Learning Styles are a Myth? Yes, and…

Time and time again, life proves to me that absolute truths are hard to find. Tell me your most deeply held convictions, and I promise someone can poke cracks in most of them if you’re truly open to the discussion. Most things aren’t a strict either/or binary but unfortunately, like they say in improv, a yes, and…

When I was studying for my master’s in neuroscience and education, I learned from expert after expert that there isn’t any research supporting the idea of learning styles (i.e., kinesthetic, visual, or auditory learning). Don’t worry, I’m not here to argue that part isn’t true. As far as researchers can tell, it makes no difference in outcomes if teachers try to teach to each student’s preferred “learning style.” (The University of Michigan gives a great overview of the research and how the concept of learning styles can be detrimental to students and teachers.)

Honestly, I was so glad to learn that learning styles are a myth! But I was also sad I hadn’t learned it prior to becoming a teacher. There was an unspoken pressure to know each student’s individual learning style and then make sure they got to learn in their preferred way. This is damn near impossible to do for every student in your class for every lesson. You’re not going to have the supposed “hands-on” learners doing one type of activity and the “visual” learners doing something else. Not to mention, it’s just not how life works. In most states, the DMV expects you to take both the written test and the road driving test, not pick your preferred learning style.

After I graduated my masters program, I happily carried the banner for wiping learning styles out of educators’ vernacular. But even half a decade later, it’s just so persistent! I’ve encountered it in pretty much every single professional role, at all levels of the education system, I’ve held since then. Even when I’m surrounded by highly educated, experienced, and thoughtful educators and researchers.

What gives?

The push to bury the myth of learning styles ignores that many of us had a strong ah-ha! reaction when we first heard about learning styles. I was so relieved in my early 20’s to find out that I’m a visual learner and not an auditory learner. Ah-ha! So that’s why I struggled to remember people’s names or lengthy verbal directions in science lab!

Most of us can strongly identify methods of learning that seem easier for us and some that seem harder. Similar to athletic or artistic prowess, we each seem to have certain talents (and struggles) when it comes to learning. And there can actually be a benefit to going through that self-reflective process of identifying your preferred methods of learning. Your strengths and challenges.

There can also be a benefit to hearing how others, including our students or our colleagues, perceive their learning. I once found myself in a workplace team-building activity that asked us all to identify our “learning styles.” Of course, I immediately cringed and cried foul. But after being assured that everyone understood this wasn’t a research-based activity but simply a way to learn more about each other, lo and behold, it actually seemed to help everyone become more mindful that surprise, surprise – learning doesn’t happen in just one way or in exactly the same way for all of us.

One person mentioned they don’t see any pictures in their head. (No pictures at all?!)

Many people said they preferred learning through group discussions. (I never!)

Most of us said it depended on the context of what we were learning and even how we were feeling that day.

All of us said we benefit from engaging with information in multiple different ways. (Talk me through it, but also, can you give me a handout or a visual, please? And then, after we’ve all had time to think about it, can we talk about it or practice doing it?)

The tension – and the danger of leaning too hard into learning styles – is that just because we have preferences doesn’t mean we always need information presented in one format. In fact, pretty much all of us benefit from having information presented in multiple ways (this is why Universal Design for Learning is a great framework for teaching). A picture or chart might help us get the overall idea of something while reading a paragraph about it will likely give us more context. Further, using the information (kinesthetic learning) helps us really consolidate that learning and make sure we can use it and apply it in the real world.

In my case, I absolutely hate it if someone just tells me directions or information without also giving it to me in writing or drawing a diagram or SOMETHING! You want me to just pay attention and then remember it later? That requires a gargantuan amount of effort for me. And most likely, I’ll need to write it down anyhow.

Still, that doesn’t mean that I can’t learn the information in this way (auditory learning). Especially as an adult, I’ve had time to learn this fact about myself and have developed strategies for dealing with it. It seems simple now but took a lot of practice and certainly still isn’t fool proof, but here’s what I do with auditory information:

1. Repeatedly tell myself that the person is giving me important information and I need to pay attention.

2. Repeat the information back to the person (e.g., if someone tells me their name, I try to repeat it back to them: Nice to meet you, Julian. If the situation doesn’t make sense to repeat it out loud, I repeat it to myself in my head.)

3. Write it down as soon as possible – while the person is still speaking if that’s possible. Alternatively, in some situations, I may ask for it in writing (like if I’m at the doctor’s office).

4. Continually practice my listening skills. Podcasts were a big time win for me in this regard. I didn’t think I could ever be a podcast person because I have such a hard time listening and paying attention, but I found that when it was an interesting topic (and if it was played at the right pace and with the right theatrics that appealed to me), I really got into it! And by listening more and more, my listening skills improved. Imagine that.

Adults need to have strategies to deal with all types of situations where information isn’t presented the way they wish it was. Kids and teenagers need help developing these skills – school is a great place for this to happen!

This is why it can actually be really helpful to have kids (and adults) think about the ways they think they learn best. This type of metacognitive thinking (i.e., thinking about how they think) helps them understand themselves better. This is also how they’ll start identifying strategies that might help in the areas where they struggle. We know explicit (clear and direct) instruction is an effective way of teaching academic content but it’s also effective for teaching kids strategies for learning and studying. They can lean into their strengths while building strategies to make up for their challenges.

How have you encountered learning styles in schools or workplaces? Do you find the idea of learning styles to be helpful or detrimental? Did you already know that there’s no research to support the idea of teaching to students’ preferred learning styles or is this new information?

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences in the comments. Or if you received this newsletter in your email, you can just hit reply.

Note: Learning styles are not the same thing as learning needs. Students who have disabilities may absolutely need teachers to make information more accessible by changing how it’s presented. Obviously, a student who is hard of hearing may need teachers to use microphones or have a sign language interpreter. A student with dyslexia may need an audiobook rather than text to access grade-level content.