Howard
Gardner is a professor of cognition and education at the Harvard Graduate
School of Education. He’s also the author of over 20 books and several hundred
scholarly articles. Gardner is probably best known in educational circles for
his theory of multiple intelligences, which is a critique of the notion that
there exists but a single human intelligence that can be assessed by standard
psychometric instruments. His most recent book, Five
Minds for the Future, offers some advice for policy-makers on how to do
a better job of preparing students for the 21st century. Mind Matters editor
Jonah Lehrer chats with Gardner about his new book, the possibility of teaching
ethics and how his concept of multiple intelligences has changed over
time.