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                 Learning Styles: A Never Ending Story

(The following document was written by Diane Famiano Lutzinger, of The
Learner's Edge, Inc. - 12830 Hillcrest Road, Suite 111, Dallas, Texas
75230.  For more information write or call 1-800-234-4853.)

"In this world, no one can complete an education," said Margaret Mead.
I call learning styles "a never ending story" because a short column
cannot complete a summary of learning styles any more than we can
complete an education.  However, we will "wrap up" our articles on
learning styles this month with a brief touch upon several major
models which are respected and widely used in education.  Learning
styles is also a "never ending story" since research, ideas, and
innovations in continue.  Thank goodness.

In previous columns, we have pointed out that learning style theory
refers to a person's preferred or constant way or mode of responding
to stimuli in a learning situation.  Premier business consultants and
authors, Ron and Susan Zemke, point out that "a trainee may prefer
listening to lectures, but learn best by practice and application
exercises."  Recognizing how a person learns best rather than what she
says she prefers is a key component to successfully training or
teaching people, especially adult learners.

Two models of learning styles which dovetail with NLP and/or Myers
Briggs Type Inventory (see Anchor Point, July, 1991) are those
designed by Rita Dunn (Learning Style Inventory) and Bernice McCarthy
(the 4MAT System).  Both of these theories take learning modalities
into account and apply them in different ways.

In an interview in Educational Leadership, Dunn states (and NLPers
would agree) that students learn better "when taught through their
perceptual strengths" and in "instructional environments" sensitive to
the way they learn.  Much of her focus is placed on the "instructional
style" of the teacher and many teachers feel changing their teaching
method is too much to add to their already heavy load.  However, many
teachers who have worked on varying their teaching styles find the
reward in seeing students learn more successfully than before, thus
making the teacher's job easier!

An example is a pilot program started in Corsicana, Texas.  Two
teachers trained in learning styles took 34 students failing Algebra
II, who seemed to have no hope of passing and designed a class for the
"learning strengths" of these particular students.  As you might
guess, since Algebra is quite abstract, most of these struggling
students were tactile/kinesthetic learners, plus a few who had
auditory preferences. (As an auditory learner who failed Algebra II
twice, I know this strategy is weak.)  They planned experiential
activities for each chapter and even put concepts on tapes so the
auditory learners could repeat the lessons in this manner.

Although 32 of the 34 students passed and the teachers deserve much
applause, I can't help wondering why the students were not taught to
improve their visual modality strengths.  The value of NLP seems to be
in buttressing the instructional methods already being used with
exercises to improve the cognitive functioning in all modalities thus
empowering the student or trainee.




For example, an adult learner who had been diagnosed dyslexic in
school was returning to college when he was referred to me.  Since he
lived in Mississippi and I lived in Atlanta, I only saw him twice.
Bryan (not his real name) was very discouraged, but determined to get
his education.  He was a former athlete who played the guitar by
"feel".  He reported that he didn't make pictures in his head and I
observed few clues to indicate visual accessing, except when he talked
about his favorite subject--restoring old Chevies!  However, when I
asked him to work on some algebra, his visualizing powers "left" him,
or so he thought.

The first move was to anchor a state of knowing, hope, curiosity and
competence in an area he DID know well--old Chevies!  The next step
was to have him "tune in" his visualizing abilities by overlaying
images of equations onto visions of Chevy car bodies.  We also
adjusted submodality distinctions.  After a while he began to feel
comfortable with the idea that he could have "pictures" in his mind of
numbers.  We then began to work equations on a flip chart, standing
up.  He had to reach up and look up to write the problems, leading him
to access his visual capacities.  Almost immediately and miraculously
he stopped transposing numbers or confusing himself with auditory
interference.  He was so excited tears came his eyes.  For a while he
even did his homework on a flip chart, standing up.

When he went on with his semester at Mississippi State, he felt
confident that he could learn from anyone--even those who did not
teach to his particular style.  One reason he succeeded and made a B
is that HE could expand his own way of knowing and learning.

When Rita Dunn was asked why students should be "matched with
complementary resources" and rather than try to "flex", she stated
that "three-fifths of learning style is biologically imposed" and
believes many students cannot flex.  (Research is cited.)  I think I
would want to TRY to stretch before I agree matching instruction and
learning style is necessary.  Will SMU Law School, for example, or a
major company consider matching my style?  I doubt it. Not at this
time.  I, the learner, need to be empowered with as much flexibility
as I can and I believe NLP can make a big difference in this area.
(There, I did it.  I got on my soapbox!)

Rita Dunn IS making a difference.  Her Learning Styles Inventory is
the most widely used and validated of all the instruments for school-
aged children in the United States.  Her organization is doing much
research and having enormous success with many schools and many
students.  The consciousness of KNOWING about differences alone can go
a long way toward easing the pain and struggle for a learner who is
stumbling.
Bernice McCarthy developed the 4MAT System in 1972, to help teachers
adjust their styles according to learning differences.  This system is
based on a "eight-step cycle of instruction that capitalizes on
individual learning styles and brain dominance processing
preferences."  What I like about this system is that, not only does it
raise teacher awareness, but it offers learners a chance to "stretch"
as they are taught through the cycle.  Sometimes the learning
preference will be complemented and sometimes the student will be
asked to go outside his preference and operate in less comfortable
modes.

There are two major premises in the 4MAT System: (1) people have major
learning styles and right-mode/left-mode hemispheric processing
preferences; and (2) using multiple ways of instructing within a
systematic framework can improve teaching and learning.  (Bernice
McCarthy, Educational Leadership).  Like the MBTI theory, 4MAT has
Carl Jung's work as part of the basis for its theory (as well as many
other theorists is cognitive psychology, developmental psychology and
learning theory).  The 4MAT System suggests that learners have two
major differences:  how they perceive and how they process.  (This
relates to the temperament variables and brain functions of the MBTI.)

The theory holds that people perceive reality differently.  I think
most of us would agree with that!  How we perceive differently, from
sensing/feeling to thinking, is measured on a continuum.  In other
words, we all have the ability to do some of each type of perceiving,
given the right circumstances, but our preferred mode falls somewhere
along the scale.

This is a very important point to me, and I would think, to those
people who teach to strengths, rather than with limits in mind.  At
one end of the continuum, sensing/feeling people are those who immerse
themselves in the activity of the moment and perceive what they see,
hear and feel.  They also intuit.  On the other end of the scale are
those who think through experiences and pay more attention to the
abstract dimensions of reality.  They reason, lead with their
intellect and analyze.  They are often called "logical."  These ways
of perceiving are equally valuable and "every learner needs both for
the fullest possible understanding of experience."

Perception, taking IN the information or experience, is only one part
of learning.  Processing experience--what we do after we perceive--is
another part of learning.  The process continuum runs from doing to
watching, with a little bit of both in between.  McCarthy divides
learning styles into a four-quadrant model which includes the
following types of learners:

                       Sensing/feeling

     D         Dynamic                  Imaginative         W
     o         Learners                 Learners            a
     i                   4         1                        t
     n                                                      c
     g                   3         2                        h
               Common                   Analytic            i
               Sense                    Learners            n
               Learners                                     g
                          Thinking




As I briefly describe the "types" of learners, you will probably
recognize the MBTI patterns, where the VAK modalities may fit, and
possibly hear some sorting styles (meta programs).  The first is the
imaginative learner who perceives concretely and processes
reflectively.  They like to listen and share ideas, work together with
others well and need to integrate the experience with the self.  They
tend to "see all sides" and may have difficulty making decisions.  The
most distressing thing about school is that it seems fragmented and
disconnected to personal issues, their need to grow and understand
their world.

The second, analytic, perceives abstractly and processes reflectively.
They need to know what the experts think, but devise theories by
integrating their observations into prior knowledge.  They tend to be
detailed, sequential, and find ideas fascinating.  They might be
called the "eggheads" because they seem aloof, reading avidly and
being quite verbal.  They are the ones who do best in our traditional
lecture-type classes.

Common sense learners perceive information abstractly and process it
actively.  These are the down-to-earth problem solvers, believe in
something if it works, and need to know HOW things work.  They also
want to see how what they are learning is immediately relevant to
them.

The fourth type, dynamic learners, percieve information concretely and
process it actively.  They learn by trial and error, manipulatives are
for them.  They are adaptable and relish change, excelling in
flexibility.  They can reach an answer without going through the steps
and often find school tedious and too sequential.

The 4MAT System suggests how to improve instructional design based on
an eight-step wheel with four quadrants.  The cycle gives everyone in
the class some of what he needs and is varied enough to cover most
styles and to include left and right hemispheric processing.  When the
quadrants of the learning cycle are put together, they "make up a
complete developmental learning cycle, moving from subjective knowing
to objective knowing to integrated knowing."

The model is more complex than can be presented here.  The complexity
creates its own problems for teachers and administrators because
"learning style issues lead directly to instructional issues, which
lead directly to curriculum issues" creating a systems approach, says
McCarthy.  This is needed, but resisted is many schools.  This
approach does seem to involve the kinesthetic, auditory, and visual
learners with a place for introverts and extroverts, as well as many
others.  As one author puts it, "The sight of active, engaged learners
who are busily involved throughout...[is] a far more satisfactory view
than the slumped-over bodies we used to see."  Another result of using
the multi-modal approach is that students begin to see a connection
between learning style and life style; that is, how they understand
and know and how they relate to others.

Other Learning Style theorist worth looking into include Feuerstein
and Dynamic Assessment; Witkin and Field Dependent/Field Independent
Learning; and Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of the Mind.  This only
mentions a few--all of which have important applications.  Many people
feel that learning styles theory has lack of unity among its key
advocates and researchers regarding how styles should fit into the
system.  Even though we agree people learn differently, the problem
lies in trying to fit this knowledge into a system that is not set up
to address individual differences.

Addressing this "massive individuation" is how I see NLP being
immediately useful in helping struggling students find a little help.
Yes, instructional design may need to be changed.  Yes, curriculum may
need to be adapted.  However, with NLP applications through language
alone, we can draw a student to a more useful way of processing and
can give the teachers a hand toward a possible solution when a student
is "stuck."  Using NLP is a way to do something NOW on an individual
teacher by teacher, student by student, basis until the "verdict"
comes in on learning styles.  We CAN help a student know how he/she
learns and empower them NOW.

It reminds me of the story about the man running on the beach who came
upon a boy tossing starfish back into the sea as the tide was going
out lest they die in the sun.  Seeing that the shore was littered with
starfish, the man was incredulous at the enormity of this boy's task.
He stopped and asked the boy if he really thought he was going to make
a difference since he could never reach all the starfish before the
tide went out.  The boy looked down at the one starfish in his hand,
tossed him gingerly into the sea, and answered, "He thinks I'm making
a difference!"   When I was in school, I wish someone had just told me
"When stuck, look up!" if I couldn't picture my answers!

It is my hope that the past few articles have been useful as
resources, if not comprehensive.  Please send me your notes about how
you are "making a difference" with NLP and education.  Or call for
other resources or with questions.


Rita Dunn, Educational Leadership, "Rita Dunn Answers Questions on
Learning Styles," (October, 1990).

Bernice McCarthy, Educational Leadership, "Using the 4MAT System to
Bring Learning Styles to Schools," (October, 1990).

Robert Sternberg, The Triarchic Mind, 1988. New York: Penguin Books.