Learning Styles Revisited... Adapting to the task at hand!
How do people learn? It's an interesting question and one that has intrigued educators for years. Some people learn very quickly, some take more time, some learn by using pen and paper, others use technology while still others disengage at the very mention of certain subjects. So, the question naturally arises, do people have specific styles of learning or learning preferences that we can somehow match in our teaching practice? If only we could somehow measure those preferences and tailor our teaching to match the needs of our students? Or what if we could give students some practical advice, strategies, tools or techniques that helps meet their needs? Could we do that with a questionnaire?
This kind of logic was at the heart of the theory of learning styles, a concept that people have explored many times from Honey and Mumford's model of Activists, Theorists, Pragmatists and Reflectors (1982. as cited by the University of Leicester, N.D.) to Flemming's VARK questionnaire (N.D. as cited by Khazan, 2018). The reality is that studies have since been done which largely debunk these models on the basis of a lack of evidence. Indeed, as an example, it could be argued that by neglecting to develop a audio learner's visual recognition of words then you could be doing them a huge disservice.
Whatever your views on learning styles, I think that the lasting legacy of these practitioners is that on some level the tried to draw our attention at some level to the very real challenge of meeting the needs of our students. I think every teacher can relate to how challenging it can be in trying to develop a differentiated lesson plan to cater to the needs of all the students in a single group, and the larger the group the greater the challenge becomes. The theory of learning styles attempted to provide a solution to that problem by measuring learners' natural inclinations and from that inferring a range of strategies that would work for those people.
However, the fact remains that different learners have different needs, different learning contexts and as such they all approach learning in different ways making use of a range of different skills to enable their learning. So, if the concept of learning styles sounds so good, what's missing?
Critical thinking theory (Sears and Parsons, 1991 as cited by Halpern, N.D.) is closely related to problem solving skills. But I believe in this situation it can provide some insight. This theory suggests that a major issue issue that the learning styles models fails to consider is that of whether or not a learner is willing to exert the extra effort required to go beyond recognising a problem to actually making a concerted effort to adjust their study techniques in line with advice received by their teachers, mentors or advisors. The notion that a learner's disposition, attitudes and even their work ethic, created from a lifetime of experience, highlights that the learner's very sense of self can be one part of the problem. Is it possible that when learners arrive at the stage of college or university that their habits, attitudes and dispositions are so ingrained by previous experience that the effort required to change is simply too much? This is perhaps one of the reasons that the learning styles approach failed. Fishbein and Ajzen (1982, as cited by Barry, 2017) in their Theory of Reasoned Action points to the same problem. In order to enact change we must first challenge attitudes, dispositions and social norms before we can expect behaviour change.
Khazan, in her blog post, cites a number of academics who point to the importance of other skills and other ways that we can help learners to succeed instead.
One such skill is that of adaptability.
As a literacy practitioner this concept interested me. For me, one of the benefits of the learning styles model was in being able to give students something concrete, a piece of advice, a technique or a tool that might aid in their development. So, I was initially thinking that, if students have good literacy skills (literacies in the plural sense) then they were adaptable. But while literacies are transferable skills, it's not the same as being an adaptable individual. So what is adaptability? Would this give students something concrete to help their future development? Should we be teaching adaptability? And if so how do we do that?
In an article published by ExtendEd Notes (2019), adaptability is described below:
"Also known as learnability, this skill helps students adapt to new situations, environments and programs as well as learn new skills quickly. And the effects extend beyond employment, as adaptable students are more likely to participate in class, enjoy school, have a higher self-esteem and be more satisfied with life."
Now there are a number of articles easily accessible on the internet that suggest adaptability is important in learner development and some go as far as to suggest that it should be the teacher's role to demonstrate to their learners how to adapt their skills to the requirements of the subject. (Personally I think there's something exclusionary and functionalist about this particular argument because if students can't adapt to the requirements of the subject then that precludes them from following specific paths/careers in life. So I would be cautious about using that particular rhetoric). However the article quoted above goes on to lists a number of ways that we, as teachers, can promote adaptability in our students: Focus on interdisciplinary learning, promote self regulation, dispel the fear of failure, encourage continuous learning and, my favourite, encourage resilience.
No, seriously, this was something of a breakthrough moment for me. The reason this resonated with me so much is because on a cold Monday morning in January of 2021 I was teaching a class of students online and, on the previous week I had asked the students to think of something positive that they had learned or experienced during the covid-19 pandemic of 2020. The answer that I got from one student took me by surprise because this student said: "Covid taught me to be independent and resilient."
Wow! Just wow! It was one of those moments when your students teach you more than you teach them. As teachers, parents, individuals and as a society, the past twelve months has thrown so much at all of us including illness, loneliness, anxiety, stress, grief... and the list goes on. But as individuals and as a profession we're still going, we're modelling resilience and self regulation, we're continuously learning and reflecting to improve our practice. Are we afraid of failure? Yes, but we keep trying because we know our students need us and so we soldier on. We're fighting as hard as we can, adapting and evolving our approach in response to the next stage of the battle against coronavirus. That one student made me realise that we're modelling the very qualities that students need to succeed and the students are noticing! Not only are they noticing, but they're able to articulate such qualities.
When I reflect back on my experience of the past year I've had my attitudes, values and beliefs challenged. I've re-evaluated many of my priorities and its changed me as a person. I think a lot of people can identify with that. Moreover, none of us needed a questionnaire to figure out what we needed to do. But I started this article by thinking about learning styles and how the aim was to give students strategies and techniques that will help them to be successful in their life and in their studies by meeting their needs.
I say that's a job well done!
Follow me on twitter @McintoshMclean.
References
Barry, R. (2017) Theory of Reasoned Action and Theory of Planned Behaviour [Online]. Available at: https://youtu.be/gmCfgTVIJ_c (Accessed 7th Feb 2021).
ExtendEd Notes (2019) Adaptability: 5 Strategies to teach this skill of the future [Online]. Available at: https://www.extendednotes.com/after-school-articles/adaptability-5-strategies-to-teach-this-skill-of-the-future#:~:text=Not%20surprising%2C%20adaptability%20is%20a,as%20learn%20new%20skills%20quickly. (Accesssed 5th February 2021).
Halpern, D (N.D.) Teaching for Critical Thinking: Helping Students Develop the Skills and Dispositions of a Critical Thinker [Online]. Available at: http://pages.wustl.edu/files/pages/imce/writing1/teaching_for_critical_thinking_halpern_wood_pairing.pdf (Accessed 7th Feb 2021).
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