Many brain scientists and educators of educators – those in the research business – can often be seen cringing when someone says, “I’m an auditory (or visual or kinesthetic) learner.” The implication here, especially to a researcher, is that this person therefore believes that they cannot learn in another style. A great deal of time is then spent by the researchers trying to debunk the idea that teachers should not teach using Learning Styles models. Psychologist Dan Willingham at the University of Virginia suggests that teachers should not try to tailor their instruction to individual students because our brains learn in very similar ways. Doug Rohrer at the University of South Florida found no evidence to support any of the learning style theories and cautions teachers against using them.
I, however, was a teacher for over 20 years and saw some pretty amazing things happen in my classroom through the use of Learning Styles Models (Dunn and Dunn and also Four-Mat). The first amazing transformation was in my own thinking about learning and the evidence was in the grades and faces of my students. Willingham suggests using variety to get the kids’ attention which is exactly what the learning styles models did for me. They gave me a tool to help me think about a variety of ways to teach, keeping it interesting for all students. They helped to cue me into the body language of my students more accurately and, most importantly, they helped the students listen to their own bodies to begin recognition of their own learning patterns. For instance, not all students can take notes and learn new material at the same time. (I wonder if studies on working memory might provide substance to this claim.) Many students find that munching on raisans or sippping on water helps them to stay focused and therefore learn more readily. I have watched grades of bright students jump from Cs to As on tests just by adding the provision of intake during high anxiety testing situations. (I wonder if studies on math anxiety might provide substance to this anecdotal information.)
The note of importance is that although carefully crafted research by well-intending psychologists has not supported the idea of learning styles, it has also not provided evidence that the use of this tool hurts children. Furthermore, many teachers have witnessed some amazing results in their own classrooms, both by students and in their own teaching, the gives merit to the use of learning styles. If it works, don’t pitch it.
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