A. Introduction to Excellence in management and leadership
2. Learning to learn
a. Learning styles & multiple intelligences
index of contents
Personal learning style(s)
The Four Learning Styles
Learning through DOING
Learning through THINKING
What is Your Learning Style?
Dangers
Reading 1
Activity 1
Activity 2
Difference between how adults learn and how children learn
Table 1 Climate factors influencing learning
Table 2 Adult to adult compared with adult to child learning
Activity 3
Learning styles and multiple intelligences
Reading 2
Reading 3
Personal learning style(s)
Not all management development activities 'fit' every individual's needs. The 'one size fits all' mentality is the very mind set that organisations are seeking to avoid in order to create management development programs that generate real competitive advantage. Not only do customised management development programs that match individual learning styles generate improved learning, but also this learning translates into an experience that impacts well beyond just the immediate goal of performance improvement. Individuals who are prepared to learn and enjoy the learning experience represent valuable human resources. Return on investment in management development is not just performance in specified areas, but also the improved capacity of the individual to learn and seek learning experiences across all work and life activities. Current thinking on capital value of all employees places a high value on the individual able to not just meet current performance requirements, but also the speed with which they are prepared to acquire the competencies associated with new work outcomes.
To identify the management development strategies best suited to a supervisor's or leader's needs, one has first to determine the individual's learning styles. The best way to do this is to complete a learning styles audit.
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The Four Learning Styles
According to David Kolb (1981) people learn differently because they have individual preferences for:
a) Learning through doing , or;
b) Learning through thinking .
Doers and thinkers differ in the way they perceive (take in) information and the way they process (do something with) information.
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Learning through DOING
Doers prefer to learn by being personally involved in learning and putting that learning into action. There are two types of Doers: Pragmatists and Activists .
Pragmatists are interested in theories but only if they are able to apply them in a practical way. As a result they are very good at finding technical solutions to problems but may have problems dealing with the people who are meant to implement them. They learn by testing theories, questioning and through hands-on experience. Engineers are good examples.
Activists rely more on instincts than theories and prefer to get things done without worrying too much about the longer term implications. They are very good at dealing with people and adapting to new environments but they may also be impatient and occasionally not be aware of all the relevant facts. Activists learn through trial and error and have a hands-on approach to learning activities. They will want to know how learning will improve their bottom line. Managers are an example.
Pragmatists and activists are different in that they focus on different aspects of information. Pragmatists attend to theories while activists focus on people issues. They are similar, however, in that they learn through putting their knowledge into action.
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Learning through THINKING
Thinkers prefer to stand back and consider the meaning of the new information and are drawn to observation and reflection rather than physical experience. There are two types of Thinkers: Reflectors and Theorists.
Reflectors enjoy being presented with ideas that they can be personally involved in and like discussing, brainstorming and group work. They enjoy learning for the sake of developing greater personal understanding of issues rather than putting that learning into practice. They are able to get along very well with other people but may have difficulties making decisions and meeting deadlines. Counsellors fit this category.
Theorists are also interested in new ideas and theories but they like to consider these from an intellectual perspective. They are very good at identifying and defining problems as well as planning and developing their own theories but are less able to apply these in a practical manner and may be prone to criticism. They learn through thinking through ideas and prefer lectures and reading to small group training. Philosophers sometimes fit this description.
Reflectors and Theorists share a preference for thinking about abstract concepts and for discovering the underlying meaning of new information rather than using that information to solve any particular problems. They differ in that Reflectors learn through personal involvement while Theorists learn through intellectual analysis.
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What is Your Learning Style?
In order to fully understand learning styles it is useful to gain an understanding of your own preference for perceiving and processing information.
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Dangers
The measure of learning styles is only meant as a guide and is not meant to describe how you behave in all learning situations. If you are an activist, for example, you may prefer to demonstrate these characteristics in many situations but you may also be able to be a theorist if the circumstances require it.
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Reading 1
LDPride.net (2001) Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligence, Making your learning style work for you! . Available at http://www.ldpride.net/learning_style_work.html
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activity 1
Complete the Kolb Learning Styles Invento ry tool. It can take up to 40 minutes to complete this tool.
Learning Styles Inventory
An alternative LSI version to the Kolb approach or
The learning styles profiler
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Activity 2
Complete the Kolb Learning Styles Invento ry tool. It can take up to 40 minutes to complete this tool.
Personal Styles Inventory
Personal Styles Inventory
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Difference between how adults learn and how children learn
In 1960 Malcolm Knowles (1978:77-78) identified seven conditions that had direct impact on adult learning.
- The learners feel the need to learn.
- The learning environment is characterised by physical comfort, mutual trust and respect, mutual helpfulness, freedom of expression, and acceptance of difference.
- The learners perceive the goals of a learning experience in relation to their goals.
- The learners accept a share of responsibility for planning and operating a learning experience and therefore have a feeling of commitment towards it.
- The learners participate actively in the learning process.
- The learning process is related to and makes use of the experience of the learners.
- The learners have a sense of progress towards their goals.
Table 1 Climate factors influencing learning
Climate Factor |
Trainer/Coach Directed Learning |
Self-Directed Learning |
Motivation |
Formal, authoritative, competitive, judgemental |
Informal, mutual respect, consensual, collaborative, participative, supportive |
Planning |
by trainer/ teacher |
Participative |
Diagnosis of needs |
by trainer/ teacher |
Mutual dialogue |
Setting goals |
by trainer/ teacher |
Participative |
Designing a learning plan |
Logically derived, course structure, curriculum |
Learning projects, learning contracts, modularised to meet needs |
Learning activities |
Determined and sequenced, off-the-job |
Independent projects, on-the-job context |
Evaluation |
by trainer/ teacher |
Participative |
It is also important to differentiate strategies for learning as an adult, and those employed for young people. Many supervisors are familiar with being 'taught' and a young person and try to employ these tactics with adult staff members. This is fraught with problems. Examine the following table as an example of just how differently adults do learn when compared with children.
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Table 2 Adult to adult compared with adult to child learning
Factor |
Adult-to-adult |
Adult-to-child |
Means-Ends |
Needs to know the ends, (what- objectives) but will work out the means (how) without help. |
Concerned with the means, rather than the ends. |
Need for feedback |
Seeks knowledge of results, wants evaluation of performance to provide specific concrete feedback. |
Avoids feedback and evaluation. Seeks approval rather than performance evaluation. |
Self-appraisal |
Measures own performance against past performance and personal goals |
Measures own performance against those of peers - tries to be the same. |
Role of money as a reward |
Considers money a reflection of achievement, rather than an incentive to work harder. |
Is directly influenced in job performance by money incentives. Work varies accordingly. |
Sense of responsibility (self-direction) |
High personal responsibility for work, if goal achievement is impossible. |
Low. Avoids personal responsibility regardless of opportunities for success. |
Challenge |
Seeks goals with moderate risk. |
Seeks goals with either very low or unrealistically high risks. |
Job satisfaction |
Obtains achievement satisfaction from solving and overcoming difficult problems. |
Obtains satisfaction from finishing a task. |
Follower vs Leader |
Initiates action. Could perceive suggestions as inference, if not properly presented. |
Follows others' directions. Looks for suggestions. |
Self-expectation |
Adjusts level of aspiration to realities of success and failure. |
Maintains high or low level of aspiration regardless of success or failure. |
Type of frontline manager required |
Questions why things are done. Will not respond positively to The Company Policy or "we've always done it this way" |
Expects to be told what to do and how to do it. |
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Activity 3
There is also a strong link between multiple intelligences you're your preference for learning and leading.
Go online and complete the multiple intelligences test.
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Learning styles and multiple intelligences
Intelligence is presumed to be a universal, probably innate, capacity where linguistic and logical use of symbols is privileged in specific cultural settings. Gardner, the founding author on multiple intelligences, challenged the assumptions of specific cultural settings and the emphasis on the linguistic and logical. He developed a set of relatively autonomous human intelligences. These are logical-mathematical, linguistic, musical, spatial, bodily-kinaesthetic, interpersonal and intrapersonal (see also the following figure), as explained below.
- Logical mathematical intelligence is the capacity and sensitivity to discern patterns. These learners have the capacity to work with numbers and engage in higher-order thinking. People with this type of intelligence like to complete experiments, solve puzzles/problems, work with numbers, ask cosmic questions and explore patterns and relationships.
- Linguistic intelligence is the most well known in the Western world. This intelligence involves sensitivity to the sounds, rhythms and meanings of words and different functions of language. It is the capacity to communicate effectively in writing or orally. Linguistic people like to read, write and tell stories. They may be good at memorising names, places, dates and other detailed information.
- Musical intelligence from a neurological perspective is the first of the intelligences to develop. Some suggest this intelligence should be called the 'auditory/vibrational intelligence' as it is more than music and rhythm. It deals with the whole realm of sound and vibration - from the natural and/or human environment, from machines, from musical instruments and from voice. The consciousness-altering effects of music, rhythm, sound and vibration are probably more powerful than any of the other intelligences.
- Bodily/kinaesthetic intelligence is probably the type most taken for granted. This intelligence is about the ability to control one's body movements to handle objects skilfully. People with good bodily/kinaesthetic intelligence do well at physical activities and crafts.
- Spatial intelligence deals with the relationships and placement of objects in the space-time continuum; that is, where one object is in relation to another. It includes directionality and everything people see: all conceivable shapes, specific patterns and designs, both regular and irregular, concrete and abstract images and the entire spectrum of colour and texture. It also includes the capacity to visualise and dream about the possible.
- Interpersonal intelligence is the capacity to discern and respond appropriately to the moods, temperaments, motivation and desires of other people. Interpersonal intelligence is about human relationships, collaboration with others and learning from and about people; it is often taken for granted. These people like to have lots of friends, talk to people and join groups. They are good at understanding people, leading others, organising, communicating, manipulating and mediating conflicts.
- Intrapersonal intelligence reflects humans' capacity for self-consciousness, the ability to step back from oneself, reflect on oneself and learn from one's reflection. People with strong intrapersonal intelligence have access to their feelings and the ability to discriminate among them and draw upon them to guide their behaviour. They have a good knowledge of their strengths and weakness (Gardner & Hatch, 1993; Vincent & Ross, 2001; Gardner, 2002).
Figure 1 Seven ways of knowing (Lazear, 1994:25*
Gardner recently added the naturalist category (Vincent & Ross, 2001) to these intelligences. Naturalistic intelligence is related to one's recognition, appreciation and understanding of the natural world. It involves the capacity to discern and discriminate among species, to recognise and classify flora and fauna and knowledge of and communion with the natural world. Gardner has also added spiritual and existential intelligence, but has not yet clearly defined these two intelligences (Plucker, 2002).
Gardner reached his conclusions based on two aspects of his work. On the practical side, he was concerned about the almost exclusive emphasis on linguistic and logical-mathematical symbolisation in school environments, and on the theoretical side, which he explored in his studies published with Hatch, the development and breakdown of cognitive and symbol-using capacities (Gardner & Hatch, 1993).
In his own studies Gardner became convinced that separate psychological processes are involved in dealing with linguistic, numerical, pictorial, gestural and other symbolic systems (Gardner & Hatch, 1993:65). Gardner found that individuals may be more talented with one form of symbol use than with others, and that there was not necessarily any carry-over to other forms of symbol use. This finding convinced Gardner that the Piagetian view of intellect was flawed. Piaget had conceptualised all aspects of symbol use as a single semiotic function, quite contrary to Gardner's findings (Gardner & Hatch, 65). Gardner's conceptualisation of human intelligence took into account a wide variety of cultural and historical settings. This stretched the concept of intelligence beyond its usual application in educational psychology, leading him to propose a number of relatively autonomous human intelligence s.
Gardner was concerned about the overwhelming emphasis in school settings on linguistic and logical capacities in the construction of items on intelligence, aptitude and achievement tests. He proposed that if different kinds of assessment instruments were used, then a different view of the human intellect might emerge (Gardner & Hatch, 1993:65). In these settings, problem solving is considered a crucial component, but the ability to design a product - to write a symphony, produce a painting, stage a play and manage an organisation - is not considered. Gardner also noted that each culture emphasises particular intelligences. For example he described the high spatial abilities of the Puluwat people of the Caroline Islands, who use these skills to navigate their canoes across the ocean, and the balance of personal intelligences required in Japanese society (Gardner, 2002). The eight multiple intelligences develop differently depending on the cultural and personal contacts of individuals as they grow. The intelligences rarely operate independently of each other, but rather are used together and complement each other (Vincent and Ross, 2001).
Gardner (1999:34) defines intelligence as:
A biopsychological potential to process information that can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create products that are of value in a culture.
He explains that intelligence is not necessarily exhibited in its raw state; rather, individuals prepare to use their intelligence by passing through a developmental process (Plucker, 2002). Critics of multiple intelligences believe that the eight multiple intelligences are a cognitive style rather than a stand-alone construct (Plucker). Gardner's response to the belief that an intelligence is the same as a domain or a discipline was to distinguish it from a domain, which he described as a culturally relevant, organised set of activities characterised by a symbol system and a set of operation. For example, dance performance is a domain that relies on the use of bodily-kinaesthetic and musical intelligence (Plucker).
Vincent and Ross (2001) provide a set of strategies for teaching learners, which draw on the theory of multiple intelligences as follows:
Linguistic : learners learn best by saying, hearing and seeing words. Have them debate issues, write instructions for others to follow, explain how to work a problem and solve problems with partners.
Logical-mathematical: students learn best by categorising, classifying and working with abstract patterns and relationships, so have them compare and contrast situations, find patterns in problems, create outlines, create time-sequence charts and show cause-and-effect relations. Let them play logic games and perform investigations of complex cases. They need to learn from concepts before they deal with details.
Visual-spatial: learners learn best by visualising, dreaming, using the mind's eye and working with colours and pictures. Have them make visual diagrams and flowcharts of facts, create graphs of information, create mind maps as a note-taking exercise and imagine and draw what they think about a situation.
Musical: students learn best by rhythm, melody and music. They learn better with music in the background. Use music to reduce stress, create jingles/songs/rap to learn information, use multimedia tools.
Bodily-kinaesthetic: these people learn best by touching, moving, interacting with space and processing knowledge through bodily sensations. Have them learn by performing the job, acting out a situation, demonstrating to others and simulating real situations.
Interpersonal: these learners learn best by sharing, comparing, relating, cooperating and interviewing. Have them role play, conduct interviews and seminars, play games, lead discussions, describe everything they do when solving a problem and interacting with the instructor.
Intrapersonal: these learners prefer to work alone on individualised projects, using self-paced instruction and having their own space. Have them keep a journal, reflect on their learning, use guided imagery to solve problems and write about what they have learned.
Teaching and learning strategies such as story-telling use a number of intelligences. Telling stories is a method of negotiating and renegotiating meanings (Jonassen & Hernandez-Serrano, 2002). Stories are an often-used device in solving complex problems; by exposing learners to stories generated at the workplace, learners are introduced to complexities of real situations, helping them develop the generic problem-solving skills essential to effective management. The learner is expected to 'reflect in action'; that is, 'on the spot surfacing, criticising, restructuring and testing of intuitive understandings' (Jonassen et al., 2002).
In appealing to multiple intelligences Veenema and Gardner (2000) offer the example of using a CD-ROM to tell a story through eye-witness accounts using close-up views of sites and artefacts. The advantage of a technology such as CD-ROM is that it is capable of presenting pictorial, aural and textual renderings from different perspectives, assisting students 'to form rich representations of an event and cultivate deeper understandings'. Students then display their understandings in many different ways: some might use language to argue, question and make connections; others might work out a narrative of events; still others might create a play, make a series of sketches, a video, compose music.
The theory of multiple intelligences explains why online learning, which often requires students to work alone and interface only with the computer, suits only a small number of students. Multiple intelligences explains the advantages derived through collaboration and the use of multiple strategies and mediums in designing online learning experiences.
The following two readings are provided to give you some more depth of understanding in learning styles, multiple intelligences and how it can influence an individuals learning and study preferences.
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Reading 2
Gardner, H. (2002). Multiple Intelligences: An Overview . Sourced December 2002, at http://tip.psychology.org/gardner.html
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Reading 3
Multiple Intelligences Explained http://www.ldpride.net/learningstyles.MI.htm#Multiple%20Intelligences%20Explained
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