Learning Styles Don't Exist

Professional's Views

Professor Willingham stated in the video Learning Styles Don't Exist that,"90% of people believe there's learning styles," because there's not been a lot of research on it, people just believe that there are learning styles and that everyone learns differently. Learning styles are the way you think about something and learn it. Anybody can learn in any of the 3 ways, auditory, visually, or kinesthetic. Some people do have a better memory visually then others, but that doesn't mean teachers should only teach in that learning style. Teachers ultimately want students to learn based on meaning. The prediction is that people with a good visual memory will always learn better visually is not true because some things you have to visually see when learning them like the shape of a state, you can't auditory learn what the shape of a state looks like. Basically, teachers don't need to adjust their teaching to an individuals learning style. 

Howard Gardner of the Multiple Intelligence Theory said that multiple intelligence was made to document the different strengths human beings have. Teaching in one certain way isn't fair because one child may be learning while the rest don't learn like that and are confused. We teach way to many subjects and material. Gardner thinks schools needs to change into few priorities instead of students having knowledge "a mile long but only an inch deep."  A change in education is what we need he says; people have to see examples where new kinds of education actually works and have enough good examples. Teachers have to believe in it and really want to educate where children are at the center of learning. Show everyone that this style of learning is working. Political commitment that this is the new education.

My Views

Overall, my views on Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligence Theory is that even though some students do learn differently, teachers cannot always teach a student separately or teach the same material in all 3 different styles to fit every single student. We teachers have to learn how to add all learning styles into one to better our students. The style I prefer learning in is hands-on. I like to see objects, hold them, and feel them. This is the way I learn and memorize material best but I can also learn in other styles, I just prefer more of a hands-on style. Does this mean when I become a teacher I'll only teach in this style? Of course not. When doing activities with students all you simply have to do is combine all three methods. For example, if you're learning about rocks and minerals you can tell them about it (auditory), then show a short clip on minerals (visual), then pass around actual rocks and minerals for them to feel (kinesthetic). Technology also can help a student learn in their preferred style. There's different apps, features, and websites that allow a student to explore and discover how they learn best. Whether it's through pictures, or sounds on a computer, or virtual field trips, and microscopes, you can do just about anything through technology. Ultimately though,  "the best ways to reach students will always come down to a teacher's experienced intuition combined with her knowledge of each student."