Harvard Style: Can Gardner's Five Minds Help Create a New Pedagogy?

Background

In one of Gardner’s best-selling books (2006), he identified five minds that are relevant and important for students across all levels and disciplines. He claims that the “current formal education still prepares students primarily for the world of the past, rather than for possible worlds of the future” (p.17). This concern of preparing students for the future has been discussed in several studies (for example, Schoemaker, 2008). Consequently, educational institutions are continuously looking for ways to improve pedagogy to enhance students with new sets of skills that will be useful for their personal and professional life. This chapter uses the five minds framework to understand how students could benefit through one of their courses in tertiary education. Stimulating though Gardner’s concept may be, it is clearly necessary to examine it in real-life situations. Specifically, how do students react to the concept? Does it also stimulate them? Does it change their way of learning, and what indications are there that it can help provide them with enduring skills? Drawing from research carried out in two post-experience classes in accounting and management, the chapter presents how the students from these two disciplines perceive the five minds. There is a possibility that students of different disciplines may perceive the practice and importance of five minds differently.