3.4 Learning and teaching strategies: the psychological perspective

It is a commonly held view that one of the purposes of identifying learning styles is to match teaching methods to learning styles. In many classrooms, however, this may not be realistic and can place considerable pressure on teachers.
There are two points of importance to be considered. These are:

The importance of ensuring that classroom activities and materials are sufficient to meet a range of styles.

Assistance should be given to students to ensure that they have an awareness of their own learning style.

The key point is that when planning and developing materials, tasks and other teaching resources the potentially diverse range of styles that will be evident in the classroom needs to be considered.
The following suggested procedures can be followed when planning for learning styles teaching:

Diagnosing individual learning styles.

Determining significant student's strengths and weaknesses.

Examining subject content for areas that may create problems for learners with weak skills.

Analyzing student's prior achievement scores and other products (curriculum referenced tests, skill tests,

portfolios, etc.) for patterns of weakness that may reflect cognitive skill deficiencies.

Assessing current teaching methods to determine whether they are adequate or require more flexibility.

Modifying the learning environment and developing personalized learning experiences.

3.4 Learning and teaching strategies: the psychological perspective

Teacher's perceptions, teaching style and willingness to engage in learning styles and help students to take charge of their learning are basic to the success of learning strategies/styles teaching.
One of the issues relating to meeting the needs of diverse groups of learners in the classroom is the teacher's personal experiences and of course the teacher's own personal learning style.
Some learners will feel more comfortable with certain teachers. It is important therefore that teachers are aware of their own learning style and aware of the kind of teaching situations they may feel less comfortable with.
The academic culture is a key element in how a teacher may relate to his own style.
The question most frequently raised is: how can teachers cater for the full range and diversity of learning styles in their classes? This is a reasonable question and the answer to this question lies in fact in one word that was used by the questioner - diversity.
Any lesson, no matter what one is teaching, needs to cater for diversity. Teaching approaches and materials need to be diverse and match a range of styles a range of styles. By doing that the teacher may illustrate a point by getting the students to act out or dramatize the material that is being learnt or provide visual examples.
Principles to motivate all learning strategies/styles include:

Ensuring that teaching and planning incorporate a range of styles and that there are activities that can

accommodate to visual, auditory, kinaesthetic and tactile learners as well as having areas of the room to accommodate different environmental preferences.

Raising learner's awareness of their own learning preferences/styles.