“Please stop fidgeting and pay attention,” Mary says to her 15-year-old son, slouched on the couch beside her. Brian straightens up and tries to look interested.
Story by Corinne Burrows, Learning Styles Facilitator
“Relax, he is paying attention and listening,” I said at our first interview. “Fidgeting is his way of helping himself to focus.” Brian looks up in surprise, and his mother looks curious.
Brian is an underachiever at school. Bright, healthy and normal, he is a right-brain learner whose learning profile indicates strong tactile and kinaesthetic needs. He, like so many other boys at school, often prefers to sit near the back of the class, away from the teacher’s gaze.
Finding it hard to sit still, keep quiet and focus for a whole class period, and caught in the painful snare of boredom and restlessness, Brian is frequently punished for “messing around” and not working hard enough.
As a result, Brian is de-motivated, doesn’t know how to learn and secretly believes he is fundamentally flawed and stupid.
Actually, Brian has wonderful learning strengths and, once shown how to make good use of them, he finds his fear is replaced by a new-found confidence and enthusiasm to learn.
“The remarks that the teachers are writing are incredible,” says Brian’s mom. “I cannot believe the turnaround. One educator said: ‘You are now actualising the full potential we have been telling you about.’”
Research on how the brain learns shows us that we have multiple types of intelligence and different learning styles. Unique as our fingerprints, no one type or style is better than another. Research also shows that one of the main differences between high achievers and underachievers in school seems to be that high achievers are predominantly left brain learners, while many underachievers are likely to be right brain learners. The level of achievement is determined by the traditional education system favouring left brain learners.
The challenge for underachievers is to be able to identify and work with their particular learning strengths, so they too can taste the sweet fruits of success, and surprise themselves and everyone else with their newfound abilities and achievements.
Looking at the world of work, an individual’s learning style is also his/her working style. Too few adults currently work to capacity.
In Stephen Covey’s book The 8th Habit he says: “Can you imagine the personal and organisational cost of failing to fully engage the passion, talent and intelligence of the workforce? It is far greater than all taxes, interest charges and labour costs put together!”
Contact:
Corinne Burrows, Learning Styles Facilitator
Tel 031 765 5447, 082 420 0930
Email corinne@getwithit.za.net