Teachers are misinterpreting their mistakes

What is learning? Do people learn how to walk? Do people learn how to talk? Do people learn their multiplication tables? Do people learn the definitions of new words?


It has generally been acceptable to lump everything mentioned above as learning. In reality, I mentioned two very different concepts. I agree that you learn skills such as walking and talking. Factual information such as multiplication tables and word definitions are better described as long-term memory. While most people are fine with the dual meanings of learning, I personally feel that they are too different to be combined.

Growing up, I repeatedly heard that we learn either through sight or sound. When provided with an explanation, I always heard the same arguments. Retention became a common theme.

Years ago, I rejected the validity of auditory and visual learning on the grounds that they were not legitimate learning styles. It's clear that they actually refer to memory. I have even posted about the common misconception. Since then, I have found multiple sources insisting that teaching to these so-called learning styles is not effective.

Teachers are now insisting that they no longer have to worry about different learning styles. Since the value of illegitimate learning styles have been debunked, learning styles must not exist.

We have seen something similar with the hemispheres of the brain. For years, we heard about the differences between left-brained individuals and right-brained individuals. I never fully bought into the argument. It seemed to me that we were not going to have such a large portion of our brains so inactive, and I doubted that the specifics of how each person's brain develops would be so rigid.

Evidence now seems to indicate that we are all quite reliant on both sides of our brains, and the ideas behind a dominant hemisphere are no longer accepted. Most evidence I have seen still indicates that a lot of people are stronger with one hemisphere than the other, but it's not as significant as previously believed.

In both of these cases, we are looking at a binary labeling system. All students were perceived to fit one category or the other. In reality, there is more variability than an either-or scenario. Also in both of these cases, teachers have seen these findings as proof that we don't have to worry about variability. Ultimately, we are underestimating just how variable learning styles really are.