2009/04/18

Multiple Intelligences Case Study Paper

In Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons (2006) non-fiction educational book, Howard Gardner describes nine different ‘intelligences’: naturalistic, musical, logical, existential, interpersonal, kinaesthetic, verbal, intrapersonal and visual. He argues that giftedness is “a sign of precious biopsychological potential in particular domains that exist in a culture”.  A domain is “any kind of organized activity within society, in which one can readily array individuals in terms of expertise”.  There are multiple amounts of domains (different crafts, jobs, hobbies), yet there are just nine ‘intelligences’ that “often work together and support one another” in order to execute one’s behaviour pattern.  Therefore, there is no single intelligence specifying what one does at a particular moment but there are a few intelligences interacting at the same time. Of course, certain intelligences are more employed than the others. It can be stated that there is a clear intelligence strength or weakness based on one’s behaviour. Is there an exceptional behaviour of an individual, which suggests that human beings can be multiple intelligent?

Biographies are one of my most favourite literary genres. I enjoy reading through vivid stories of characters who encountered  unforeseen struggles; and I especially enjoy reading through memorable stories of peers from my region. Last year, I read Lásky Vojnového Zajatca (2006, i.e. “Loves of a War Prisoner” by Jozef Valiska) a Slovak biographic novel about a protagonist who was only 17 years-old when he left his home: Palín, Michalovský Okres, Košický Kraj, Slovakia. Pavol Valiska was recruited by the Austria-Hungarian Army in 1921 and he was fighting against Russians on the East Front during the First World War. He was, however, captive only after three days of fighting. He spent nine years at seven different prisoner of war camps all around Europe and Asia: from Scandinavia, through southern Ural and northern Siberia till east Mongolia bordering with China. What made Pavol one of a few who survived famine, hard labour, freezing winters, diseases, and rigour of superiors?  Was he somehow gifted in certain intelligence domains more than other soldiers were?

To begin, I will consider reasons why he got captured. Pavol Valiska was an idealistic young man who believed it was worth fighting for the political ideas of his officials. However, as soon as he stood against his ‘enemies’, he was suddenly demoralized; he did not see a threat in front of him yet he saw similarly confused young Russian men. Pavol questioned meanings of life, death, war and killing. In three days during which he was ‘fighting’, he used his gun no more than five times – the times he was shooting up to the air in self-defence. Yes, some could call him a ‘pacifist’ but keep in mind that he chose to enter the army in the first place. Originally, Pavol wanted to fight for his country but it was only after he had been seeing the absurdity of the East Front War that he started to wonder about the conflict in a philosophical way. Thence, Pavol’s existential intelligence acted in the most notable way. He saw two frightened orphans hiding nearby the dead body of their parent lying in a hut’s doorway and as a result, he did not hesitate to be captured voluntarily with other soldiers the next day.

Pavol Valiska did not turn his back on the two children he saw. He emancipated their emotions and even though there are no words to make somebody better off in the situation of losing parents, he approached the children giving them some food and cheering them up. Pavol’s interpersonal intelligence was strong at that moment since he understood how to work with others.

Pavol knew that one day (if at all) he was going to come back home and he could possibly not see his parents again. He realized that his way to fight the war was not through the means of violence but through the means of support for the others. His intrapersonal intelligence was highly developed by that time too because he understood how to work with himself.

Pavol’s great verbal skills helped him to survive his first prisoner of war camp on the borders of Mongolia and China. He spoke fluent Slovak and Hungarian from home, and he already knew some German, Polish and Russian. When an officer approached him talking to him in Russian, Pavol answered quite fluently and stressed that he was willing to learn more. The officer had Russian conversations with him every day and taught him the language. The officer liked Pavol’s enthusiasm and he selected him to lead a section of prisoners with whom Pavol was living. Pavol had to make sure that everybody followed hygienic rules, nobody was shirking and everybody followed daily living duties such as bringing wood for heat or cleaning common spaces. Apparently, being one of the youngest soldiers and therefore assuming the least amount of respect towards him, Pavol was surprised by the decision of superiors too. But he did not oppose; he agreed, called everyone out for a meeting and explained the situation: “Everybody has got to do what he has to do…” He immediately created a structure in his part of the camp as he assigned leaders to different subsections. Obviously, Pavol possessed the organization skills of a leader and he soon developed respect among others as well.

As the time was passing by, Pavol recognized opportunities of the local underground black market trading mostly tobacco and food. He found a job in a kitchen and he was stealing pastry and sugar cubes from time to time. He slowly started to accumulate a small capital that he saved until a time might arise for its use. The Christmas time was approaching. Before the better kitchen position, Pavol had been volunteering as a postman and so he had connections there as well. He knew exactly which men were not going to receive any letters, news or packages from home. Therefore, he decided to use all his capital to make dozens of Christmas packages that included a few rolls, sugar cubes and ten cigarettes. It was not a lot but it was all he could do for his friends, for his brothers in war that were not lucky enough to keep in touch with their homes. In fact, Pavol made many grown men cry with affection for such empathy he showed them. Once again, interpersonal intelligence played a main role.

Pavol Valiska survived his second and third camp in Scandinavia and the Caspian Sea area mostly as an interpreter. Since he was an educated shoe-man, he managed to work for a local shoe-maker during his fourth and sixth stay in the Caspian Sea area. He fell in love with a local girl whom he precisely crafted beautiful leather shoes with ornaments. Other girls were envious because Pavol had apparently a sense for visual details, i.e. visual intelligence. In order to craft fancy shoes, however, one has to have not only brilliant imagination but also great fingers and skilled touch. Pavol had to use specific tools which not everybody could utilize. Moreover, when he was volunteering as a postman during cold Mongolian winters, he had to use his whole body. Also, he volunteered once in a Scandinavian camp to go on his own along the local railroad in order to alarm men in other camps. It was early winter and he was floundering through meters of snow for a couple of days. The railroad had to be cleared off immediately if they wanted all sick soldiers to be transported south to a port before the last transport boat left to a rehabilitation camp and the Baltic Sea froze. Although exhausted and almost dead, he survived and recovered quickly. Pavol was a strong man with outstanding kinaesthetic intelligence in all aspects.

In conclusion, Pavol Valiska had a profile of very strong multiple intelligences that were employed at different times throughout his life. He managed to survive nine difficult years in atrocious conditions since he was undoubtedly a gifted soldier with one of the strongest interpersonal, verbal and kinaesthetic intelligences. The case study of Pavol Valiska clearly proves that a human being does not have a single intelligence but rather a mixture of multiple intelligences.

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RESOURCES:

-Valiska J.: Lásky Vojnového Zajatca. SLOV. Bratislava: Dom Matice Slovenskej, 2006 (ISBN: 80-969501-1-8)

-Gardner H.: Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons. New York: Basic Books, 2006 (ISBN: 0-465-04768-8)

Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons, p.41
Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons, p.31
Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons, p.74
Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons, p.18
Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons, p.18