My Personal Learning Style example essay topic

My Personal Learning Style Wow! I have a personal learning style! If I had given any thought to my learning style prior to this course, I would have said simply, "Some things are easy for me to learn, and some things are not". Now I can say, "I am a grouper, a top-down learner, an owl, in the C-D quadrants, and my strong intelligences are linguistic, intra personal, and interpersonal". What all this means, still, is some things are easy for me to learn, and some things are not.

But there I go again, simplifying the matter. My learning experience throughout grade school was cast in the Traditional method, employing rote, reward-and-punishment, and repetition, repetition, repetition. It was a one-size-fits-all approach, intended to instill good behavior as much as to instruct in the rudiments of reading, writing and arithmetic. We were not encouraged to participate in the process, unless, of course, we raised our hands, and were called upon to do so, and we were not to talk out of turn. We were to be passive and receptive. This was the "right" way to learn.

It is a testimony to the great, unstoppable capacity of the brain to grow that many of us learned anything at all under those circumstances. Four decades of psychological research have taught us there is no one right way to learn. Our minds are as unique as our fingerprints. Our ability to learn is not necessarily related to high or low intelligence quotients, but rather a convergence of four important aspects of our personal learning styles.

12 First, timing is everything. My peak learning time is late at night. I am not a morning person. As a child, I would go to bed with a flashlight, so I could read under the covers without being discovered by my father, who with great exasperation would declare, "You are turning night into day". I am an "owl" not a "lark". Unfortunately for me, school started at 8: 00 AM, whether I was ready for it or not.

Secondly, some of us prefer to start with minute details and study from the bottom up, accruing information and data systematically, and building to a mastery of the topic. These people are considered "stringers". A "grouper" like me prefers less structure, a more free-formed, big-picture approach that allows divergence and eclectic side trips leading to a general understanding of the subject. The third element has to do with the four quadrants of the brain that dictate our preferences for dealing with facts or emotions, learning independently or with a group, and using logic or creativity. Ned Herrmann, who wrote The Creative Brain, has pioneered study in this area. Herrmann associates these 4 quadrants with the following characteristics: Style A: Logic, rationality, clarity, precision, efficiency, complex to simple Style B: Sequential, detailed, orderly, with a reliance on what works Style C: Sensitivity to moods, feelings, intuition, with an interest in people Style D: Originality, ambiguity, surprise, metaphor, chaos, creativity Remembering my struggles with math, I was not surprised to learn I favored the C-D styles almost equally.

3 Finally, there is no single intelligence or capacity to learn; there are at least seven. These have been defined by Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner in Frames of Mind as linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, intra personal (knowing yourself), and interpersonal (knowing others). My strongest intelligences are linguistic, intra personal, and interpersonal. I clearly see how the traditional system failed to motivate me to continue my education.

Had I lived during the time of Thomas Jefferson-a Peak Learner, if ever there were one-the expectation would have been that school was for the basics only, and on-going education was a personal responsibility. This method would have suited my learning style perfectly. Why, I may have been a great thinker! Instead, I walked away from high school believing I was not as smart as my brothers, that I wasn't a good scholar, that higher education would be wasted on me. I was the Cowardly Lion wishing to be the Scarecrow. Armed now with an understanding of my personal learning style, I can identify my strengths, pick my moments, and manipulate the circumstances to best suit my natural inclinations.

There may be times when I could choose to "flex my muscle" and employ other, less natural learning methods when the subject lends itself to a more systematic approach. I may surprise myself. At the very least, practicing other methods will give me a greater sensitivity to other peoples' learning styles, providing a platform for better communication, empathy, and understanding. Reference Skills for Lifelong Learning. (1999). University of Phoenix.

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