A Prescription for Peace

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Finally, as my work on multiple intelligences has taught me, individuals have distinctly different kinds of minds--even and sometimes especially when they are members of the same family. Unfortunately, this fact has not been seriously confronted in schools. Parents have a special responsibility when their youngsters do not learn in the traditional ways. It is up to us to find ways to help children use their kinds of minds both to understand the work of school and to exhibit their understanding to others. Suppose that the assignment is to learn about evolution by reading a chapter and answering some factual questions. The parent of a youngster with strong "naturalistic" intelligence might accompany the child to a natural-history museum and trace the antecedents of Homo sapiens. Siblings with other profiles of intelligence might benefit instead from viewing a drama about Darwin's life or creating a new form of "virtual life" on the computer.

TEACHING. Even the best schools can't teach everything. In fact, I think the best schools do not even try to cover all fronts. Rather than complaining about this, parents should try to make a virtue of necessity. We should bone up on (or remember) the knowledge we value and teach it to our children. Sometimes it will be academic subject matter, but just as often it will be a value or an attitude. Perhaps the greatest gift my mother gave me when I was young was her commitment to sit just behind me each day when I practiced the piano. She said little, though she would occasionally make a comment or suggest that we listen to a record or go to a concert. I learned to love music. Even more important, I learned that--no matter how much or how little talent one has--one can steadily improve by working regularly at something. Now every day I sit slightly behind my 13-year-old son Benjamin while he practices piano, hoping he will love music throughout his life and learn the value of systematic honing of one's skills.

I've dwelled here on my family and my values. But each family must identify its own values. Some will highlight competition, others cooperation; some will stress mastery of technology, others the cultivation of an art or craft or the achievement of athletic prowess; some will seek a curriculum that emphasizes facts and figures, others a curriculum that encourages youngsters to be creative or even iconoclastic.

We cannot all find schools that meet these goals. I urge that we view school as one of several educational experiences. And when the dreaded H word looms, we should take an active stance: amplifying when we are in agreement, countering when we feel there is a lack and teaching--always teaching--what we feel is sacred.

The Duke of Wellington is said to have observed, "The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton." This statement reflects a recognition that teaching and learning can occur in many places and that work need not be contrasted with play. The ultimate test is whether youngsters grow up to be decent human beings and whether, when it is their turn, they can successfully transmit values and practices to their offspring. Recent talk that parents do not matter is highly misleading. We do matter, especially when it comes to inculcating discipline, respect, responsibility, core values. Perhaps we cannot turn battlegrounds into playing fields, but at least we should attempt to make work at home part of the larger tapestry of success in life.

Howard Gardner, who created the theory of multiple intelligences, is a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His forthcoming book, The Disciplined Mind, will be published in May by Simon & Schuster.