Yatsyshina S.
Vinnytsia Institute of Trade and
Economics of
The Ways of Matching
Teaching Styles with Learning Styles of Students
The starting point of all teaching should be an understanding of how
people learn. But it is too often the case that “learning” factors are the last
to be considered.
Learning is conditioned by the way in which the mind observes, organizes and
stores information. Thus the key to successful learning and teaching lies not
only in the analysis of the content to be taught but in understanding the
structure and processes of the mind. Moreover, most scholars and practitioners
in the field today agree that both the rate and the degree of success of
learning are affected by individual learner differences.
It is common knowledge that most students in the class can master the
same content. Yet the way in which they master it is determined by individual
learning styles. Every person has a learning style which may differ from those
of peers.
What are some specific ways in which learners differ? Ample studies
proved that people sense things differently, responding to the physical
environment around them in diverse ways. Students also tend to learn best
through one or a combination of sensory modalities (through the ears, through
the eyes, through touch, through movement). It follows that
methodological decisions, which limit use of a preferred modality will
be ill-suited to a significant subset of learners.
Another way in which learners differ is in their social preferences.
Some people prefer learning with others, interacting in small groups or
engaging in competitive activities. Others may prefer learning alone and are
energized by opportunities to read or do individual projects.
Individuals also differ in their response to competitive environments.
Scholars note that one of the characteristics of gifted learners is their
enhanced “internal locus of control”, that is, their capacity to self-assess
and feel responsible for learning. Learners tending more to external loci of
control, on the other hand, assess their performance through comparison with or
approval of others.
A learning style can be defined as a set of biological or developmental
characteristics, preferences, and tendencies that affect how – not how well –
one learns.
A rapidly growing body of research has afforded merely a glimpse of the
multitude of factors that form one’s learning style. What this investigation
has shown is that many different learning styles exist in the same group. Thus,
researchers differentiate between dynamic, flexible, irrational, gregarious, reflective,
pragmatic, skeptical, direct, logical, analytical, realistic, methodical, objective,
unemotional, spontaneous styles of learning, etc.
It should be noted that one’s learning style says nothing about a
person’s overall intelligence, ability, or desire to learn. Just as there is no
one best teaching style, there is no one best learning style. More often than
not, however, teaching and learning styles do not match in practice. At the
same time results of research also indicate that students achieve higher grades
and have significantly more positive attitudes toward a subject when their
learning styles are similar to their teachers’ teaching styles.
So there is a need for developing educational strategies which take into
account the existence of numerous learning styles and are based on teaching
methods and techniques which facilitate educational process by matching students’
styles of learning. While each method has its teacher advocates, no one method
will match the modality preferences and priorities of all learners.
Clearly, one response to the challenge of students’ learning styles
diversity can be the diversity of teaching methods and styles. The way of
teaching which goes beyond one “best” educational approach, but uses the
potential of numerous techniques which are effective under given circumstances
in the given learning process is called eclecticism.
Eclecticism has been called a “realistic” approach, which calls for educator
sensibility, flexibility and skillful use of teaching methods and appropriate
teaching styles. Thus, structural drill work may be appropriate for beginners,
while communicative, interactive techniques may be suitable for advanced
learners.
One possible trouble with the eclectic approach is that its success
requires constant experimentation and validation by the classroom teacher, who
must monitor the progress of students with respect to their learning style and
each classroom strategy.
So we may conclude that more and more scholars recognize that
differences among people might matter a great deal more than we had once
thought.
Researchers agree that among different learner factors such as age,
aptitude, attitude, motivation, personality, one’s learning plays crucial role
in the success of teaching / learning process.
A person’s learning style is a composite of environmental and perceptual
preferences, which influence our physical and sensing needs; cognitive
variables, which determine how we approach, conceptualize, and structure our
world; and social preferences, which arise from cognitive, personality, and
affective factors and which shape our behavioral tendencies in learning
situations. Each person’s cluster of traits, preferences, and needs is as
distinct and unique as a signature – and as neutral. One can neither be
glorified nor stigmatized by learning style.
It is important, therefore, not to base any approach too narrowly on one
theory. It is wise to take an eclectic approach, taking what is useful from
each theory and trusting also in the evidence of your own experience as a
teacher.
Another aspect of the problem is that lots of learners are not aware of
the strategies that they use to approach a task and would supposedly profit from
making them explicit. Consequently, by guiding students expertly to understand
their own learning styles, as well as matching teaching and learning styles
educators can make educational process more awarding.