learning syles (adapted BB post)
Learning Styles don’t matter
Or so we read at the website.
The website (to me, at least) seemed primarily to be a complaint about all the different labels that are given to students (primarily through personality testing). I'd actually agree with the site if that were the point, as I think labels tend to pigeonholed people more than help them. But that wasn't the argument. The argument really seemed to be that there are too many labels; that is not something I can agree with. Though I don't like the idea of giving labels to people, having multiple types of labels to pull from (at least) gives a broader perspective of the person that a one-dimensional one.
The article says that it's too much work for a teacher to run a classroom with attention to each learning style. I actually agree that that shouldn't be the expectation: there are too many tests which lead to even more types for that. I think the problem is that the author lacks a nuanced understanding of multiplicity and the value of greyness. The author see it as black and white, a teacher either can or can't, learning types are good or bad. I think the author ought to consider how all these parts add up to the whole. There's different measurements for different learning types, there are age, ethnic, gender, and class differences, there's varying educational backgrounds. There are so many factors that there is no one way to measure a learner, so the teacher must attempt to know their students as people.
An understanding of various characteristics of the people in a classroom can allow a teacher to know how a particular class would react to a specific lesson. A teacher who knows her/his students will be able to read nonverbal signals to know if the lesson is going well.
As for the author's criticism of learning style tests: I personally don't love them (mostly because I believe they're misused more than they ought to be). However, if used appropriately they can be useful. If used in the context of knowing a person and as a general guide for statistics on the classroom, then the tests may be a useful guide. They're certainly not the end-all for lesson planning, though.
Or so we read at the website.
The website (to me, at least) seemed primarily to be a complaint about all the different labels that are given to students (primarily through personality testing). I'd actually agree with the site if that were the point, as I think labels tend to pigeonholed people more than help them. But that wasn't the argument. The argument really seemed to be that there are too many labels; that is not something I can agree with. Though I don't like the idea of giving labels to people, having multiple types of labels to pull from (at least) gives a broader perspective of the person that a one-dimensional one.
The article says that it's too much work for a teacher to run a classroom with attention to each learning style. I actually agree that that shouldn't be the expectation: there are too many tests which lead to even more types for that. I think the problem is that the author lacks a nuanced understanding of multiplicity and the value of greyness. The author see it as black and white, a teacher either can or can't, learning types are good or bad. I think the author ought to consider how all these parts add up to the whole. There's different measurements for different learning types, there are age, ethnic, gender, and class differences, there's varying educational backgrounds. There are so many factors that there is no one way to measure a learner, so the teacher must attempt to know their students as people.
An understanding of various characteristics of the people in a classroom can allow a teacher to know how a particular class would react to a specific lesson. A teacher who knows her/his students will be able to read nonverbal signals to know if the lesson is going well.
As for the author's criticism of learning style tests: I personally don't love them (mostly because I believe they're misused more than they ought to be). However, if used appropriately they can be useful. If used in the context of knowing a person and as a general guide for statistics on the classroom, then the tests may be a useful guide. They're certainly not the end-all for lesson planning, though.
posted by Lauren Pressley at 12:15
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home