Tags
auditory learner, kinesthetic learner, learning modalities, learning styles, learning theories, mythbuster, visual learner
Are you an auditory, visual or kinesthetic learner? Do you prefer to listen, see or move to gain the most from a learning experience? Most of us will say we think we know how we learn best. However, in the past few years research has debunked the idea of preferential learning styles.
Research has shown that we actually learn and retain information equally well through any of these paths. Evidence suggests that we may prefer one type of learning over another but that, in practice, that preference doesn’t improve our performance. Once study strategies are taught, we have the ability to do as well through any of the modes of learning. Reading this information made me question my own preference for visual learning. I prefer to see and take notes to learn rather than to attend a lecture where listening is the main pathway to attain information. Maybe I placed too much emphasis on my note taking as a kinesthetic way to learn? Or perhaps I overrated my need to see the information that is being discussed along with hearing it?
We don’t learn in isolation, nor do we retain isolated facts for any length of time. Taking notes in a lecture may help you focus. Moving might support attention and interest for some people. Now that research has proven we can learn in various ways, does that mean that we don’t have a preference? Probably not. But it does mean that we don’t need to rely solely on that preference. We can learn in new ways and need to open our minds to the possibilities.
One of my favorite thinkers, Daniel Pink, has just released a new book: 
You might think of WMS as a small independent Montessori school. You might think that, because we end in sixth grade, our students don’t have access to the same breadth of knowledge of those schools that end in eighth or 12th grades. You might think we are only thinking of “little kid” concerns. You might be wrong. 
I just read this 
I used some of spring break to catch up on my reading. I am an avid reader and, as most avid readers know, there are far more books, blogs, publications and news stories to read than can be accomplished in any amount of time. Typically a print magazine falls to the bottom of the pile as it will always be there (whereas online content could be changed or removed at any time). This week, I was fortunate to have read an 
Take a moment to think about something in your life you really really wanted to learn. Now think about how you went about learning it. Who was involved? Who or what helped you? Who or what stood in your way? How did you overcome those obstacles? Why did you keep trying in the face of difficulties?
The past two weeks have brought time to reflect and catch up on some reading. As I’ve done so, I was moved by the statement above. 