Education Insight

Dr.Shikha Verma Kashyap is working as Director with AAFT University of Media and Arts Raipur. She is associated with the field of higher education since last 14 years. She is a passionate academecian, enthusiastic researcher and zealotic administrator.

INTELLIGENCE THEORIES TO BE REMEMBERED TO MOTIVATE OUR CHILDREN TO PURSUE THEIR CAREER

Many of us have heard quiet often to the elders saying that they always wanted their ward to become doctor like them or an Engineer like father, but their ward opts for some other stream. Many parents express their opinion indicating dissatisfaction towards the career option their ward has opted for.  Such cases are better than the cases where child shows interest to opt something but parents under social pressure make their ward opt something of their willingness. The mention that the previous scenario is better than the later is for reason that atleast one who opts the program of his or her choice have chance to prove that the option opted is the best suitable as he/she gets chance to live their choice. In the latter case one would always feel that if he/she would have allowed pursuing career of his/her own choice results would have been more encouraging.

What is the genesis of such scenario? It’s not societal pressure or pressure to retain social standard, but I would say it’s a situation where we fail to understand that the bent any individual develops for any of the career choice is because he/she has relative intelligence incubated since their very existence. I am sure many must have noticed that siblings in the same family showing interest for different activities, one would love to dance other would paint since childhood. This varied bent with period of time gets developed in a manner that the child rise and express that which option he/she wants to take further as career. There arises the need to understand different types of intelligence that human beings commonly have and develop with period of time. Once the intelligence types are understood we will be able to understand the traits in our children accordingly and then happily we would be in position to allow them to pursue their career in relevant fields in turn we get better results.
To get idea about the different types of intelligence, we will have to acknowledge great work of Gardener as American Developmental Psychologist who described 9 different types of intelligence. When other scientists were focussing upon skills and its types Gardener named it as intelligence. Different types of intelligence are Naturalist (Nature Smart), Musical (Sound Smart), Logical-mathematical (Number / Reasoning Smart), Existential (Life Smart), Interpersonal (People Smart), Bodily-Kinesthetic (Body Smart), Linguistic (Word Smart), Intra-personal (Self Smart), Spatial (Picture Smart).
People with naturalistic intelligence connect with nature well. Some of them grow plants some are sensitive for animals; some have bent to conserve nature. People who have Musical Intelligence are good at rhythms with capacity to discern pitch, for them every phase or incidence in their live can be associated with music. People with logical-mathematical intelligence are good at numbers, hypothesis, reasoning’s, inductive and deductive thinking. These individuals are made for field of research, scientist category, strategists who can turn profit games.
People with Existential Intelligence have in depth understanding for their very existence, meaning of life which they can preach and propagate. Teachers, actors, politicians, social workers all have Interpersonal Intelligence in them that enable them to connect with others collaborate and perform. People with Kinesthetic Intelligence can turnout as athlete, dancer they have skill for the perfect mind body union and exhibit the result.  There are many people who are good at representation of any complex scenario, theory with right blend of words.

These are the people who are called to be having Linguistic Intelligence. People with this kind of intelligence are readers, writers, story tellers, spokesperson. Intra personal Intelligence is something that describes people who have better hold on their thoughts as they are self-motivated, understand their own feelings well, appreciate themselves a little shy normally these kind of people turnout to become philosophers, readers, psychologists. Spatial Intelligence facilitates an individual to think in three dimensions, spatial reasoning, and mental imagery. People who are picture smart can make their efficient career as sailors, pilots, sculptors, painters, architects.
At times people say their ward is not good with numbers and declare he cannot do Engineering ever but forget to notice that he is too good with Music, in this case why he cannot be considered Sound smart and motivated to pursue his career in the field of Music. The intent of this article was not to serve the purpose as research reference for the field of psychology but to establish a connect between the intelligence and career options that can be carefully assessed before we as an adult decide in which filed our child must go. We must motivate our children to opt what they feel they have interest in so that they do better in their lives and always live a career satisfied personnel. Let’s start observing our children from the intelligence perspective, and help them grow ever.