intelligence like environmental factors including socio-economic factors like proper nutrition, support system, quality of available resources etc. Based on various factors I can clearly say that there is no exact formula to predict or measure ones’ intelligence.
Various perspectives of intelligence have valid points and they are all helpful for us to understand and explain some phenomena that we are experiencing. The current curriculum from Department of Education (DEPED) for senior high school students recognizes that fact that students are unique from each other and they will have individual strengths and weaknesses hence various students have three tracks option: Academic, Technical-Vocational-Livelihood and Sports and Arts. Specialized strands under academic track are available like STEM, HUMSS ABM and GAS which gives the students the opportunity and freedom to choose what they want to learn depending on their personal goals, interests, aptitude and school capacity. The teachers are also encouraged to utilize formative and summative assessment types to have a better understanding of the student’s learning abilities.
I also believe that intelligence can be improved or developed with the right set of mind. I believe in the value of personality traits and emotional intelligence which is why I think everything is possible with hard work and perseverance and this is an attitude that we should teach our students rather than focusing on their academic performance alone. As future educators, it is vital that we provide our students with guided opportunities so they can maximize their learning potential.
References:
Cherry, K. (2017). Are People With High IQs More Successful? Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/are-people-with-high-iqs-more-successful-2795280
Cherry, K. (2019). Theories of Intelligence in Psychology. Verywell Mind. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/theories-of-intelligence-2795035
Department of Education.(2015). Classroom Assessment Guidelines. Retrieved from http://www.deped.gov.ph/2015/05/26/classroom-assessment-guidelines/
Stangor, C. (n.d.).Introduction to Psychology: 1st Canadian Edition. Pressbooks. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontopsychology/front-matter/about-the-book/
Eunice Abadicio 