Learning Styles

Learning audiences are not homogeneous. Students bring to class their own approaches to learning and possess diverse learning styles and strategies to get them through their courses. The differences in these learners has some teachers aiming their content and instructional style at reaching an individuals best perceived learning style. I find this enabling approach restrictive to a students all around intelligence and intellectual growth. Teachers should not direct their instruction to specific students learning styles.

I feel as though this approach is enabling because it only caters to a students perceived strengths. How will this student develop auditory, visual and kinesthetic skills if he or she is never challenged to use them? Outside of the classroom they can be sure that they will need put their perceived weaknesses to test in order to succeed in other areas of life. The role of an educator is expanding and teachers are expected to improve students performance across all curriculum, not just their specific content area. Reading/writing, listening, note taking, and social skills should all be integrated into a teachers lesson plans.

Furthermore, designing lesson plans to address the majority of the class' learning styles can leave a teacher feeling frustrated and unsure of how effective a particular lesson went. Suppose I want to teach my earth science class a lesson about rocks and minerals. If I feel as though my class learns best by listening to a lecture and viewing slides, would this be the best approach to have students comprehend the difference between certain rocks and minerals? No, rocks need to be held and examined for things such as texture and hardness. They would not be able to feel this if I did not place a rock in their hand and have them explain to me what they determined. This is why I feel as though teachers should not teach a students perceived learning style and must direct their instructional styles to the content that needs to be taught.