Inspiring Tomorrows Leaders

One of the biggest challenges that teachers face is to find ways to succeed with all of their students, not just those with whom they have a natural affinity. Too often we accept that we simply cannot reach all students, and to approach some students as unsolvable puzzles – less able or less inclined. Even the most talented and well-trained teacher can find many students difficult to work with. Often these problems are rooted in substantive emotional and/or behavior issues, but more often our difficulty understanding or promoting the success of particular students is a result of fundamental incongruities in cognitive preferences and learning styles.

Research into teacher and student differences suggests that when teachers do nothing other than what they are prone to do, similar-typed students do better in their classes, enjoy the experience more, and are viewed more favorably by the teacher. Conversely, students who are less similar to the teacher by type are less successful, report liking the teacher and the class less, and even receive lower grades on average. However, when teachers take steps to understand and mitigate issues related to incongruence, these effects are minimized.

Given the fact that any class of students will be diverse in their learning styles and cognitive orientations, it is important to find solutions that will benefit both the teacher and all of his or her students. Presented with this reality, some teachers respond with denial and/or indifference. They choose to ignore the issue and approach all students from their uniformly narrow set of attitudes and practices. Without a great deal of luck, this approach is usually a lose-lose proposition in the end – unhappy students and a frustrated teacher.

Many teachers upon becoming aware of the reality of the incongruence of their teaching style and their students learning styles set out to change their personalities to adapt to the styles of their students. This is a well-intended solution, but in the end it is overly taxing and unhealthy for the teacher, and a lose-win solution. Still other teachers, having learned of their students learning styles, set out to design an individualized program of instruction for each student. Again this is a noble effort, but the cost in time and effort makes this impractical for teachers with even modest class sizes.

A growing number of teachers are adopting an approach incorporating multiple intelligence (MI) theory. The results are usually improved teaching performance and classroom that meets the needs of more learners. However, MI theory is limited in that it is not particularly useful in diagnosing student needs, helping make sense of differences, or providing insight or direction for those attempting to build relationships with those of incongruent types.

To achieve an approach to teacher-student incongruence that could truly be considered win-win, it must be systemic but practical, and be an asset to the teacher at the same time it promoted student growth and achievement. Ideally, diversity would be approached as a benefit, rather than a liability. Moreover, a truly successful approach would allow the members of the classroom community to be themselves succeeding to their potential and value the gifts of the other members of the community.

People are different, and learn in different ways.

All students are different; including the way they learn and perceive information. As a student, you will encounter different instructors with varying teaching styles.

By understanding how your personality type affects your natural tendencies in behavior and learning style, you can take steps to effectively cope with varying teaching styles and increase your chances for academic success at Western Nevada College.

Which is why one student might enjoy chemistry while another cringes at the word? You might feel inspired by one particular faculty member while your friend thinks the same instructor is uninteresting. Perhaps you feel comfortable writing papers but have trouble with math, while your friend is the opposite. One student might do best by completing assignments at the last minute, while another outlines and follows a schedule to complete the work. And you may wonder how Cathy manages to get good grades when she never seems to have anything organized. All of these are connected to our personality type and our preferred way of doing and viewing things.

Try this experiment. Sign your name on a sheet of paper as you normally do, then sign your name again with your opposite hand. Although either hand can be used for writing, most people would describe the experience using the “regular” hand as feeling natural and competent, while using the other hand requires effort and feels awkward. Though you could use the non-preferred hand to write if necessary, imagine how difficult it would be if you were required to write with this hand throughout a work or school day. We have the same kind of personal preferences in our learning styles.

Learning styles are the characteristic ways in which an individual acquires, perceives and processes information. When we are in a classroom environment that matches our learning style, everything feels right. The professor is stimulating, the material exciting, the work enjoyable. But if the environment does not match our preferred learning style, we feel out of place, uncomfortable, and unable to do our best.

There are no right or wrong, or good or bad learning styles, just preferred styles. Understanding learning styles and personality preferences can help you, as a student, succeed academically. This knowledge can help you to “learn how to learn.” Further, it provides an important dimension of self-discovery and personal growth.

To overcome this issue, Educationalists of Pakistan in collaboration with Qamar Consulting has introduced four days training program named.

TYPE based Teaching Skills Course is specifically design for teachers in order to facilitate them in reaching all of the students most of the time by understanding and managing human differences, After attending this course, teachers will be able to understands themselves and identify their innate teaching style so that self-biases during teaching can be better managed which will overcome the issue of disconnections between teachers and students & lower level of learning among students. Teachers will learn to accommodate their students of having different Learning Styles, through which creative learning & understanding can take place which will result in wellbeing & success of students and institutions.

After attending the Type Based Teaching Skills Course the participants will be able to learn and use type insights to:

 Develop a clear understanding of their behaviors based on personality type

 Understand their teaching style and how they differ from others

 Understand the different types of students and how they differ in their learning styles

 Flex their teaching style to accommodate all the 16 types of student’s learning styles to increase their teaching effectiveness in class

 Increase overall teaching effectiveness and motivation of students to enhance the learning process and class performance using type insights.