The Learning Style Myth

If you are new to a city and trying to look for directions, do you use a map, ask someone for directions or walk or drive till you figure it out yourself? If you chose one of these responses you are a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner respectively. Isn't it?

The famous visual auditory and kinesthetic or VAK/VARK learning styles are a myth.

?Click on the Spotify link to listen to the podcast version of this episode from my podcast - The Relearning Podcast

The myth is that humans have a dominant learning style predominantly from these three:

1. Learners who learn better when information is provided in the form of pictures, diagrams & charts are visual learners,
2. Learners who prefer listening to a lecture, or respond best to voices, and sounds are auditory learners and
3. Learners who prefer a hands-on approach, and 9work well with the touch and feel of an object for learning are kinesthetic learners

It is also called the VAK model V for visual A for auditory and K for kinesthetic. This learning styles myth is so pervasive and famous but it's not true. In fact, I have been guilty of promoting and spreading this myth over the years as a learning and development professional.

This misconception is based on the simple fact that visual, auditory, and kinesthetic information is processed in different regions of the brain; however, these areas of the brain are interconnected with each other allowing information to transfer between those different sensory regions.

The brain works as an integrated whole, not discrete, and closed-off compartments; talking about compartments in many schools and corporates the facilitators are boxing the learners into these visual auditory, and kinesthetic compartments and creating a learning journey with their dominant style completely ignoring the other learning styles.

One might say that he has noticed someone do better because he prefers information in a preferred mode. Such observations are linked to a psychological phenomenon called confirmation bias:

the tendency to confirm one’s belief and neglect the counterevidence. For example, those who strongly believe that earth is flat will disregard and downplay instances that are odds with the myths.

Sorry flat earthers?

A learner is successful when he experiences the learning content/material in multiple modes and forms, tests himself on the content, and tries to make meaningful connections around the content.

Using multiple methods to consume content is good learning practice.

The popularity of the learning styles mythology may have emerged from the appeal of finding out what “type of person” you are, along with the desire to learn about your personality.?And we simply love personality tests.

So, next time if you are new to a city and trying to figure out the directions, choose any option to reach your destination without worrying about your personality type.