Why 'learning styles' are bogus and why we should not be using them.N/

Hayes, Dennis

Why 'learning styles' are bogus and why we should not be using them

UDORA - University of Derby Online Research Archive

5/30/2017 How ‘learning styles’ undermine education | Education | spikedhttp://www.spiked­online.com/newsite/article/how­learning­styles­undermine­education/19571#.WS3JM2jyuyI 1/216 MARCH 2017DNNI HAYACADMICHow ‘learning tle’ undermineeducationThi week i ‘rain Awarene Week’, an event aimed at dipelling o­called neuromth. A letter pulihed in theGuardian on the eve of rain Awarene Week, igned  30 neurocientit, pchologit and educationalit,criticied what the ignatorie claim i one of the igget neuromth – that children have ditinct ‘learning tle’.The letter argue that there i ‘no evidence, or ver weak evidence’ to ack up thi idea. The meage i clear:‘Teacher mut ditch… learning tle.’Learning tle refer to the different wa in which people learn, or o the theor goe. There are ‘atract learner’,‘concrete learner’, ‘active learner’ and ‘kinaethetic learner’ (thoe who learn through phical activit). Theterminolog varie acro the more than 70 tet and evaluation ued to find out what tpe of learner ou are.One of the letter’ ignatorie i Frank Coffield, who, ack in 2004, led two report on learning tle. The reporthowed that the concept of learning tle i not aed on valid or reliale reearch and could create rigid ideaaout how individual learn. Coffield and hi colleague were right to e concerned. At the ame time that thoereport were pulihed, the Mereide orough of Knowle’ local education authorit teted it primar pupiland dicovered a majorit of them were ‘kinaethetic learner’. It uequentl reuilt all it econdar chool atemple of ‘kinaethetic learning’, aed on phical activit. The pupil dued the chool ‘wack warehoue’and the new deign caued ehavioural chao, ruining the education of hundred of children.ven though Coffield’ report proved learning tle to e ineffectual, there eem to e a willing lindne to thetruth. A quick Google earch how that the ue of learning tle i eing adopted almot everwhere. It iparticularl popular in the ‘incluion’ and ‘dlexia’ indutrie, where learning tle are promoted with almotreligiou paion. A a reult, large numer of tudent come to univerit convinced that the have one dominantlearning tle. One of m colleague, who dicued Coffield’ report with her tudent, wa met with therepone: ‘I don’t care what the reearch a. I elieve in learning tle.’How ou learn i determined primaril  the uject ou are tuding and it content. When I wa a further­education teacher­trainer, I looked at learning tle to make a point aout uject. M clae were a mixture ofteacher of philooph, pcholog, art, uilding and other uject. And gue what? The philoopher came out a‘atract learner’, the artit a ‘kinaethetic learner’ and the uilder a ‘concrete learner’. The wa individuallearn i determined  the uject matter.The continuing oeion with learning tle i dening children acce to a road range of uject learning. Thireliance on gimmick and theorie i a ign that uject­aed education ha een aandoned. Thoe who puh forthe ue of learning tle in the claroom clearl have a limited view of children’ potential. Deunking learningtle require more than challenging ‘neuromth’, it require a proper defence of uject­aed education for allchildren.5/30/2017 How ‘learning styles’ undermine education | Education | spikedhttp://www.spiked­online.com/newsite/article/how­learning­styles­undermine­education/19571#.WS3JM2jyuyI 2/2Denni Hae i a profeor of education at the Univerit of Der.For permiion to repulih piked article, pleae contact Viv Regan.

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How 'learning styles' undermine education

https://repository.derby.ac.uk/download/5a857d7f564167c0903001e7c3d2110f000d823e57dfb23f49991d0eb6dcf8d5/94314/How%20%E2%80%98learning%20styles%E2%80%99%20undermine%20education%20_%20Education%20_%20spiked.pdf

How 'learning styles' undermine education

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