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| Learning Styles and Dominance | People have one or more preferred ways in which they take in information, in which they learn. There are many differing opinions and explanations on learning styles. The simplest explanation breaks learning styles into three groups: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.
• Visual learners learn best by reading or watching something, such as a video. They feel more comfortable learning from textbooks and/or workbooks.
• Auditory learners learn best by listening, including being read to and listening to tapes or lectures. Verbalizing and music are also comfortable ways to learn.
• Kinesthetic learners learn best through a hands-on approach, body movement, and manipulating objects.
Learning Patterns and Temperament Styles
Temperament is primary, and predisposes the person to certain ways of thinking, wanting, emoting and acting. Therefore, all personality styles have its own way of learning, its own way of being motivated, its own way of relating with others, and its own way of being satisfied.
There are Actual Spontaneous, Actual Routine, Conceptual Specific, or Conceptual Global learners.
• Actual Spontaneous – Action people that like their environment such that they are free to act spontaneously; they dislike planning and organizing. They are keen on games and hands-on projects, but have short attention spans and are difficult to motivate. They would like to know how what they are learning is of use to them. They put a question “How does this work?”
• Actual Routine - Task-oriented that like their environment to be clearly structured, planned, and organized. They feel uncomfortable with spontaneity and do not feel they are creative. The conventional school model works well for them. They put a question “What?”
• Conceptual Specific – Big Picture people that need to understand, explain, predict, and control their environment. They wish to solve problems, are self-motivated, and prefer solitary activity. They put a question “What if?”
• Conceptual Global – People-oriented. They are social people, looking for meaning and significance. They are keen on concepts rather than details, and prefer integrated studies, where they can connect the personal aspect into understanding their world. They put a question “Why?”
Suggestions
Choose resources that focus on how individuals or people groups have been impacted by the areas of study. Learn about the scientists behind the theories or how inventions changed people’s lives. A unit study approach that integrates subjects such as science, history and literature around a common theme will appeal to her interest in understanding how events, ideas and inventions affect the people of that time and place.
Think groups
Field trips and co-ops will become the focal point for most of the global learners’ studies. Once you may recognize immediately your child as one of these four types of learners, signal cautions parents that most children will not fit perfectly into one category. All children are unique individuals and we must not use these categories or any other learning style theory to pigeonhole our children as a “global learner,” for instance, while ignoring other strengths or weaknesses they may exhibit.
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