To view a child as the whole child, we should take into account his/her physical, cognitive (including linguistic and thinking), social and emotional skills. Therefore, when assessing a child and measuring how far the child has reached concerning his/her overall development, or overall intelligences, we should apply and combine some theories of intelligence in which different aspects of his/her skills are included, such as Theory of Multiple Intelligences, introduced by Howard Garder; and Theory of Emotional Intelligence, proposed by Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer. In both of their theories, I think some of the factors can be utilized and put together to assess young children holistically.
From Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Visual-Spatial Intelligence can be used to assess information-processing skills according to its characteristics:
Enjoys reading and writing
Good at putting puzzles together
Good at interpreting pictures, graphs and charts
Enjoys drawing, painting and the visual arts
Recognizes patterns easily
(Cherry, Kendra. (2014). Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/educationalpsychology/ss/multiple-intell_2.htm)
Linguistic-Verbal Intelligence is the factor to assess children’s linguistic development and its characteristics are:
Good at remembering written and spoken information
Enjoys reading and writing
Good at debating or giving persuasive speeches
Able to explain things well
Often uses humor when telling stories
(Cherry, Kendra. (2014). Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/educationalpsychology/ss/multiple-intell_3.htm)
Logical-Mathematical Intelligence can be used to assess children’s thinking skills:
Excellent problem-solving skills
Enjoys thinking about abstract ideas
Likes conducting scientific experiments
Good and solving complex computations
(Cherry, Kendra. (2014). Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/educationalpsychology/ss/multiple-intell_4.htm)
Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence can be used to assess children’s motor skills:
Good at dancing and sports
Enjoy creating things with their hands
Excellent physical coordination
Tends to remember by doing, rather than hearing or seeing
(Cherry, Kendra. (2014). Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/educationalpsychology/ss/multiple-intell_5.htm)
Musical Intelligence can also be used to assess one’s thinking skills who are thinking in patterns, rhythms and sounds:
Enjoy singing and playing musical instruments
Recognizes musical patterns and tones easily
Good at remembering songs and melodies
Rich understanding of musical structure, rhythm and notes
(Cherry, Kendra. (2014). Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/educationalpsychology/ss/multiple-intell_6.htm)
Interpersonal Intelligence can be used to assess one’s social skills:
Good at communicating verbally
Skilled nonverbal communicators
See situations from different perspectives
Create positive relationships with others
Good at resolving conflict in groups
(Cherry, Kendra. (2014). Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/educationalpsychology/ss/multiple-intell_7.htm)
Intrapersonal Intelligence can be used to assess one’s social and emotional skills:
Good at analyzing their strengths and weaknesses
Enjoys analyzing theories and ideas
Excellent self-awareness
Clearly understands the basis for their own motivations and feelings
(Cherry, Kendra. (2014). Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/educationalpsychology/ss/multiple-intell_8.htm)
In Theory of Emotional Intelligence, four different factors including the perception of emotion, the ability to reason using emotions, the ability to understand emotion and the ability to manage emotions, can be used to assess children’s ability of emotional regulation. (Cherry, Kendra. (2014). Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/personalitydevelopment/a/emotionalintell.htm)
How are school-age children assessed in China? According to Joseph (1999), "assessment usually involves an evaluation of the child's leaming abilities, speech and language, visual-motor ability, and identification of behaviour problems. The child's developmental history and how the child interacts with others are also considered. Assessment in China focuses on the characteristics of individual children…..The primary use of assessment in China is for screening and placement, but mostly the latter. For the Chinese, the test score is important, because it indicates the child's level of intellectual functioning or determines the school that the child will attend. Factors other than test scores, such as developmental history or correct life circumstances, are not considered in placement or screening decisions in China.” (Retrieved from http://mje.mcgill.ca/article/viewFile/7897/5826)
The main way of assessing school-age children in China is written examinations, which intend to check how many scores children are able to get, and thus many aspects of children’s development are neglected, such as thinking, linguistic, social and emotional skills, which can not be fully tested in written examinations, and which are very important aspects of knowing whether children develop healthy and properly. Seeing this, some places in China have taken initiative to reform, aiming at "reducing the emphasis on rote learning and increasing the emphasis on deep understanding, the ability to apply knowledge to solving new problems and the ability to think creatively.” (Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/countries/hongkongchina/46581016.pdf) All of these are reflected in deep reforms to the curriculum and examinations. What’s more, Oral test is added in some places to test children’s linguistic and thinking skills. More schools organise field trips to combine knowledge and practice together to improve cognitive skills. With years going by, I hope the education system in China can show a newer look and nurture more children who develop holistically.
Reference:
Cherry, Kendra. (2014). Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/educationalpsychology/ss/multiple-intell.htm
Cherry, Kendra. (2014). What Is Emotional Intelligence? Definitions, History, and Measures of Emotional Intelligence. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/personalitydevelopment/a/emotionalintell.htm
OECD. (2010). Shanghai and Hong Kong: Two Distinct Examples of Education Reform in China. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/countries/hongkongchina/46581016.pdf
What an informative post. Thank you, Xiaowan! You gave a lot of great examples of strengths children may possess past just the normal cognitive testing. I liked the information you gave about China and the observation that they are not assessing children holistically. It does seem like the best way to really gauge what a child's strengths and weaknesses are is by taking the holistic approach to assessment.
回复删除Understanding multiple intelligences is an important concept for teachers to understand. When you can diversify your instruction to meet multiple needs of children; you are providing quality education. We all learn in different ways and have gifts we can contribute to the learning process. Children can illustrate knowledge of given topic in a variety of ways and providing multiple ways of assessing mastery can given valid results.
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