Learning styles
Catherine MacRae, 04-Feb-04

Do your students wiggle in their chairs? Do they regularly ask to leave the class? Do you wonder why your weekly group discussions seem to turn into a dialogue between the same two individuals? Does your finely scripted board-work leave half the class folding their A4 sheets of lined paper into aeroplanes. In the course of a busy work week, with the mountains of paperwork, marking, preparation and the many and varied tasks involved in a teacher's life it's difficult to find the time to reflect on the way your students learn.

A learning style is "the way in which an individual experiences the world and how that individual processes and integrates new information." (N.A.L.D2) Through the use of "'Learning Styles' just as we receive information about the world around us through our five senses, we also have individual sensory preference as to how we recreate and make sense of that information." (Smith, 2001)

These preferences can be visual, auditory or kinaesthetic (VAK). A preference for a visual learning style may confirm an individual's understanding of a concept when it is presented in a written or visually descriptive format. An auditory learner may prefer having a new concept explained and then discussed with the class. A kinaesthetic learner may be more in tune with the physical environment, moving around the room, and preferring a hands-on approach to learning. Though not the only learning styles theory, VAK can expand a teaching and learning environment. While a learning style preference does not mean that an individual learns using only one particular sense, including multisensory activities in the learning environment ensures that individual learning styles are supported, while allowing students to explore other learning preferences.

A visual learner may delight in seeing the "parts of speech" presented in chart form on the white-board, each element in a different colour. However, when you proudly turn from the board, pleased with your fine display and are suddenly faced with distressed faces, accompanied by a harmony of "I'm completely lost," pride turns into dismay and panic. What to do? Turn back to the whiteboard, write down a sentence, read through it with the class and ask for feedback on the roles of the various parts of the sentence. Following this, ask learners to come up to the board and circle the various parts of speech. A second survey of the class reveals more contented faces and a few knowing nods.

It's easy to rely on the whiteboard ...

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