(2009-09-26) Jukes Vs Learning Styles

IanJukes challenges the idea of classifying kids (Educating Kids) by Learning Styles. Researchers have been conducting experiments on learning styles for 50 years. They've been tested with the sorts of materials that kids encounter in schools. They've been tested with kids diagnosed with a learning disability. There just doesn't seem to be much evidence that kids learn in fundamentally different ways... Some lessons click with one child and not with another, but not because of an enduring bias or predisposition in the way the child learns. The lesson clicks or doesn't because of the knowledge the child brought to the lesson, his interests, or other factors. When you think about it, the theory of learning styles doesn't really celebrate the differences among children: On the contrary, the point is to categorize kids.