14 INVITED CHAPTERS
construct was groundbreaking, to me at least. I was ready to learn about this to enhance my
own teaching and learning at UC. We learned from him that “intelligence” has at least eight
components: logical, linguistic, spatial, musical, kinesthetic, naturalist, intrapersonal and
interpersonal. His concern was that most tests only measure the first two and ineptly at that,
with the other forms being neglected in most teaching, curricula, tests, and measurements in
education, not to mention that “performance” was never measured in “fill in the bubble” tests.
This explains the notion of success I am interested in for our children and students in the
21 st century: We want every “potential”: Beverly Sils (music); Babe Zaharias, (athletics);
Nancy Pelosi, (interpersonal leader); Steven Hawkins, (scientist); Rachel Carson, (naturalist);
(logical, spatial): (artist); Sigmund Freud, (intrapersonal), and, Truman Capote, (linguist), to
learn and feel welcomed and challenged in our educational institutions, regardless of their
social class or cultural backgrounds, abilities, and test scores. They are what America stands
for when we talk about “equality of opportunity,” and many of the earlier tests and
measurements condemned our students to school failure, wasted potential, and unhappy lives,
and mostly due to our own limited views of intelligence and learning. Education should seek
to enhance the human potential as Montessori called it, in all of us, in each of these areas, as
is possible, and let us pursue those that are the most interesting and worthy for ourselves,
without guilt or shame if we can’t do them all well.
Robert Sternberg has suggested that most standardized tests only measure the analytical
and logical, and ignore what he sees as a ‘triarchic” model of intelligence with two other
major dimensions he labeled as “creative, and practical intelligence” (1977; 1985; 1990). He
sees all three, (including the analytical) as necessary to have what he labels, “successful
intelligence”. His definitions of the three are interesting:
(a) Creative intelligence is the ability to successfully deal with new and unusual situations by
drawing on existing knowledge and skills. Imagination is a big part of this intelligence; (b)
Analytical intelligence is the ability to complete academic, problem-solving tasks (This he
labels “book smart”); (c) Practical Intelligence refers to the ability to adapt to everyday life
by drawing on existing knowledge and skills...for example, when dealing with everyday
personal or practical problems (“Street Smart”). These complex learners can make the
necessary adjustments to survive in tenuous situations...much like a school principal,
superintendent or college president. When all three types of intelligence are “in balance” he
labels it as: “Successful Intelligence”
Daniel Goleman also captured my interest in that his revolutionary works on both
“emotional and social intelligence” has answered for me a big conundrum: how can so many
people be successful, who are not “smart” (at least as measured by intelligence tests or even
grades), and yet, have immense success in their careers and life. They seem to have unique
abilities in such areas as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship
management.... quite apart from the standard measures of intelligence (1996; 2006).
On the other hand, I have also seen students who are highly gifted as measured by these
same tests or grades fail as education leaders due to lack of ability to negotiate relationships,
develop an awareness of social dynamics, or manage or discipline themselves. They seem to
lack what Goleman calls, “emotional or social intelligence.”
How many students have been doomed to a second- class education opportunity by our
own lack of sophistication in measuring broader ranges of intellects: Gardner, Sternberg and
Goleman, and many others would argue, quite a few! Most of our tests are measuring less
than 20% of the school curriculum, and what is measured, gets taught. We seem to have said
“goodbye” to quality social science, art, music, physical education and even science in our