How_to_Manage_Learning_to_Account_of_Different_Learning_Styles

How do you manage learning to take account of different learning styles' [pic] GTP 2004/05 ASSIGNMENT 1 A HOUGHTON | |I taught my dog to whistle… | | | |I can’t hear him whistling!… | | | |I said I’d taught him… | | | |I didn’t say he’d learned! | | | |Peanuts | | | |Charles Schultz | | INTRODUCTION My grandmother used to make the most delicious, meltingly-light mille-feuille: my childhood memories of tea at her house are coagulated by sticky pink icing and whipped cream. My mother, by self-acknowledged contrast, cannot make pastry. Obviously, as blood relatives, my mother and my grandmother shared a genetic make-up. They were also of comparable intellect, certainly of similar artistic leaning and, otherwise, both very adept at all things culinary. Why then, despite years of practice and devouring of cookbooks (and pastries) has my mother never mastered a skill that came so readily, effortlessly to her mother' Is there a limit to learning' Or are there insurmountable physical factors that need to be taken into account' (My grandmother had unusually dry and cool hands) My mother’s approach to her ‘failing’ has been philosophical and, ultimately, resulted in her passing the pastry chef’s hat to my father – thus enabling a re-focus on menu planning and general kitchen management, her more natural strengths. Before they reached this accord, my mother attempted innumerable ways to improve her product; varying the mix or standing time, marble worktops, expensive flour, refrigerated gloves (!), weather forecasting, etc, etc… but all to no avail. Perhaps the ‘problem’ lay with the teaching style rather than the learning ability' Ostensibly, my mother was taught to cook by my grandmother and, though the bias in those days would have been towards white goods rather than white boards, given the instinctive interest in the topic, the wealth of subject-knowledge and the extensive time devoted (lovingly) to the task, it’s hard to believe this situation is the result of any pedagogical lapse. If, as Kyriacou[1] observed, “the quality of conveying enthusiasm and interest for the subject at hand is important” then my grandmother fulfilled her role (pun intended) admirably. Whatever the situation or outcome (and Kyriacou’s later statement that “the relative effectiveness of different teaching methods and learning activities is a complex one” is a supreme understatement), there is an inarguable relationship between teaching styles and learning styles – to the extent that each could be considered synonymous with the other, certainly in terms of final output. How can one investigate learning without taking into account teaching' How can one evaluate an approach to teaching without giving some thought to the receptivity of the intended ‘target’' With that in mind, two separate research activities were carried out. This research, and the data accumulated, is discussed in the next section and the results are enclosed as appendices in consolidated format and raw form. As a close to this introduction, it is perhaps worth noting (case for the defence) that my mother has never actually failed at pastry making: she simply has greater talent elsewhere. ----------------------- [1] Kyriacou, C (1998), Essential Teaching Practice, 2nd Edition. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes