Friday, October 15, 2010

Re: So what is the deal with learning styles?

Chris,

Two thoughts:

1) People often expect too much of Gardner's theory. At its most =
fundamental level it merely states that intelligence is manifest in =
multiple ways.

2) The "anti-MI papers" I've read have a heck of a time differentiating =
between teaching and learning. These "studies" typically evaluate the =
efficacy of some pedagogical strategy and use that to in Sarah Palin's =
term "refudiate" Gardner. This failure to understand a profound =
distinction invalidates the arguments they are trying to make against =
Gardner.

One also has to ask if there is a political motive behind the growing =
attack on multiple intelligences theory. In a political climate that =
believes that knowledge is the result of teaching with most agency =
afforded to the teacher, it is not surprising that a theory arguing =
otherwise would come under attack.

What is to be gained by pretending that people don't learn in different =
ways? Is this merely a way of justifying one-size-fits-all teaching?

I highly recommend that anyone interested in this topic read a new book =
exploring many of the issues surrounding multiple intelligences theory - =
http://amzn.to/4K78mq

Gary

On Oct 14, 2010, at 5:26 PM, Bigenho, Chris wrote:

> The following is a blog post I just wrote based on the reading of two =
conflicting articles that seemed to inform each other but through =
contradictory concepts. The question that I played with in this post =
was the role of learning styles in improving the efficacy of the =
educational process if learning styles don't really exist. Please feel =
free to comment at will on the blog or through this list. I hope you =
enjoy and that it provides something to think about. Warning though, I =
end with more questions than I when I started. Such is the way of =
learning.
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> =
http://bigenhoc.wordpress.com/2010/10/15/so-what-is-the-deal-with-learning=
-styles/

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> Chris
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> Chris Bigenho
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