Learning
Styles Resource Site
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Teaching for the Success of all Learning
Styles: Five Principles for Promoting Greater Teacher Effectiveness and Higher
Student Achievement for all Students.
By John Shindler
California State
University Los
Angeles
Partial Text: Full Version with Footnotes available
with PLSI
orders.
Introduction
One of the biggest challenges that teachers face is to find ways to succeed with all of their students, not just those with whom they have a natural affinity. Too often we accept that we simply cannot reach all students, and to approach some students as unsolvable puzzles - less able or less inclined. Even the most talented and well-trained teacher can find many students difficult to work with. Often these problems are rooted in substantive emotional and/or behavior issues, but more often our difficulty understanding or promoting the success of particular students is a result of fundamental incongruities in cognitive preferences and learning styles.
Research into teacher and student differences suggests that
when teachers do nothing other than what they are prone to do, similar-typed
students do better in their classes, enjoy the experience more, and are viewed
more favorably by the teacher. Conversely, students who are less similar to the
teacher by type are less successful, report liking the teacher and the class
less, and even receive lower grades on average.
However, when teachers take steps to understand and mitigate issues
related to incongruence, these effects are minimized.
What is the solution?
Given the fact that any class of students will be diverse in
their learning styles and cognitive orientations, it is important to find
solutions that will benefit both the teacher and all of his or her
students. Presented with this reality,
some teachers respond with denial and/or indifference. They choose to ignore
the issue and approach all students from their uniformly narrow set of
attitudes and practices. Without a great
deal of luck, this approach is usually a lose-lose proposition in the end -
unhappy students and a frustrated teacher.
Many teachers upon becoming aware of the reality of the incongruence of
their teaching style and their students’ learning styles set out to change
their personalities to adapt to the styles of their students. This is a
well-intended solution, but in the end it is overly taxing and unhealthy for
the teacher, and a lose-win solution.
Still other teachers, having learned of their students’ learning styles,
set out to design an individualized program of instruction for each student.
Again this is a noble effort, but the cost in time and effort makes this
impractical for teachers with even modest class sizes. A growing number of teachers are adopting an
approach incorporating “multiple intelligence (MI) theory.” The results are
usually improved teaching performance and a classroom that meets the needs of
more learners. However, MI theory is limited in that it is not particularly
useful in diagnosing student needs, helping make sense of differences, or
providing insight or direction for those attempting to build relationships with
those of incongruent types.
To achieve an approach to teacher-student incongruence that
could truly be considered win-win, it must be systemic but practical, and be an
asset to the teacher at the same time it promoted student growth and
achievement. Ideally, diversity would be
approached as a benefit, rather than a liability. Moreover, a truly successful
approach would allow the members of the classroom community to be themselves,
succeed to their potential and value the gifts of the other members of the
community.
5 ingredients seem to be critical to creating a win-win approach
to difference. First, the teacher needs to have an awareness of who they are,
what they value and their natural “default preferences”. Second, the approach needs to provide the
teacher a systematic means to understanding the learning needs and cognitive
style preferences of each of the students in the class, as well as helping the
students function collectively and appreciate one another’s gifts. Third, the
teacher must have well established pedagogical tools that are effective across
learning styles. Fourth, the approach would need to provide the teacher an
understanding of both sides of each learning dimension and offer strategies to
meet the needs of students who work out of opposing preferences. Finally, the
system should illuminate the conditions in which different types of students
work best so that the teacher can create opportunities for each student to work
to their particular strengths. These
ingredients could be considered to be hierarchical in nature, each element
building upon the last, as depicted in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Five Principles for Succeeding with Student
Learning Style Diversity
Principle 1: Know Yourself and Your Teaching Style/Type
Tendencies
On first inspection, it may seem to be of little value to undertake a self-examination of our values related to teaching. Most of us believe that we know ourselves pretty well, and that what we most desire are better ideas or more resources. But, the greatest hurdles we as teachers face when attempting to understand why some of our students are not comfortable, not learning, or not on their side, in most cases, are related to our limiting assumptions. Too often, we do not have a sufficiently broad perspective to make sense of each of our students’ needs, and as a result, we see those needs homogenously and miss out on their diversity.
Practices explained in depth in
article
Principle 2: Gain an understanding of each of your students’ learning styles and needs, and promote a community of learners respectful of one another’s strengths and differences.
As you become more familiar with the four dimensions of cognitive preference, you will find a greater ability to see those preferences in your students. It is not critical to formally survey your students, but often giving an inventory can be enlightening to both teacher and student. For the teacher, the results of an inventory can provide a degree of certainty that an educated estimate cannot. For the student, the inventory offers an introduction to the idea of organic learning style differences, and provides a concrete method for initiating the process of personal type awareness. For many students there is a great liberation to understanding features that make them unique, and for some why they consistently think and feel differently from other students. The Paragon Learning Style Inventory (PLSI) student version and the Murphy-Meisgeir Type Indicator (MMTI) were both developed for young people, ages 8 and up.
Practices explained in depth in
article
Principle 3: Use teaching methodologies and strategies that promote the maximum degree of success for students of all types/styles.
The simplest way to ensure a group of students with diverse learning styles succeeds is to incorporate pedagogical practices that promote cross-type success, and avoid practices that are ineffective regardless of type. The following 6 practices are proven to lead to high levels of achievement, and provide an excellent start in creating a classroom where more students win and fewer students lose.
Practices explained in depth in
article
Principle 4: Be mindful and respectful of the needs of students on the other side of each learning style dimension.
As we become more knowledgeable of our own preferences, it
is common to discover that it has been easier to teach in ways that has worked
better for the students on our side of each of the four dimensional
fences.
Practices explained in depth in
article
Principle 5: Provide opportunities for students to work in
their strengths areas for some part of the overall learning experience.
All students need to spend some part of each lesson or day
working to their strengths. Each of the 4 academic types (i.e., IS,IN,ES,EN)
has different strengths, preferred modes, and activities in which they will
feel most comfortable. Table 2 briefly outlines the student profiles and some
of the needs of each of the 4 types.
Table 2: Learning Profiles of each of the 4 Academic Types –
IS, IN, ES, EN
|
|
Extroverts
(E) |
Introverts
(I) |
|
Sensates (S) |
ES's
Action oriented realists (@40%) Let me work with my hands and create
something practical. Some people may call me a “kinesthetic” learner, but I
would rather call myself a “doer.” I like to be part of a team and see
practical results from my/our work. I
have a strong need to contribute and be recognized. Don’t just explain how to
do something to me, at least show me, and better yet, let me try it out. I
learn from doing and then reflecting on what I have done. If you want me to
understand an abstraction let me discover it inductively, or I can have a
difficult time integrating it into a big picture understanding. Written
directions can be really helpful to me. If you expect me to continually sit
and listen to a lecture and then do well on a test later, I will likely
disappoint you much of the time. |
IS's
Thoughtful realists (@25%) Let me work independently on tasks that are clearly spelled out. Let me work with facts and information and I will be able to use my power of insightful realism to come to sound well thought-out conclusions. Give me a chance to be careful and thoughtful. I will be your most dependable and steady student if you give me work where the directions are clear and the desired outcome is understood beforehand. Give me recognition for my care and persistence since those are my strengths and I may not draw as much attention to myself as some of the other students. When you give vague careless directions or just expect me to “be creative” with no guidelines, I will likely feel some uneasiness and maybe even some resentment. |
|
Intuitives (N) |
EN's
Action oriented innovators
(@25%) Let me work in situations where I can
use my communications skills in my learning.
If I am working in a group where there are chances to be creative, I
can get really motivated. I am a much better student when I am “into the
task” as opposed to when I am “not into the task.” I like to be inspired and see the purpose
behind the work. I have an expressive energy that comes out when I am
comfortable, and it helps me draw out my creativity and make connections
across content. Talking, discussing, role-playing, debating are natural ways
for me to tap that energy source. Peer
tutoring a subject that I am good at is one of my favorite things to do.
Projects where I can solve problems and draw energy from working with others
and overcoming challenges are also areas where I feel very confident. When
there are too many details, routines, lectures or the same old thing all the
time, I may turn my creative energies into behavior that you may not like. |
IN's
Thoughtful innovators (@10%) Let me work in situations where I can
come up with my own ideas whenever possible. I don’t have as much trouble as
some of the other students in being creative.
I am often surprised when I see that I sometimes see deeper realities
that other students miss. I like to come up with stories, draw pictures, or
think of new ways of doing something. Some people call me a “visual learner”
but I just feel more comfortable studying something for a while and
understanding how it works before I try to do it or talk about it. I will be
the last to volunteer usually, but I will work to master it long after the
other students have moved on to something else. I need to be able make
connections with the current subject and the previous subjects, so let me
know the purpose behind what we are doing before you tell me what to do. If you ask me to do work that is pointless,
inconsistent, or irrelevant then you will probably see me become at least a
bit cynical and/or irreverent. |
Conclusion
Introducing the lens of cognitive and learning styles provides insight into pathways to success for more students more of the time. Yet it cannot be approached as an additive strategy. If we do not undertake a fundamental analysis of how we teach, any revelations that come to us, or our students, as a result of taking the PLSI, will likely fade into an “interesting” yet distant memory. We need to make an effort to reform the way we think about teaching, beginning with a process of self-reflection. As we learn more about our own tendencies, and how they have limited us in the past, and come to understand the needs of our students, especially those who are different from us, we naturally discover more tools to meet the challenges of teaching. Along with the many other important lenses with which we view the diversity of our students’ needs and behavior, a systematic approach to learning styles provides a roadmap to a more complete and sound understanding of who our students are, and to helping us teach and act more consciously, deliberately and effectively.