Multiple intelligences in Ireland

As far as Ireland is concerned, Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences was “the right theory in the right place at the right time.” In the past decade, Ireland’s population changed from being largely monolithic in terms of language, culture, ethnic background and religion, to being multi-cultural and diverse. New education laws in Ireland in the late 1990s required the education system at all levels to be inclusive and to facilitate and respect the diversity of learners in the system. Multiple intelligences theory provided an ideal framework for curriculum reform and delivery from early childhood to third level. This chapter describes how a research and development project on Multiple Intelligences, Curriculum and Assessment which started in University College Cork in 1996, influenced a growing number of educational policy makers, teacher educators, educational leaders, school principals, teachers and students at all levels of the Irish educational system.