TheAmerican psychologistand professor at Harvard UniversityHoward Gardner(Scranton, United States, 1943) has been awarded today with thePrince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences 2011. Doctorate in Social Psychology from Harvard University in 1971. Currently, he currently holds the John H. & Elisabeth A. Hobbs Chair of Cognition and Education at the Higher School of Education of said university, where he also works as Adjunct Professor of Psychology. In addition, since 1972, he is co-director and president of the management committee of Project Zero, a Harvard University research group that studies the learning processes of children and adults.
His field of research has been directed to the analysis of the cognitive capacities of the human being, where he has developed his theory ofmultiple intelligences, which represents a significant change in the educational model. Gardner argues thatthere is no single intelligence, but each individual possesses at least eight cognitive abilities:linguistic, logical-mathematical, kinetic-corporal, musical, spatial, naturalistic, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence. It also considers that these intelligences lack intrinsic value and that the behavior of each individual in society, making use of their intelligence, constitutes a fundamental moral question.
The proyecto Zero, started in 1967 by the philosopher Nelson Goodman with the purpose of studying and improving the learning of the arts, has addressed the design of evaluations based on performance, in theeducation for understanding, in the use of multiple intelligences to achieve a more personalized pedagogy and in the quality of interdisciplinary efforts in education. One of his most important contributions is the model of a “smart school”, based on learning as a consequence of the act of thinking and learning as deep understanding that involves the flexible and active use of knowledge. Most of this work has been implemented in public schools in the United States. For a few years, Gardner has also participated in the GoodWork Project, aimed at improving professional quality and self-esteem, taking as a reference the factors of excellence and ethics.
Gardner is the author of 25 books, translated into 28 languages, and about 450 articles. His latest post isFive Minds for the Future (2009).
