Psst...
Did you know that Working Style Analysis (WSA) can:
· make you more efficient at your current job
· help you retain your current job by proving how suitable you are for the position you’re holding
· prove to a potential employer that you are the ideal candidate they’re looking for?
To find out how, please check this page next week...
... however, you can find a partial answer in this article.
· Why is it that the same group of students will behave perfectly with one teacher but act up in front of another one?
· Why are some classes notorious as “the bad” ones?
· What can the school do?
That’s 3 questions, but the answers all in Creative Learning’s special Style Assessment tools.
It’s all a matter of latches and mismatches. Every student has a unique Learning Style. Every class has a unique Group Profile. Every teacher has his or her unique Teaching Style. It’s as simple as that.
While some principals use the teachers’ teaching style (TSA) to decide which teacher should teach which group of kids, most schools don’t have that luxury.
What they do instead is compare the TSA to the group profile of the class once they've assigned teachers and classes, in order to determine what the potential areas of tension might be. For example:
· The teacher functions best under bright light, but 80% of that class's students need dim light to concentrate.
· The teacher is an analytic while the class is holistic.
· The teacher teaches visually, the students learn best kinaesthetically.
Once the school knows where the mismatch lies, they can put preventative measures in place to avoid conflict. In the examples above, the following solutions could be implemented:
· The teacher uses a desk light which only lights up her area.
· The teacher, aware of her analytic style and the students' holistic one, plans lessons in a way that caters to the needs of the students, e.g., starts with objectives and goals, uses anecdotes, etc.
· The visual teacher gets ideas about kinesthetic methods of teaching from colleagues, web and CLS.
TSA is not an evaluation tool of the teacher or the teacher’s skills. It is a diagnostic tool to help the teacher use her strengths and the strengths of the students in her class in order to avoid conflict and create a fun place for learning.
Do you know what Creative Learning’s best-kept secret is?
You won’t believe it.
It’s the good old Group Profile.
Group Profiles have been around for more than a decade, and yet our latest research shows that fewer than 30% of the teachers know how to use it to make their lives easier.
A group profile is a summary of all the learning strengths and flexibilities in your class. It explains what makes your pupils:
· Misbehave
· Not do their homework
· Do poorly in tests
· Hand in their projects late
Creative Learning instruments for assessing Learning Styles identify 48 learning elements. That’s a lot of information to remember per student! Group Profiles give you a snapshot of your students’ learning needs and pitfalls.
As a teacher, you have your own unique Teaching Style, too. Is it compatible with your class’s Group Profile? If your one of your student groups seems particularly unruly and underachieving, have a look at their Group Profile and compare it to your Teaching Style.
Question: I’ve heard that listening to music while studying helps children with their grades. Is that true?
Answer: It depends on the child’s Learning Style. Some students learn better in a quiet room. Others concentrate better in an environment with lots of background noise, such as the sounds of the city outside the window, the sounds of the family going about their routine tasks, the sound of soft music.
Have a look at a sample Learning Style Report to see it in action.
Question: So if my child’s Learning Style shows they have a strong preference for background noise, I should let them have the radio or the TV on while they’re doing homework?
Answer: Not quite. While it’s a good idea to ensure the room has some sort of background noise for those learners who need it, not all background noise is equal. Loud noise, a movie or inappropriate music (pop, rap) will actually distract the learner, no matter what their Learning Style strengths may be.
The best music to play for learning purposes is Classical Music such as Mozart, particularly if the student needs to be creative. For repetitive tasks, Baroque-style music is better. You can learn more about the use of music in learning through our training courses.
Question: How can I find out what my son’s Learning Style is and whether music is good for him?
Answer: Please see here for more information.
My Parents Won’t Let Me....
Have you ever looked at Bebo, MySpace or Yahoo forums for youngsters? They are full of troubled teens and messages such as:
Call it the Generation Gap, call it a perfectly normal domestic power struggle, call it what you will. But the fact is, arguments at home are neither pleasant nor constructive. They don’t help us raise our children and, in extreme cases, they may lead straight to the silent killer called stress.
What You Can Do
Part of your job description as a family is Communication. Unfortunately, however, the way you communicate depends on your Learning Style, which will be unique for every family member.
A Learning Style is the optimal way in which a person concentrates, learns new concepts and memorises information.
Consider how your spouse and children absorb information best.
If, for example, you are an auditory person, you will want to talk about any issues you may have. But stop, wait, think. Is your family as good at listening as you are at talking? If they are readers, though, you will be better off to send them an email... peculiar as it may sound!
If you tend to think sequentially, you will want to start at the beginning. If your family has holistic preferences, however, they will want you to skip the details and get to the point long before you’re ready. You will have a better chance of being understood if you give them an overview or the reason for the discussion in the first place.
(For the complete picture of all the elements that make up your Communication style, please see our LSA Pyramid.)
Is your family visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic? Do they think sequentially or holistically? Have a look here.
