One of the criticisms about learning styles is that it labels people. I disagree. People label things, not the learning style. It is natural to put things into categories so we can better understand them. That is part of learning and understanding. If one can't categorize and sort things, then one can't learn well and, in fact, can hardly function. In the movie "Rainman" we saw a person who couldn't sort for importance, saw everything, so he was very afraid and disfunctional. We need to be prioritize and delete in order to function well in life.
Unfortunately, many people believe that learning about your preferred learning style means that learning style is now a fact that can never be changed and they use it as an excuse, or as a reason why they do or don't learn. This is very harmful and not necessary. We are not so mono-talented. We learn in each and every one of the learning styles, and only PREFER some over others. Even though someone is not strong in auditory, does not mean they don't learn by listening. How silly!
Learning what your preferred learning style is should be empowering. It should give you tools for success because we need to know our strengths and weaknesses in order to utilize the strengths and improve on the weaknesses. In fact, we should be grateful for the differences that others bring--they are blessings! For example, my strengths are creativity, visual, great at spatial awareness, I love taking action and doing things, and am very reflective. If I am fortunate enough to work in a team that is strong in other ways I am not as strong, we can be an unstoppable team.
Labeling ourselves or others is disrespectful. It implies we are not complex and complicated beings who can grow and improve. The point of learning styles is to improve our learning base, to grow and become our best. When a teacher (a manager, trainer, etc.) presents material to us in multiple ways, we are better able to grasp and remember it. As a teacher, I keep in mind that my students need me to be the communicator who gives numerous opportunities for understanding something to them.
I first became interested in Learning Styles back in mid-1986 when I began a year long certification training on Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) which is about learning to learn to learn. We studied the most successful people in the world and learned to model their strategies for success. During one of the 4 days seminars a man named Dr. Michael Grinder was a guest. He was an educator who trained/retrained entire school districts using NLP strategies.
Two years later I was able to do one of his intensive teacher trainings with about 80 other teachers. He was an amazing teacher who taught with energy and enthusiasm and walked around a lot as he taught. I learned a great deal about teaching from him during that training plus, a year later, I went back as a "Master Tracker" where I was able, with 5 other teachers, to shadow him. We arrived each day a couple of hours early and he explained what he was going to cover and assigned each of us an area to watch participants and see if we could tell when someone wasn't understanding a point (giving behavioral specific cues from the person such as a frown, or head shaking, etc.) and then to notice if/when they seemed to have moved into understanding and to identify what Dr. Grinder had done to facilitate that move to understanding for them.
At the end of the day we would debrief and Dr. Grinder knew exactly which participants had struggling with the information and who hadn't and he had modified his actions to help them move out of confusion. During breaks the next day I'd casually ask the participants about the times I saw them seem to "get it" and every one of them reported that they had understood things at that moment. It was astounding! Dr. Grinder seemed to be teaching while tracking his students and adjusting his behavior according to their needs and it all seemed effortless and wholly authentic and there were over 100 participants in that training.
I was hooked and wanted more of that skill for my own students. While NLP works primarily out of the three sensory modalities of Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthtic/tactile, Learning Styles incorporates the Verbal and Mathematical components that were traditional markers of Intelligence Quotients (as tested on IQ tests) as well as the group learner (interpersonal), and the solitary learner (intrapersonal).
Over the years I have internalized the skills so that it has become almost second nature to design lessons and deliver them for learner differences. I discovered that, while I am an extremely visual learner myself and am kinesthetic/tactile secondly, I am also very verbal and am a solitary learner but I don't mind working in groups at all as long as the group is functioning well, and if not, I'd rather work alone. As a teacher, I and I think most people, teach to their strengths. This is especially true for beginning teachers who are on a steep learning curve already. However, it wasn't difficult for me to add in other dimensions to my teaching style. Teaching English, in any form, happens to fit with my learning style, so it was a comfortable fit.
I didn't learn about Multiple Intelligence Theory until the late 1990's. I was ecstatic to find that it expanded on the current Learning Styles theory and and brought in the intelligences of music, nature, and spatial. This broadened the spectrum and allowed for people who love nature or music or who were highly spatial to be included in our "notion" of intelligence. Now, all kinds of intelligences were beginning to be recognized as valid, instead of only the Math and Verbal intelligences of old.
Why I believe in Learning Styles, which includes Multiple Intelligences, is because it honors the diversity of a person. No one person is a copy of another; we are all unique, so the tendency to revere only people who are good at math and words, is absurd! Of course an education has to include math and verbal linguistics! It should also include an appreciation of the arts, of the sciences, of dance, of sport (we do that a bit anyway), of music and of nature. Perhaps one of the reasons that our planet is now in danger is due to the fact that so many people have moved to cities, away from nature and have arrogantly ignored it.
I have lived aboard for 13 years of my life and I have traveled around the world more than twice. I have learned that, at our core, we are more alike than different. Nevertheless, it is our differences that are the blessings. The differences teach us, challenge us, and keep us surprised and interested in life. The differences show us the marvelous complexity of life and, for me, keep me humble.
More later.
Sandra Jeffs
Two years later I was able to do one of his intensive teacher trainings with about 80 other teachers. He was an amazing teacher who taught with energy and enthusiasm and walked around a lot as he taught. I learned a great deal about teaching from him during that training plus, a year later, I went back as a "Master Tracker" where I was able, with 5 other teachers, to shadow him. We arrived each day a couple of hours early and he explained what he was going to cover and assigned each of us an area to watch participants and see if we could tell when someone wasn't understanding a point (giving behavioral specific cues from the person such as a frown, or head shaking, etc.) and then to notice if/when they seemed to have moved into understanding and to identify what Dr. Grinder had done to facilitate that move to understanding for them.
At the end of the day we would debrief and Dr. Grinder knew exactly which participants had struggling with the information and who hadn't and he had modified his actions to help them move out of confusion. During breaks the next day I'd casually ask the participants about the times I saw them seem to "get it" and every one of them reported that they had understood things at that moment. It was astounding! Dr. Grinder seemed to be teaching while tracking his students and adjusting his behavior according to their needs and it all seemed effortless and wholly authentic and there were over 100 participants in that training.
I was hooked and wanted more of that skill for my own students. While NLP works primarily out of the three sensory modalities of Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthtic/tactile, Learning Styles incorporates the Verbal and Mathematical components that were traditional markers of Intelligence Quotients (as tested on IQ tests) as well as the group learner (interpersonal), and the solitary learner (intrapersonal).
Over the years I have internalized the skills so that it has become almost second nature to design lessons and deliver them for learner differences. I discovered that, while I am an extremely visual learner myself and am kinesthetic/tactile secondly, I am also very verbal and am a solitary learner but I don't mind working in groups at all as long as the group is functioning well, and if not, I'd rather work alone. As a teacher, I and I think most people, teach to their strengths. This is especially true for beginning teachers who are on a steep learning curve already. However, it wasn't difficult for me to add in other dimensions to my teaching style. Teaching English, in any form, happens to fit with my learning style, so it was a comfortable fit.
I didn't learn about Multiple Intelligence Theory until the late 1990's. I was ecstatic to find that it expanded on the current Learning Styles theory and and brought in the intelligences of music, nature, and spatial. This broadened the spectrum and allowed for people who love nature or music or who were highly spatial to be included in our "notion" of intelligence. Now, all kinds of intelligences were beginning to be recognized as valid, instead of only the Math and Verbal intelligences of old.
Why I believe in Learning Styles, which includes Multiple Intelligences, is because it honors the diversity of a person. No one person is a copy of another; we are all unique, so the tendency to revere only people who are good at math and words, is absurd! Of course an education has to include math and verbal linguistics! It should also include an appreciation of the arts, of the sciences, of dance, of sport (we do that a bit anyway), of music and of nature. Perhaps one of the reasons that our planet is now in danger is due to the fact that so many people have moved to cities, away from nature and have arrogantly ignored it.
I have lived aboard for 13 years of my life and I have traveled around the world more than twice. I have learned that, at our core, we are more alike than different. Nevertheless, it is our differences that are the blessings. The differences teach us, challenge us, and keep us surprised and interested in life. The differences show us the marvelous complexity of life and, for me, keep me humble.
More later.
Sandra Jeffs
