"This above all: to thine own self be true,And it must follow, as the night the day,Thou canst not then be false to any man"

Shakespeare, Hamlet I:iii:78

Learning style theory arose out of the development of magnetic resonance imaging in the early 1980s. As doctors used MRI scanners to treat brain-injured patients, they accumulated a mass of data about how the brain processes information.

Researchers took the results and added them to developing theories in psychology to produce brain-related approaches to learning.

Tuesday May 31, 2005The Guardian

"Learning styles" is one of the fashionable phrases at the Department for Education and Skills. In part, this reflects the new emphasis on choice, but underpinning it is the theory that everyone has an individual style of learning and that working with that style, rather than against it, will benefit both pupil and teacher.

"Through an understanding of learning styles, teachers can exploit pupils' strengths and build their capacity to learn," The theory of learning styles is based on "tried and tested techniques" and draws on "academic research and the experience of practising teachers".

There was a huge improvement in pupils’ motivation as they began to develop awareness of themselves and how they learn. The time they spent on task increased and the amount of negative behaviour declined. Their learning became more personalised, which helped their interaction with each other and pupil-teacher relationships.

The disruptive year 11 pupils became much more interested in PE lessons after we started to meet their needs as visual learners and their behaviour improved significantly.

Staff motivation also improved. They enjoyed the challenge of using different teaching styles and found teaching much more rewarding as pupils’ attitudes improved. One member of staff commented: ‘Choosing a teaching approach that suited the pupils and not me was difficult at first, but now I get a real buzz from this way of working and the students can see that. I’m amazed at the changes I’ve seen in them.’ The new approach gave staff opportunities to discuss learning and their work in a new way. It began to provide a structure for good practice to be shared – as a result of the work, three heads of department who formerly had little contact started to share ideas.

QCA – PESS (Physical education and school sport) Woodcote High School in Croydon

The school decided to adopt a "learner-centred" approach, putting children rather than exam results, inspectors or the national curriculum at the top of its agenda. Now, Cramlington's senior management team has the ambitious aim of giving every student a rewarding experience - in every class. Mr Wise and his team, inspired by the accelerated learning guru Alistair Smith - with whom they work closely and have written a book about the strategy - have devised a framework that translates a jumble of pedagogical thinking into a coherent set of tools that can be applied by every teacher. The guiding principle is that lessons should cater for all learning styles. "The danger for teachers," says Mr Wise, "is that your own learning style becomes your teaching style."

A "Cramlington cycle" lesson plan aims to meet the needs of active learners, visual learners and aural learners. It contains a recap of the previous lesson, and time for collaboration between students, for putting the learning into context and for reviewing it at the end of the session.

http://www.cchsonline.co.uk/conf2005/files/l2l/Why%20Learning%20how%20to%20Learn.ppt

A B C D E F G HL R B L R B L R

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Objective:**Identify your own learning styles, and how it relates to you as a teacher.

**To demonstrate different learning styles

1) When you think about spelling a word do you…

See the word

Sound the word

Write the word down to see if it looks right

2)When you are really concentrating, are you

distracted by…Messiness/untidiness

Noise /talking/ music

Movement

3) When you recall specific incidents, do

you…Do it with pictures/images

Sounds

See moving pictures

4) When you are angry, do you…

Remain silent but seethe inside

Shout loudly

Clench fists, grit teeth, stamp about.

5) When you forget an incident that has happened

or a person you have met, do you…

Forget names but remember faces

Forget faces but remember names

Remember only what you are and what you did

6) When describing an object, for example your front door, would you…

Picture it in your mind

Describe it in words

Think how it feels, sounds, opens etc.

7)when you are learning, do you prefer…

Work that is written down in many colours

Listening to people talk and give instructions

Participating in activities, making or doing

8) When you do leisure activities, do you prefer

to…

Watch TV, read, play on the computer

Listen to music

Play sports and games

9) When you are talking, do you…

Talk little and are reluctant to listen for too long

Like to listen and talk as well

Talk with hands and gesture a lot

10) When you receive praise or a reward, do you prefer to

…

Receive a written note of certificate

Hear it said to you

Be given a ‘pat on the back’ or hand shake

Now add up your scores and fill your learning

profile sheet in

Visual Use visual displays

Mindmaps

Video/ohp

Highlighter pens

Diagrams charts, images

Auditory Pair/group work

Dramatic reading out loud

Muttering

Rap, rhyme, chants

Mnemonics, onomatopoeia

Music

Kinaesthetic Underlining key points

Mime

Design and build activities

Notes and post it cards

Walking and talking

In pairs discuss whether you think these

characteristic fit you.

Lesson Objective:To be able to use experimental probability to work out expectancies.

Starter Q’s - If I roll a dice 300 times. How many 6’s would you expect? Why? - If David Beckham took 300 free kicks. How many would he score? Why? What might affect this?

Main In pairs drop a drawing pin from 15cm and record which way it lands 20 times.What is your exp. Prob? Why different to others?What do you expect your results to be like if you dropped it 40, 100, etc times? (different results). How could we make results better? (Do more drops, or collate results)Why would this give you better results?Interlinks with above.Exp. Prob Q’s and expectancy Q’s on 10 ticks – Level 7/8 Pack1 Page8 – Q 4,6,7

Plenary What have we learnt? Different probabilities?Game – How many people hold right hand up when asked to raise their hand?On whiteboards estimate and place face down, then close eyes (no cheating) and raise hand. Count up before allowing them to open eyes. Show answers then tell them who is correct! Discuss why expectancy may not be ½?

Getting VAK into Science lessons – easy peasy

Lesson topic – The heart.

See lesson plan for full objectives and timings.

Lesson activities for visual learners

Lesson activities for auditory learners

Lesson activities for kinaesthetic learners

Diagrams

Simulations on the internet.

Explanations of visual prompts

Encouraged to discuss what parts of the heart they are looking at in the dissection

Models of the heart

Dissection of the heart

Lesson Objective: to investigate life in a Brazilian Favela

Starter (VA) Show picture of a Favela – students write down words to describe photo and then give feedback.

Main(VAK) Watch video about Sao Paulo – students make notes.In groups students are given scraps of paper, card, plastic etc and they try to build a Favela. (The groups have different amounts of resources)The objective of this is to see inequalities within a Favela.

Plenary (VA) Look back at the initial photo and based on their increased knowledge about Favelas students add 5 words or phrases to their lists. Students give feedback.

How would we fit all three learning styles into a typical

lesson?

You have 10 mins to plan a lesson for your subject using VAK.

You need a starter, main and plenary

Piano fingers

Alphabet edit

Lazy eightsPass the clap

1,2,3Nose, ear change

http://www.acceleratedlearning.co.uk/brain_breaks.htm

Teachers naturally sense when children are going off task, and attempt to refocus attention. The ALPS Approach’ and 'The Thinking Child' give suggestions of how to do this in ways that strengthen neural pathways and reinforce learning. So in other words, rather than waste time on reminding children to refocus, you spend that time increasing brain-power and learning at the same time!

Brain Gym, Paul E. Dennison and Gail E. Dennison, Edu-Kinesthetics, 1989

The Learning Gym – Fun-to-do Activities for Success at School, Erich Ballinger, Edu-Kinesthetics, 1992

http://www.alite.co.uk/

The ALPS approach, Accelerated Learning in Primary Schools (Paperback) by Alistair Smith (Author), Nicola Call (Author)

Beneficial Reading

Websites:

The Thinking Child Resource Book (The Early Years) by Nicola Call and Sally Featherstone

Accelerated Learning, C. Rose

Accelerated learning in the classroom, A. Smith