Teaching to Different Learner Types from Dr. Nellie Deutsch (Ed.D)
She spoke from her experiences as a language learner and found that she had problems learning foreign languages, then she started research to find out whether other students had similar problems.
She then talked about learning types, she for example, is a visual learner which is why she had problems with auditory learning. She explained that classrooms have a variety of different learner preferences but many teachers teach in the way that they prefer to learn. Using a mix of teaching styles allow us to reach more of the learners. Halina pointed out that many learners have different learning preferences in different situations and one may be more dominant at any given time.
Preferences are just people's style nothing to do with good or bad, just different. In this meeting she talked about three different learning models, shown in the slide underneath.
She started off by talking about the VAK model, and first of all I discovered something new. That there are two forms of kinaesthetic preference, kinaesthetic motoric and kinaesthetic emotional. She said that younger people are mainly kinaesthetic motoric but once they start to go through puberty they tend to become more kinaesthetic emotional. She pointed out that when students are under stress they tend to revert to their preferred style, in exams, when asked to speak ....
She then showed us how we can work out a person's learning preferences from their handwriting! A visual learner has a well-organised page with key words carefully underlined - not cutting through letters that drop below the line.
Auditory students don't very often take notes, but she did have some that she could show us. It wasn't as neatly laid out as the visual learner and the writing also wasn't as clear.
The kinaesthetic learner writes in a very scrappy manner and makes boxes around things to give them solidity, they will also cross things out when they have been achieved so they can physically see.
Slides 14,16,18 & 20 in the slideshow above give us the characteristics of each of the 4 different types of learner with some advice. The odd number slides give characteristics of teachers with those preferences.
For the visual learner she suggested making notes into flashcards so that they can be learned in different orders to assist with recall. Auditory learners need to write things down that they have learned auditorily. K. Emotional learners need to like the people they are working with and the material they are working with. They respond well to rewards like badges which make them feel good. K. Motoric students need to write while moving and love to use their sense of touch.
Next she told us about the Global/Analytic model. Global people use their emotions and like to get the whole picture whereas Analytic people prefer to get the detail.
Global people need to learn to take criticism without attaching emotion to it but they can work well in a group. Analytic people need to work on getting an overview and not get too bogged down in detail but they don't get so upset about criticism.
Finally she talked about the Mind Organisation model in which there are four different styles.
This was developed by a colleague of hers after observing learners in the classroom. The Power Planner is a person who likes to know exactly what is happening and when, they need to accept change and other people's point of view. Expert Investigators are more analytical/logical but they may need to learn to work with others as they can prefer to work alone. Radical reformers are the gamblers who like to take chances. They may need to learn to fit in whilst maintaining their individuality. The last type of learner in this model is the flexible friend. (Which I thought was my Visa card!) these are people people, they are very creative and imaginative but may need to concentrate less on personal relationships when learning.
Responding to a question, she confirmed that, like other models, people may find themselves between different quadrants.
To create a complete profile we need to look at all of the models.
Nobody is one type, we are all individuals, and to be good teachers we need to try and cater for many different sensory channels.
Having looked at the different kinds of learners (and teachers) Marjorie then went on to talk about different types of activities. First of all we looked at VAK activities. The first one was 'What have I changed.' to practice present perfect. The next was 'The Statue' where students make a statue by working one at a time. When they have completed they have to go back and talk about what changed, to practice past simple. Following on we did 'Describe and draw' this practices present simple and present continuous as well as there is/there are.
She spoke from her experiences as a language learner and found that she had problems learning foreign languages, then she started research to find out whether other students had similar problems.
She then talked about learning types, she for example, is a visual learner which is why she had problems with auditory learning. She explained that classrooms have a variety of different learner preferences but many teachers teach in the way that they prefer to learn. Using a mix of teaching styles allow us to reach more of the learners. Halina pointed out that many learners have different learning preferences in different situations and one may be more dominant at any given time.
Preferences are just people's style nothing to do with good or bad, just different. In this meeting she talked about three different learning models, shown in the slide underneath.
She started off by talking about the VAK model, and first of all I discovered something new. That there are two forms of kinaesthetic preference, kinaesthetic motoric and kinaesthetic emotional. She said that younger people are mainly kinaesthetic motoric but once they start to go through puberty they tend to become more kinaesthetic emotional. She pointed out that when students are under stress they tend to revert to their preferred style, in exams, when asked to speak ....
She then showed us how we can work out a person's learning preferences from their handwriting! A visual learner has a well-organised page with key words carefully underlined - not cutting through letters that drop below the line.
Auditory students don't very often take notes, but she did have some that she could show us. It wasn't as neatly laid out as the visual learner and the writing also wasn't as clear.
The kinaesthetic learner writes in a very scrappy manner and makes boxes around things to give them solidity, they will also cross things out when they have been achieved so they can physically see.
Slides 14,16,18 & 20 in the slideshow above give us the characteristics of each of the 4 different types of learner with some advice. The odd number slides give characteristics of teachers with those preferences.
For the visual learner she suggested making notes into flashcards so that they can be learned in different orders to assist with recall. Auditory learners need to write things down that they have learned auditorily. K. Emotional learners need to like the people they are working with and the material they are working with. They respond well to rewards like badges which make them feel good. K. Motoric students need to write while moving and love to use their sense of touch.
Next she told us about the Global/Analytic model. Global people use their emotions and like to get the whole picture whereas Analytic people prefer to get the detail.
Global people need to learn to take criticism without attaching emotion to it but they can work well in a group. Analytic people need to work on getting an overview and not get too bogged down in detail but they don't get so upset about criticism.
Finally she talked about the Mind Organisation model in which there are four different styles.
This was developed by a colleague of hers after observing learners in the classroom. The Power Planner is a person who likes to know exactly what is happening and when, they need to accept change and other people's point of view. Expert Investigators are more analytical/logical but they may need to learn to work with others as they can prefer to work alone. Radical reformers are the gamblers who like to take chances. They may need to learn to fit in whilst maintaining their individuality. The last type of learner in this model is the flexible friend. (Which I thought was my Visa card!) these are people people, they are very creative and imaginative but may need to concentrate less on personal relationships when learning.
Responding to a question, she confirmed that, like other models, people may find themselves between different quadrants.
To create a complete profile we need to look at all of the models.
Nobody is one type, we are all individuals, and to be good teachers we need to try and cater for many different sensory channels.
Having looked at the different kinds of learners (and teachers) Marjorie then went on to talk about different types of activities. First of all we looked at VAK activities. The first one was 'What have I changed.' to practice present perfect. The next was 'The Statue' where students make a statue by working one at a time. When they have completed they have to go back and talk about what changed, to practice past simple. Following on we did 'Describe and draw' this practices present simple and present continuous as well as there is/there are.
Now we looked at Global/ Analytic activities. The first one was 'What would you do if ..', Which is aimed at global thinkers.
The next one was 'The yes/no hot seat.' which I seem to think I have seen a version of before. Apparently it is a more analytical game.
This is good training for making sure students can find different ways of saying things. She then went on to 'The Envelope Game'.
The next activity was 'Can you sell it.' This is a game for the Power Planner student.
The last activity was the personal mindmap, students will ask questions to the teacher to find out what the information relates to.
The students then do the same for their lives but as they choose their own areas they can avoid talking about things that they want but talk about the things they do.
Marjorie finished off by asking the participants to reflect on the activities they have seen, which they have used and which they liked. I think over the years I have seen and used all of these except the first one.
This was a useful session because I learned some more about different learning styles and also the rationale for using different activities with different types of learner. If her book is half as interesting as her session it is a definite buy for teachers - Spotlight on Learning Styles published by DELTA.
Thank you Marjorie.
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