As not only a tutor, but also a psychologist, I am interested in how people learn and how we can help people maximise their potential for learning.
When I began teaching, I was taught one way to teach using the same structure of activities, and even once I obtained my certificate, many of the ways we were taught to view our learners was if everyone could learn in the same way.
However, several theories relating to learning styles demonstrate how people learn in different ways. For example, the VAKOG model fits very well with languages and some of the clues to a person’s style are revealed in their language.
VAKOG stands for Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic, Olfactory and Gustotory. Basically this means that people have a preference for seeing, hearing, feeling/doing, smelling and tasting. While it is more likely that the latter two are more useful for teaching cooking skills, the first three have particular relevance.
Visual learners may like to see a diagram and drawing often facilitates. They might use language as “I see” when indicating their understanding. They may also be interested in visual art such as painting.
Auditory learners have a preference for hearing things, perhaps through songs and rhyming, and say things such as “I hear what you’re saying”. Emphasising rhythms can also assist these learners. They may enjoy musical activities in their free time.
Kinaesthetic learners favour activity and making emotional connections. They may learn best through taking notes or playing games that involve physical activity. They may start statements with “I feel…” and might play sports or engage in past times that have an emotional content.
For me, this model indicates that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work for everyone. This doesn’t mean to say that everyone has only one preferred style of learning. It might be that one is dominant, or is preferred for learning a particular task. Varying activities can also be stimulating for students and ensure that all their learning preferences are met. After all students who are engaged will learn more.
For tutors, it also shows me that we need to treat all our students as individuals. It can be useful to find out what activities learners enjoy in their free time, as this tells us about activities they might like to do in class. If a person is very active, and in class they have to sit very still and passively, that students needs are not being met.
For learners, I think there is a lesson here as well. I used to take a lot of notes during talks after university. The purpose of the talks was to expand my professional knowledge, and yet I sometimes found it hard to go over them again due to time restraints and so on. However, I always found that if I took notes, I remembered the information better than if I hadn’t. The process of writing the notes was more important that the product (the notes themselves). If we become aware of our learning styles, we can engage in the activities that promote our own learning.
