This theory is illuminating and at the same time damning for most education systems, which for years have mainly (often only) developed the linguistic and logico-mathematical intelligences of children and young people. The few innovative educational experiments, which attempted to develop other human capabilities, were seen as marginal both by western societies and communist regimes.

A complete re-orientation is on the way worldwide and these other capabilities are now being addressed. Look at the list for yourself:

● Kinetic or kine-aesthetic intelligence

● Interpersonal intelligence

● Intrapersonal intelligence

● Linguistic intelligence

● Logico-mathematical intelligence

● Musical intelligence

● Spatial intelligence to which I will add Sub-liminal or Intuitive intelligence, Emotional intelligence and the practical ability to integrate, to solve problems and fashion products.

I am sure you have come across those brilliant individuals, who, for example, can make or repair almost anything with their hands or who have an inborn sense of music or like this beach-boy I once met at Trou-aux-Biches who could charm Italian tourists by speaking the language with such fluency, but who have at best a poor CPE, or, like that beach-boy, had never had any lessons in Italian, just picked it up by talking to native speakers of the language!

Someone may well obtain the following results in the CPE Exams: 5As in English, French, Maths, History/Geography, Science but if tested would score 5Fs in Fishing, Football, Tracking, Singing, Leadership.

More importantly, those who scored 5Fs in the standard CPE subjects may well be 5A+ in these other informal subjects. Now the question arises as to which set of subjects is more important for survival? for integrity of character? for one’s prospects of a happy future life? Society would do well to think hard about the extraordinary injustice that has been done for years to those so-called academically non-gifted children.

To determine the future of an 11-year old on the aggregate of grades in these academic fields only (let alone rank their performance) is one of the worst things that we have ever done to children. It has led to some misguided parents claiming that their child having an aggregate of 25 or 24 at CPE would be harmed by being schooled with a child with aggregate 10, missing the point of how much the latter could bring to the former.

The truth is we know little (perhaps 10%, no more,) about how the human brain works, because of the paradox that in order to understand the human brain we have, as a tool of research, only… the human brain. Advanced computers could help, but these also are modelled on human brain function, i.e. input data, memory store, select, merge, retrieve, output, etc. Until such times of deeper enlightenment, wisdom has it to treat all learners as surprisingly capable, able to innovate for themselves and (given the right stimulus) boundless in what they can achieve. What a positive approach to education!

<B>Dr Michael ATCHIA</B>