Releasing students from the cognitive straitjacket of visual-auditory-kinaesthetic learning styles

Baker, Lewis (2020) Releasing students from the cognitive straitjacket of visual-auditory-kinaesthetic learning styles. Impact: Journal of the Chartered College of Teaching, 3 (10). pp. 57-60. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Learning styles pervade common nomenclature in schools and are found in many strategic-planning documents for raising achievement in learners. This is the so-called meshing hypothesis; matching a student’s preferred learning style to instruction improves a student’s learning (Lethaby and Mayne, 2018; Aslaksen and Lorås, 2018). A learning style can be defined as ‘cognitive, affective, and physiological traits [that indicate] how learners perceive, interact with, and respond to learning environments’ (Keefe, 1982, p. 44, quoted in Sharp et al., 2008, p. 294). As it stands, at least 12 distinct learning styles (and more than 60 derivatives) have been outlined, which try to categorise a learner’s preference for processing information (Coffield et al., 2004). By far the most popular model of learning style is the visual-auditory-kinaesthetic (VAK) model and its corollary VARK (reading/writing). This model categorises a learner as either visual – preferring to process information using visual prompts; auditory – preferring to process information through talking and listening; or kinaesthetic – preferring to process information through tactility or movement. The categorisation process is initiated with a survey that the learner self-completes, consisting of several statements to which they can agree or disagree, such as ‘I remember something better if I write it down’ (Cohen et al., 2006, p. 1). The agreeability for each statement is then correlated with a preferred learning style, either ‘visual’, ‘auditory’ or ‘kinaesthetic’, or, in some cases, a combination (such as ‘visual-auditory’). The simplicity of this model is one of the reasons for its popularity.

Item Type:	Article
Journal / Publication Title:	Impact: Journal of the Chartered College of Teaching
Publisher:	Chartered College of Teaching
ISSN:	2514-6955
Departments:	Institute of Education > Initial Teacher Education
Additional Information:	Lewis Baker, PGCE and Master of Arts Degree in Education, University of Cumbria (distinction awarded). Winner: Postgraduate Highest Academic Achievement Prize, 2020, University of Cumbria.
Depositing User:	Anna Lupton
Date Deposited:	17 Sep 2024 12:08
Last Modified:	17 Sep 2024 12:15
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/8396

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