Learning Styles

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Learning Styles
"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 Iiii78
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"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".
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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. Im amazed
at the changes Ive 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
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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
20Learning20how20to20Learn.ppt
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Alphabet Edit
A B C D E F G H L R B L R B L R I J K L M N O P B
L R B L R B L Q R S T U V W X Y Z R B L R B L R
B L R
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The Big Picture

• Objective
• Identify your own learning styles,
• and how it relates to you as a teacher.
• To demonstrate different learning styles

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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

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2)When you are really concentrating, are you
distracted by

• Messiness/untidiness
• Noise /talking/ music
• Movement

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3) When you recall specific incidents, do you

• Do it with pictures/images
• Sounds
• See moving pictures

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4) When you are angry, do you

• Remain silent but seethe inside
• Shout loudly
• Clench fists, grit teeth, stamp about.

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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

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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.

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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

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8) When you do leisure activities, do you prefer
to

• Watch TV, read, play on the computer
• Listen to music
• Play sports and games

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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

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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

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Now add up your scores and fill your learning
profile sheet in
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Activity
In pairs discuss whether you think these
characteristic fit you.
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Getting VAK into Science lessons easy peasy

• Lesson topic The heart.
• See lesson plan for full objectives and timings.

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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
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Piano fingers
Pass the clap
Lazy eights
Brain Gym
1,2,3
Alphabet edit
Nose, ear change
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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!
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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
Beneficial Reading
The ALPS approach, Accelerated Learning in
Primary Schools (Paperback) by Alistair Smith
(Author), Nicola Call (Author)
Accelerated Learning, C. Rose
Accelerated learning in the classroom, A. Smith
Websites
http//www.alite.co.uk/