-
Birth
Gardner was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania to his Nazi Germany refuge parents, shortly after the death of his older brother Erik. Gardner has been married twice during his life and is currently married to Ellen Winner. He has 4 children, from both mariages, and 2 grandchildren. Much of his early idea comes from his personal experiences, much like the other theorists before him, many of whom he was very much interested in when determining his career path. -
Period: to
The Work of Howard Gardner
Starting when he was born, spaning to his present day work, this timeline provides a visual representation of the progression of Gardner's work, including its relationship to society at that time. -
Education
Gardner completed his post-secondary education, as a cognitive development psychology major, at Harvard University. He recieved his undergradute degree in 1965 and a Ph. D. in 1971. At this time, he became interested in applying psychology to education, and was beginning his work during the begining of the education reform movement. It can also be noted that this stage in his research demonstrates a focus on scientific approaches, much like the societal shift towards science and technoloy. -
Frames of Mind Published
Until this point, Gardner focused on studies and research involving normal and gifted children and brain-damaged adults. He was very interested in the human thought process. After completing his research, he published his first book, titled Frames of Mind, in which he outlines his very popular Multiple Intelligences (MI) Theory. This was revolutionary, and much different from the previous theories, proposing 8 interlocking ways of thinking, as opposed to one general intelligence. -
Educational Acceptance of MI
Shortly after Gardner introduced his theory of Multiple Intelligences, the education society accepted these ideas. Many teachers were coming to the realization that students learn in different ways, and they saw this theory as an explination for this discovery. Many people were also coming to the understanding that teachers need to teach these different "parts" in order to make society a diverse "whole" and produce unique community members that can each provide a different part of the community. -
Professorship Work
Gardner begins teaching at Harvard University, focusing on psychology and education. This is important to his research because of the opportunity it gives him to practice his theory. This will also be important later in his career because he now focuses on how the mind develops in a rapidly changing environment, providing him with access to the thought processes of people who are going to be entering the professional world of this rapidly changing environment. -
Project Zero
Gardner served as co-director for Project Zero from 1972 until 2000, focusing on the development of learning processes in children and adults. Today, Gardner continues to work with the organization. This is significant for society becase the program is working to develop personaluzed assisment and curriculum. This is a "hot-topic" in education today because many who oppose standardization want personalization, and Gardner is working to provide this personalized education. -
The GoodWork Project
Today, and for the past 12 years, Gardner works as co-director at the GoodWork Project at Harvard, aiming to understand and identify "good work" and how people make ethical descicions in the work place in order to find ways to implement "good work" in other institutions. This looks at how people make ethical decisions in the work place in a society that is rapidly changing, hihglighting the main focus of Gardners research today: the changes that the brain undergoes.
