A Justice Site
Mirror Sites:
CSUDH Habermas UWP
California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Created: April 17, 2001
Latest update: April 17, 2001
jeannecurran@habermas.org
On Tuesday, April 24, 2001, Araceli Mark wrote:
Labeling a child intelligent or non-intelligent can be bad for the child because right off the bat we are telling the child what he/she is. Maybe that child sees him/herself differently. Trying to uncover in what ways the child is intelligent sounds like a good idea rather than than asking how intelligent the child is.Everyone has their own unique intelligence. If I had to choose from the 8 multiple Intelligences, I would go with the Musical and the Interpersonal. I always have music playing in my house and I work well when I'm listening to music. I can't imagine life without music; it's liberating in a sense. I also tend to be the peace-maker at home, calming people down. My mother always thought I was intelligent and I love her for that. However, sometimes I don't feel intelligent. I don't know why. I guess, in my head, knowing everything meant intelligence. But now I know that uniqueness and being open to difference is intelligence (to me anyway). A lyric by the Black Eyed Peas stood out in my head, "you can be smart and never go to college." That is true because some very intelligent people have been self-taught, take Malcolm X for example.
On Friday, April 27, 2001 jeanne responded:
Good comment, Araceli. Labelling is of primary concern to us here. And we can label through our actions, even when we don't place a verbal tag on the student. Constant smiles and encouragement, when we frown and say nothing to another, effectively labels.I like the analysis you offer of your own recognition of intelligence. Your own recognition and the self-esteem that builds are interdependent with any actual measures of intelligence. This is the "interdependence" of which Henry and Milovanovic speak. And this is one instance in which agency shines out. If you are given adequate support to feel comfortable in your "identity" then it is as if you had a larger portion of "intelligence," whatever that may be. Notice how your mother's support counts, even though you didn't full accept her judgment. Sometimes our mothers are wiser in their years and experience than we are!
love and peace, jeanne