1. How do you define intelligence?
Intelligence can be difficult to define because many cultures in many places may define intelligence in different ways. My personal belief is that intelligence is in the eye of the beholder, like most things in life, we all have our own perspectives and definitions of things and if you think that intelligence is measured in morality then that is what you believe or if intelligence is measured in skill or knowledge then it is. Many theories have been made regarding what the definition of intelligence is or how we should view them but to me, the true mark of intelligence is not about how much more you know than the next person, it is what you do with your knowledge or your skill or your intelligence that truly proves how smart you are. Intelligence is wasted if it is not shared.
2. Can intelligence be measured in children? Why or why not?
Intelligence can measured in children, but when we are testing children for IQ scores and test scores we are only measuring the amount of knowledge in a certain category. Children offer other types of intelligence that we cannot measure in a single test, it is something that only children truly possess, something that we lose as we grow older. Children have childlike perspectives and in their innocence, they can offer tremendous amount of wisdom and intelligence and we can’t measure that, it is priceless.
3. Should intelligence be measured in children? Why or why not?
Measuring intelligence in students is a good way of identifying a student’s placement in class and orchestrates an idea of what future success they may have in school. However, on the opposite side of the spectrum, IQ tests and such can also put lots of pressure on children, especially those with learning disabilities. They begin to view school as a hostile and stressful environment instead. We need to be encouraging our students to be the best they can be and not pressuring them to be better and certainly not making them feel inferior.
4. What are some of the pros and cons of using these tests to measure children's intelligence?
The main positive aspect of using intelligence tests on children is to be able to identify those that stand out from the rest, for example, if there is a child that may seem gifted or advanced, an intelligence test will help to answer that. Intelligence tests place a numerical value on students and help administrators and teachers see which child stands out from among the rest. These tests are objective in nature and they also help give feedback to teachers about how to better serve their students. However, there are downsides to that because not only is intelligence a very hard thing to define, much less test, it also places tremendous pressure on the gifted child to be above average, it also makes average and below average students feel isolated and inferior. Children deserve the right to be