There is no doubt in my mind that EVERYONE has the ability to learn.
We just
each go about it in a different way.
From Proverbs, “Teach a child according to his/her own way,” but
how do you discover a learner’s “way”? I
think it makes sense to think of a child’s “way” as his/her learning style.
Learning
style is defined as an individual’s preferred mode of gaining knowledge. There
are three basic learning styles that are most widely utilized; visual, auditory
and kinesthetic. However, four
additional categories are also generally accepted; social, logical, verbal and
solitary. A reasonable overview can be
found here.
I know that
I am primarily a visual learner. How do
I know this? When one of my children
yells down the stairs, “Hey mom, what does I-N-S-U-R-M-O-U-N-T-A-B-L-E mean?” I
will usually reply, “Come down here…I need to see it.” Similarly, when attending a lecture or a
workshop, I take notes on what the presenter is saying. For me, the act of writing (kinesthetic) and
then being able to see the information in front of me helps me to retain what I
have learned.
We all use
every learning style, but we have dominance in certain areas. As you saw above, I demonstrated a blend of two
learning styles, despite first asserting my dominance as a visual learner. Further,
our dominance is not fixed and can shift given the experience, and it is
possible to learn or improve dominance in any given area. Despite that, being in tune to your own
learning style can help you select strategies that will enable you to find
success. There are a great many
inventories available. I do not endorse any in particular, but know that if you
Google “learning style inventory” you will come up with many options.
Finally, if
you are a teacher, knowing your students’ learning styles will help you to
shape lessons to meet their needs more effectively while helping students to understand
their own learning styles will enable them to develop the skills of
self-advocacy.
“If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.” ~ Ignacio Estrada
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