Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.)

School

Psychology

Advisor

Donna Heretick

Abstract

Many government-run K-12 schools in India struggle to serve their diverse student bodies in a culturally responsive manner that draws from the nation's rich cultural heritage. Academic programs based on Gardner’s multiple intelligences (MI) theory have been utilized internationally to enhance learning, but the implementation has not been explored in a school curriculum based on Indian culture. The purpose of this qualitative case study, which was grounded in MI and Ladson-Billing’s culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP), was to explore the methods and experiences of an Indian K-12 school that culturally adapted MI theory to include yogic principles of the Indian culture. A cross-case analysis consisting of interviews with 12 teachers and nine administrators, observations of 12 classrooms, and a review of 17 documents was conducted. Two themes (culturally adapted MI, and MI/multiple natures [MN] assessment) described how participating teachers assessed students’ learning styles based on MI and yogic principles of the mind. Three themes (culturally adapted MI supported by yogic practices, implementation through activity-based learning, and student MI clubs) described how they implemented culturally adapted MI theory in the classroom. Future research is recommended to examine educators’ culturally meaningful practices for developing students’ MI and MN in other school contexts. This study may bring about positive social change by creating awareness of how the leaders of one school adapted MI to include yogic principles of the Indian culture, which in turn may allow others to enact similar methods of adapting MI principles to benefit students in discovering and nurturing their innate strengths within the specific cultural context of their schools.

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