Early Childhood Scholar – Howard Gardner, American Psychologist Howard Gardner, born July 11,1943 is an American psychologist and author best known for his theory of multiple intelligences. Gardner undertook most of his formal training and graduate work at Harvard University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in social relations in 1965 and a doctoral degree in developmental psychology in 1971. His main academic appointments included a professorship of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine (1984 - 2005) and a professorship of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (1986-1998). Gardner’s philosophy regarded early childhood education and children from a theory of human intelligence. The theory was first proposed by the psychologist in his book Frames of Mind (1983). It is the position that individuals have the potential to develop a combination of nine separate intelligences, or spheres of intelligence. Gardner asserts that an individual’s cognitive capacity cannot be represented adequately in a single measurement, such as an IQ score. Rather, because each person manifests varying levels of separate intelligence, a unique cognitive profile would be a better representation of individual strengths and weaknesses, according to this theory 1. This theory of Multiple Intelligences is important for young children because at its core, it is the proposition that individuals have the potential to develop a combination of eight separate intelligences, or sphere of intelligence. Gardner’s theory impacted teachers, school leaders, and special educators to embrace the notion that there are many ways to be intelligent starting at the early childhood level. Gardner’s theory is apparent today because his theory affected many school-improvement efforts in the United States. Gardner and others promoted efforts to understand diverse student capacities and emphasized the need for personalized educational environments, improved interdisciplinary curricular programs, and the use of performance-based assessments 2. One example to incorporate the scholar’s philosophy into my professional practice is to meet educators who work directly with children and families. Events, such as teacher/parent meetings are opportunities to present Gardner’s work to inspire and motivate educators and parents to realize children are more than an IQ for school district placements. Their value lies in a combination of intelligence, from which the young will thrive in the future when developed for the present. Citation: 1. Website, Britannica, Howard Gardner’s biography 11//2025 – Lynn Melby Gordon, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Howard-Gardner 2. Howard Gardner and Multiple Intelligences Theory (Morrison, Woika, Breffni; Fundamental of Early Childhood Education, p118, 119.) 3. Video, “9 Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner Explained “- https://www.google.com/search?q=howard+gardner+theory+video&oq=&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCQgAEEUYOxjCAzIJCAAQRRg7GMIDMgkIARBFGDsYwgMyCQgCEEUYOxjCAzIJCAMQRRg7GMIDMgkIBBBFGDsYwgMyCQgFEEUYOxjCAzIJCAYQRRg7GMIDMgkIBxBFGDsYwgPSAQsxNDc0NjcwajBqN6gCCLACAfEFKxQcVHt0d4w&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:f96e894d,vid:_ocUjtB6-4Q,st:0

Early Childhood Scholar – Vivian Gussin Paley “We call it play. But it forms the primary culture in the classroom. Fantasy and storytelling are the abstract thinking of the young, carrying a deeper sense of reality than could form of adult thoughts." Vivian Gussin Paley was a renowned early education researcher and Laboratory Schools teacher. Born in 1929 in Chicago, Vivian received her bachelor’s degree in philosophy (honors) from the University of Chicago in 1947, bachelor’s degree in psychology from Newcomb College in 1950, and her master’s degree in education from Hofstra University in 1965. She began her teaching career in New Orleans in the 1950s, and later in Great Neck, New York. It was during her time teaching in New Orleans that she began to reflect on some of the ways in which childhood learning at the time was choked by an overemphasis on strict learning boundaries (e.g., that children could only be allowed to learn how to write in capital letters, not lower-case) and perfunctory memorization. In 1971 Vivian joined the Laboratory Schools, where she remained teaching until her retirement in 1995. It was during the 1970s that Vivian began writing books on early childhood learning that impacted the early childhood field. Paley’s research focused on the ways in which youngsters grow socially as well as intellectually. Her books included You Can’t Say You Can't Play (1993), The Kindness of Children (1999) and A Child’s Work:The Importance of Fantasy Play (2004). Her pedagogy regarding early childhood education and children was recognized when she received a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship. Paley’s special contributions to education included a “story playing” technique that helps teachers understand how children’s natural interest in fantasy can be used to help them learn. While teaching in Great Neck, she began to reflect on how play can be the “most usable context” for interaction and intellectual growth among kindergartners 1. Vivian’s pedagogy remains apparent through the publication of the Helicopter Stories Curriculum which is based entirely on her work 2. Her work is important for children and learning because her research has shaped the way we think about fantasy play and storytelling. She reflected on the events of her classroom and wrote numerous articles based on her observations of the children she worked with and on the significant role Storytelling and Story Acting played in her understanding of their needs. One way of incorporating the scholar’s pedagogy in my professional practice is through networking. Gathering with educators is a timely opportunity to present Paley’s perspective to imaginations and storytelling in a novel way. Vivian Gussin Paley lived till the age of ninety that ended in 2019, having made an enormous contribution to early childhood education 3. Citation 1. Website: U of Chicago News, Catherine Brandel, “Vivian Gussin Paley Renowned early education researcher and Laboratory Schools Teachers,” 8/1/2029 - https://news.uchicago.edu/story/vivian-gussin-paley-renowned-early-education-researcher-and-lab-teacher-1929-2019 2. Website; Helicopter Stories, - https://helicopterstories.co.uk/vivian-gussin-paley/ 11/9/25 3. Ibid.

Dr. Marie Lewis, CEO of the National Special Education Advocacy Institute, provides essential information for parents, teachers, counselors, and other professionals working with families of children and adults with special needs. This institute is open to the public on Wednesdays in Newtown Square, PA. In addition, I will provide you with a series of information from NSEAI for review and application. More insight on NSEAI can be found at www.nseai.org. RELATED SERVICES 300.34 (a) General. Related services mean transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services as are required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education, and include:  speech-language pathology  audio services  interpreting services  psychological services  physical and occupational service  recreation, including therapeutic recreation  early identification and assessment of disabilities in children  counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling  orientation and mobility service  medical series for diagnostic or evaluation purposes Lewis, Marie, RN, Ph.D. NSEAI Evaluations II- Related Services, © 2016 p4