How do you learn?

Learning Styles

Why this topic?

Why this topic?

Alexander Turnbull LibraryReference: 1/1-012615

• Are transmission-absorption theories of learning still valid?

• Are we all learning in the same way?

‘When a boat faces directly into the wind, and its sails flap, it is said to be in stays’

‘Up so in so in up in we so so than in than we so we’

Sotto, 1994, p.51

Learning and Remembering

Activity 1

Learning Lessons

What Do We Know About Learning ?

What happens when we are trying to learn something? Please read Polanyi’s description and identify factors of learning.

Task

Learning takes time…

Discovering what we do not know

Puzzlement

Active engagement

The inherent capacity to understand

Pleasure in gaining insights

Periodic insights

Doubt that one will ever understand

Motivation

‘[…] No one can motivate anyone. […] Everybody is already motivated. To try to motivate somebody is like trying to breath their air or to digest their food for them’ (Sotto 1994, p.17).

What demotivates in the classroom?

‘Surely teaching has to stop before learning can begin?’ (Sotto, 1994, p.27)

Extrinsic motivation: the task is carried out because of positive or negative consequences

Intrinsic motivation: deep personal commitment in the learning process

Learning is making connections

We organise and connect new information to what we

already know When prior and new ideas are easily connected –

assimilation When new and prior ideas are in conflict we transform the

initial beliefs – accommodation It is an ongoing and dynamic process - the learner is

actively engaged It occurs best when what is being learnt is relevant to the

learner There is no evidence that learning decreases with age!Stoll et al. (2003),

Chapter 2

Do we invent what we see?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrAwr-ReuVA

It deons’t maetter in waht oreder the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny ipmrotant tihng is that the frist and the lsat letetr are in the rghit pcale. We raed the wrod as a wohle and not ervey leettr by istlef.

Tacit knowledge

‘we can know more than we can tell’ (Polanyi, 1966, p.4)

‘it is not by looking at things, but by dwelling in them, that we understand their joint meaning’ (Polanyi, 1966, p.18)

What happens when we repeat a word several times?

Learning is emotional and social

Can we learn when we feel fear and anxiety? Can learning be forced? Are there any differences between adult and young learners?

What is the role of the social context in learning? Can the social context affect the learner’s identity and self –esteem?

Vygotsky (1978) emphasised the social nature of learning and in particular the role of the ‘experienced other’ in the learning process

Emotional intelligence

It is suggested that the capacity to perceive and understand emotions define a new variable in personality.

The capacity to accurately perceive emotions

The capacity to use emotions to facilitate thinking

The capacity to understand emotional meanings and to manage emotions

Daniel

Goleman

How do you learn?

Activity 2, Taken from : Jones F., Jones K. & Szwed C. (2001)The SENCO as Teacher Manager. London : David Fulton

We each learn through a different balance of visual, auditory and

kinaesthetic inputs.

Learning Styles

“Learning Style is the way in which each learner begins to concentrate on, process, and retain new and difficult information” (Dunn and Griggs, 1995, p.14)

Is it developmentally imposed?

What makes one teaching method effective for some students and not for others?

Definition

Visual

‘I see what you mean.’‘That looks good.’

‘Can you imagine this ?’‘Picture yourself…..’‘How does this look?’

The use of yourself and your body movements.

Utilising the visual display opportunities above eye level within the room.Video , OHP , slides, flip charts , coloured board markers.Lively and engaging textbooks.Memory mapping , collage and visual note-taking tools……………………………..Keywords displayed around the room.

‘I hear you’ ‘Sounds good to me’ ‘That rings a bell’ ‘Something tells me..’ ‘How does this sound?’

Auditory

Auditory

Paired and group discussions.

Guest speakers Mini – debates Raps, rhyme, chants ,

verse, dramatic readings

Tape, sound – bites Mnemonics ,

onomatopoeia Music for energising ,

relaxing , visualising and review

Kinaesthetic

‘It doesn’t feel right.’ ‘Can you grasp this?’ I’m not in touch with ….’ ‘Change your

standpoint..’ I’m up against it ………’

Body sculpture , mimeGestures or movements learned to

demonstrate a conceptBreak- state activitiesField visits Physical movement

Kinaesthetic

Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences

Logical-mathematical: ability to handle long chains of reasoning, to work from concrete to abstract, to categorise, explore patterns and relationships

Linguistic: sensitivity to the sounds, is good at memorising trivia, using descriptive language

Musical: abilities to appreciate and produce rhythm, read sounds

Visual-spatial: ability to visualise, read maps, design

Bodily-kinaesthetic: ability to control one’s movement, good at physical activities

Interpersonal: ability to understand others, communicate and work with others

Intrapersonal: good at understanding self, focusing inwards, working alone

Environmental: sensitivity to the natural world, learns best by working outdoors

Gardner H. 1983 Frames of Mind, Sec. ed. London: Fontana Press

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEFpaY3GI-I

LEARNING STYLES ACTIVITY

Finding your learning style

‘Learning styles are not fixed traits which an individual will always display. Learners are able to adopt different styles in different contexts. For most of us, one or two styles are preferred above others.’

(Pritchard, 2005, p.55)

Discussion

Group work: three points (negative or positive) about the implication that the theory of learning styles/types has in the classroom.

The Debate

Used to reinforce stereotypes

Counter-productive within the educational context

Multiple intelligences are:

Promise a simple solution for complex problems

Shifts the responsibility from the managerial level to individual styles of learning

The measurements are subjective

The Debate

"Gardner suggests there are eight different types of intelligence […] but at no point does he explain how he arrives at this number. Rather than being based on extensive observation, Gardner appears to derive his taxonomy from the cultural world. He also identifies eight criteria that each intelligence has to meet, without adequately explaining how” (White J, 2006 cited in Crace J. “John White: What’s the point of being bright as a button?” The Guardian, 28 February).

(White, J. 2006 Intelligence, Destiny and Education).

Self Study Time :

Reflective Journal :

Your learning style/s?Is learning a passive, dependent process?

Or

Is learning active and aiming for independence ?What we can do today with help, we can do tomorrow by our

self..

References

Crace J. (2006) “John White: What’s the point of being bright as a button?” The Guardian, 28 February

Dunn R. and Griggs S. (1995) Multiculturalism and learning style. Teaching and counselling adolescences. Praeger: Greenwood

Gardner H. (1983) Frames of Mind, Sec. ed. London: Fontana Press

Perks D. (2004) The shattered mirror. A critique of multiple intelligences theory in Hayes D. (ed.) The RoutledgeFalmer Guide to Key Debates in Education. London and New York: RoutledgeFalmer, Taylor & Francis Group, (122-126)

Polanyi M. (1966) The tacit dimension. London: Routledge and Kegan PaulLtd

Pollard A. & Filer A. (1999) The social world of children’s learning. London: Cassell

Pritchard A. (2005) Ways of learning : learning theories and learning styles in the classroom London : David Fulton Polanyi M. (1966) The tacit dimension. London: Routledge and Kegan PaulLtd

References

Stoll L., Fink D. and Earl L. (2003) It’s about learning (and it’s about time) what’s in it for schools? London and New York: RoutledgeFalmer, Taylor & Francis Group

Sotto E. (1994) When teaching becomes learning. London and New York: Cassell

Vygotsky (1978) Mind in society: the development of the higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA :Harvard University Press (originally published in 1930, New York : Oxford University Press