ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a brief outline of the theory of Multiple Intelligences and uses this theory to analyze the unique environment of formal schooling. It presents an investigation undertaken at Harvard Project Zero and Yale University called Practical Intelligence for School (PIFS) that draws on the pluralistic theory of intelligence in order to understand more completely the relationships among traditional schooling, individual students, and the society. The domain-specific approach ensures that PIFS lessons have obvious relevance to students' school work. When the interview shifted to a discussion of activities outside of school the students with low PIFS profiles responded as competently as the high PIFS students. The students with the low PIFS profiles lack both a feel for the expectations of school and the sense of self-efficacy that would enable them to satisfy those expectations appropriately.
