The Whole Child

Vibramycin generic, Post submitted by Carol Ann Tomlinson, ASCD author and expert on differentiated instruction.

The term "learning style" is often used as a cover term for lots of things that are probably better called something else. I've used the term "learning profile" to include learning style, intelligence preference, vibramycin suspension, culture-based learning approaches, Vibramycin dosage, and gender-based learning approaches. When looked at in this way, there is broader ground for conversation—to some degree because of research, vibramycin syrup, and to some degree because of theory. Vibramycin medication,

Dan Willingham, a fellow professor at the University of Virginia, has attempted to debunk the idea of learning styles and has used the issue to question education research, vibramycin hyclate.

I believe Willingham clumps several bodies of somewhat different work into what he refers to as "learning styles." For example, Vibramycin medication, Howard Gardner does not think he's writing about learning styles when he talks about multiple intelligences, nor does Robert Sternberg when explaining his model of the triarchic mind. So, in my read, Willingham's use of the term "learning styles" is not precise.

Further, he assumes a stance about what he calls learning styles that I don't think many educators recommend: a test-and-label approach to the topic, vibramycin generic. Does it make sense to give kids a "learning style survey" and assume that our preferences for how to learn are fixed, comprare vibramycin online. Absolutely not. Vibramycin for cats, The same person will learn differently in varied contexts, and that should be a given in classrooms. The goal should not be to pigeonhole students, vibramycin chlamydia, but rather to provide options for learning and to help students become increasingly aware of what supports their learning at a given time. (Thomas Armstrong addresses Willingham's criticisms of Gardner's model in Multiple Intelligences in the Classrooms Vibramycin generic, , 3rd ed.)

Willingham feels the concept of learning styles is discredited (not solely by research, but also by knowledge of the brain) because he thinks learning styles theory suggests, for example, that people learn math through music. Vibramycin doxycycline, His read is that music engages a different part of the brain than math does, and that it's not possible to learn math when the math part of the brain isn't involved. That's no doubt true, vibramycin uses, but that conclusion doesn't discount the likelihood that people differ in their approaches to learning.

The consensus among many current scholars and authors is that there are indeed differences in how people learn. Vibramycin dosage, For instance, there is a broad consensus that males and females learn differently (as groups—not with the assumption that all males or all females learn alike). The open question is how much of that difference is caused by differences in the brain and how much by enculturation, vibramycin drug. That question aside, there seems to be agreement that—in general—males and females approach learning differently, vibramycin generic. In other words, Vibramycin tablets, their "styles of learning" are not alike. If that is the case, then it probably makes sense to create learning contexts in which there are varied approaches to learning.

Likewise, generic vibramycin, scholars like Shirley Brice Heath, Order vibramycin, whose research in Ways with Words is classic, argue strongly for culture-based differences in learning—meaning, again, vibramycin dose, that culture results in people having somewhat different styles of learning. Vibramycin syrup, Once again, then, it seems prudent to create classrooms that are friendly to varied approaches to learning.

There probably is room for other interpretations, vibramycin suspension, too. Vibramycin doxycycline hyclate, It may be that allowing students more choice in how they learn is effective in supporting engagement and achievement. Vibramycin generic, It may be that engaging students in something that seems comfortable to them allows students to feel more in charge of their learning. It may be that teachers who allow flexibility in the classroom have more motivating classrooms. It may be that teachers who include "kinesthetic" approaches to learning get better results from kids who can't sit still for long periods without going a bit bonkers or do a better job of incorporating varied cultural needs into a learning environment, doxycycline vibramycin. It may just be that classrooms with variety are more kid-friendly in general. Generic vibramycin,

Bottom line: It's highly likely that we learn differently as a result of gender, culture, perhaps neurological wiring, vibramycin dosage, maybe just from a sort of learning preference or comfort zone, Vibramycin suspension, or a combination of those factors. Settings that support learning in a variety of ways are justified. And it's highly likely that classrooms that make room for those differences are more hospitable to learning, doxycycline vibramycin. We may not yet know all the ways that work or precisely how they work, but it does appear that making room for different approaches to learning is worth the effort.

Tomlinson will be presenting on differentiated instruction (DI) next week at ASCD's Summer Conference. Catch updates about Tomlinson and other DI experts at Conference Daily.

Note: This post was originally published on ASCD Inservice on June 15, 2010.

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