I chose to read a couple of articles about how people learn.
Reports form the tech portion of the photo workshop in Goshen brought the issue to light for me. I spent that evening wretching out the driver's side door of my car at various stop signs in Shipshiwana, so I must rely on hear say. What I hear though sounds as humiliating and confusing as what I experienced that fateful evening. The feeling like you are falling behind, the fear of embarrassment should someone notice tempered with the hope that someone will notice and help you. Puke analogies aside, it did get me thinking about how people learn, and how they don't learn.
It sounds like the biggest issue there was a lack of communication about the knowledge base of the students, but part of the problem might have also been that people don't learn that way. I find, especially with technology, that being shown how to do something is nearly always inadequate. The only way that I learn how to do something on a computer is to do it. This is true to the extent that I have a hard time even trying to follow along with computer demos. I know that I will not internalize the information until I am free to fiddle around on my own and actually do it. This holds with driving directions and dancing, but not with teaching techniques or baking. So it seems that certain teaching techniques fall flat on their faces with certain material and not with others for the same person.
The articles that I read were both about different learning styles. They both did a great job of "thinking the world apart". One deemed me an auditory learner. Its shallow assessment did not mention any other archetypes that I may have scored high on. It suggested that I sit close to lecturers to ensure that I can hear. I am perplexed and irritated by this narrow assessment. I like to think that I learn in many different ways and that all of those 'rules' shift with the content and the setting. The second article regurgitated and restated the old learning type theory. I just can't get on board with that stuff. If I were a more keen and motivated learner I might have kept perusing the articles until I found some that I DID identify with. But then again is there any point in reading anything for an auditory learner....?
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Lack of communication, it is such a simple problem, but seemingly comes up repeatedly. I guess it is a reminder that there are also a variety of ways to work at communication, and various ways to learn. You know better than to think that anything is black or white. There are paradoxes, that we hold both of equal value, as well as a ranges and continuums. So, figure out what works for you, and keep trying different things!
ReplyDeleteIt is a continuum, learning through different styles. Just have someone read the articles to you, you auditory learner.
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ReplyDeleteI foreget the name of the web site. but there is a site out there where you put a document into it and it will put it into an audio file, so you can listen. I will try to find the site.
ReplyDeleteI love that you used the word puking to begin your post and used the word regurgitating in your last paragraph. Way to bookend Carli! I look forward to a day when there are enough teachers to assess kids from the get go and pin point learning styles before the student is behind. It is not enough for teachers to be aware of the different learning styles if they can't juggle it all in one classroom. I don't think of myself so much as an auditory learner but I have found that if I am struggling with something I'm reading I begin to get a better grasp on it if I read it out loud to myself. Maybe this could be helpful to you as well. I also often draw out pictures to remember things.
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