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http://www.businessinsider.com/why-high-spatial-intelligence-gets-ignored-2012-8

Why High ‘Spatial Intelligence’ Gets Ignored – Business Insider via kwout

Jonathan Wai, a research scientist at the Duke University Talent Identification Program, argues that our schools ignore our most creative thinkers because:

Standardized Tests Do Not Include Spatial Measures
Most Teachers Are Not High Spatial
Spatially Talented People Are Not Very Vocal

Wai’s argument is based on his research into spacial intelligence. People with high spacial intelligence are the mechanical types, who can take apart and put back together just about anything. These types of people have little interest in words and numbers and because they are often less vocal and social their needs and amazing abilities are overlooked.

In his Psychology Today article Finding the Next Einstein: Why smart is relative, Wai points out that we habitually overlook some of the best and the brightest because of our reliance on standardized testing and intelligence testing which do not take into account spacial intelligence. Wai offers the following historical example of just how poorly intelligence testing identifies intelligence:

Over 90 years ago, Lewis Terman attempted to identify the brightest kids in California. There were two young boys who took Terman’s test but who did not make the cutoff to be included in this study for geniuses. These boys were William Shockley and Luis Alvarez, who both went on to study physics, earn PhDs, and win the Nobel Prize.

We have been overlooking or missing some of the brightest and best minds for a very long time, but we can’t afford to keep on ignoring these highly talented but different people any longer. These spacial thinkers are some of the best suited people to help us adapt to the disruptive change that is all around out us. What can we do to change our system and our schools to recognize and support these types of learners?

Wai suggests that we design educational interventions that are tailored to the spatial strengths. Hands on activities that encourage spatially talented students to work their hands is only the start. Perhaps first we need to be their voice. We all know people that are spatially talented and because they are often quiet and different they get overlooked or even ostracized and their talents and abilities are never fully realized. These are the people who not only can see different future they are the ones that can help us build it.

Who in your sphere of influence is a spacial thinker? What have you done to help them to maximize or even realize their potential?

Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, the author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Random House, 2006) and the article Even Geniuses Work Hard posits that if students with a Fixed Mindset believe that intelligence is an inborn trait and is essentially fixed they:

Tend to view looking smart above all else;
May sacrifice important opportunities to learn—even those that are important to their future academic success—if those opportunities require them to risk performing poorly or admitting deficiencies;
Believe that if you have ability, everything should come naturally;
Tell us that when they have to work hard, they feel dumb;
Believe that setbacks call their intelligence into question, they become discouraged or defensive when they don’t succeed right away;
May quickly withdraw their effort, blame others, lie about their scores, or consider cheating.

In contrast Dweck explains that students with a Growth Mindset believe that they can develop their intelligence over time and subsequently will:

View challenging work as an opportunity to learn and grow;
Meet difficult problems, ones they could not solve yet, with great relish;
Say things like “I love a challenge,” “Mistakes are our friends,” and “I was hoping this would be informative!”
Value effort; they realize that even geniuses have to work hard to develop their abilities and make their contributions;
More likely to respond to initial obstacles by remaining involved, trying new strategies, and using all the resources at their disposal for learning.

To help motivate students to adopt the growth mindset Dweck recommends that teachers create a culture of risk taking and strive to design challenging and meaningful tasks. This will require teachers to learn to encourage and reward effort, persistence and improvement rather than simply reward results and test scores. It will also mean that instructors will need to educate student on the different mindsets. Dweck offers many key recommendations in the article that include:

Emphasizing Challenge, Not “Success”
Giving a Sense of Purpose;
Grading for Growth.

To help teachers learn more about a growth mindset Dweck and her colleagues have developed growth mindset curriculum that can be accessed at www.brainology.us.

Read the full article…