Needs Assessment - the "Who" of Spiritual Education

For our teaching to be effective, we need to know people's best learning styles, and the developmental capacity to learn. 

Needs Assessments are fundamental in preparation of the visioning process for the community. One way of understanding what to teach to whom and how is by knowing your congregant's style of learning. 

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES:

Each person has a unique combination, or profile: (from Howard Gardner's Nine Multiple Intelligences)

• Verbal- Linguistic Intelligence
• Mathematical-Logical Intelligence
• Visual-Spatial Intelligence
• Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
• Musical Intelligence
• Intrapersonal Intelligence
• Interpersonal Intelligence
• Naturalist Intelligence
• Existential Intelligence

Learning about learning styles is a great way to do a needs assessment.  MI helps us to understand our learning styles, which often become our teaching styles.  It also helps us to see how people learn differently.  

To make an assessment, there are multiple intelligence tests available online.  Here is just one:

http://www.businessballs.com/howardgardnermultipleintelligences.htm