Educational Myths

There are numerous educational myths that teachers accept as matter of fact.  One of the longest kept is the belief that students have a preferred learning style.  Proponents of learning style pedagogy believe that students are naturally visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learners and need to be taught in ways that match that style. [There is a five-domain model, but keeping with this more traditional and simpler schema will serve the purpose].  Visual learners, we are told, need to see what they are learning.  They need diagrams and charts and models.  Venn diagrams, flow charts, and concept mappings are supposed to appeal to these students.  Auditory learners learn best by hearing well-structured explanations.  Kinesthetic learners need to manipulate physical objects, e.g. counting cubes. 

What happens when a child is tested?  If we administer an auditory test to a random population of students whose preferred learning styles had been identified, we would expect the auditory learners to do better than the visual or kinesthetic learners.  But that does not happen.  Auditory learners’ scores show the same distributions as students classified with other learning style preferences. 

Let me as blunt as possible: learning style theory is hogwash!

Although the model is based on false premises, the strategies that were developed to help each style of learning are actually very good.  Good teachers intuitively use combinations of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic teaching techniques.  Tutors help their students learn by using at least two techniques in combination. 

These approaches are supported by brain research.  We know that learning is associated with making connections between nerve cells and then strengthening those connections.  When we link new material with something that has already become part of the life experience of the student, we are making a neural connection that helps give relevancy to the new information.  When we use combinations of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic teaching strategies, we are providing the brain with opportunities to make more neural connections.   

Most students use two types of strategies at any one time, and those categories change according to the activity involved. They might draw a diagram and then explain the function of each part of the picture.  When memorizing vocabulary, they might write the word in the air and then pace the floor while reciting the answer out loud.  When we teach with this kind of brain-based approach, we are better equipped to help our students learn.