5.2. Why a learning styles approach to teaching in this case?
5.2.1. Achievement and / or schooling success
As an academically driven school with high expectations for learner achievement and schooling success, the need to improve achievement levels for all became a burgeoning concern for the school‘s management team. Against the National Assessment requirements, the school‘s Vision and Mission Policy, the Annual School Schedule of results, The Annual National Assessments and Headmaster‘s reports, a mounting need
153 to deal with the gap between high achievers and those under-performing was critically identified by the school‘s management. Thus, a foremost reason for the adoption of the Dunn and Dunn (1978) learning styles approach to teaching was the need to address the problem of at risk learners and under-achievement.
Using a tracking system whereby high achievers were placed in an ‗express class‘ or ‗A class‘ and the remaining learners within ‗mixed ability‘ groupings across the grade, Participant A in describing this revealed that the school‘s management team identified a growing disparity in learner end of year results according to their track. With the goal of improving learner results and marks and narrowing this gap, the school‘s management sought and embarked on an innovative learner-centred programme, the Dunn and Dunn (1978) learning styles approach to teaching to assist individual learners cope and achieve better results across the grade. All three participants expressed this as a primary reason for why the school adopted a learning styles approach to teaching.
Participant A enunciated,
―One of the major problems that I think it is meant to address is that of learners not achieving. Upper management was concerned about the number of learners that seemed to not manage at school, who fell through the cracks, who didn‘t cope.‘‘
Participant A further qualified that though there would always be learners who would not cope in whatever school they were at there were always those who did well. However, the rate of those doing poorly was widening the gap between those who did well. The concern over at risk learners and failure prompted the school‘s management team to seriously seek a learner-centred solution to meeting individual learner' needs.
Participant C in support of the above stated,
―Management approached the teachers, encouraging them. They said that there was definitely a need for learners to learn in other ways to improve their marks. So to meet the learners with possible learning problems, our priority became to meet needs of learners and to help improve their end results.‘‘
All three of the participants expressed a sense of anxious anticipation and expectant excitement in embarking on what they eventually believed would be a successful means to understanding and meeting this gap.
The effects of this decision on learner results were captured in school records. The school‘s annual magazine of 2006 (p. 40 - 41) reported the following by learners across the intermediate phase,
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―I think that learning styles have been excellent this year because it has helped us concentrate and get better scores for our tests.‖
―Learning styles have helped me because when we have to learn for a test, I have found that the task cards have helped me achieve good results.‖
―Learning styles have improved my spelling through using mind maps. I don‘t feel pressured during spelling tests. It is so intelligent for people to think of such an idea to help children learn. This has made such an impact in my life.‖
Though led by an outside authority, imposed by the head of the school as a whole school-wide policy and approach to teaching to be phased in, and supported by a smaller majority of the management team and members of staff, all three participants were among those who fully supported the approach, training and implementation processes with the benefit of learners at heart. Teachers were excited and welcoming of the new – found enthusiasm and positive attitudes toward learning among their learners. Though measurable gains and losses in results were never formally or quantifiably compared, the general feeling among two of the three participants was that a learning styles approach to teaching did not reveal marked differences in test scores. However, all of the participants agreed that they experienced a higher level of enthusiasm, lowered stress levels and a keenness to learn among their learners. On a deeper level the need to meet national and international assessment demands, compete for higher achievement levels and successfully implement the national curriculum policy, seemed to be at the heart of this school‘s adopting the internationally researched comprehensive Dunn and Dunn (1978) learning styles approach to teaching.
However, an even deeper purpose for adopting the Dunn and Dunn (1978) learning styles approach to teaching was expressed by Participant B. She contended that it was for schooling success and not only for mark achievement. Her candid and strong belief towards learner involvement and enjoyment during the learning process for schooling success emerged when she stated,
―I take on methods from people like Dunn and Dunn (1978) that I believe makes sense to me that work in practice. Because you see, if I see a learner enjoying what they're learning, and actually getting involved in it, then for me that is success.‖
She added that she believed this to be ―the right way to give that lesson.‖ Affirming that teaching methods like the Dunn and Dunn (1978) learning styles approach to teaching go further than a set number of marks or stars in a book, and makes for far deeper learning and schooling success. Participant B declared,
―I get restricted sometimes by a certain number of marks in a book. I kind of rush through those and then find that the actual learning process in the class, the teaching process is what learners enjoy better. They
155 really enjoy better. And I think I‘m actually finally getting through to them, and that a mark is a number on a piece of paper.‖
Seeing failure as part of schooling success Participant B stated that she tells her learners that if they made a mistake the one day, a mark meant nothing. It is just a number on a piece of paper and should not have to change their lives, bring them down or make them upset about it. She stated that if they did not work well that day, then they should the next. Particularly referring to the value of such assessment strategies as the Dunn and Dunn (1978)‘s Circle of Knowledge, a group learning strategy (see Chapter 3 Section 3.6.11) used in reinforcement, revision and testing of single concepts in a non-threatening, collaborative and verbal way, Participant B stated
―The Circle of Knowledge I find very useful. Learners enjoy it. It is there for reinforcing. It is fantastic because it is not scary as the test. But I am sure that they learn more‖.
All of the participants fully agreed that teaching through a learning styles approach has certainly impacted learner morale, work ethic and motivation.
Thus the need to remain a leading academic primary school in the province, compete globally and to increase performativity as revealed through these data sets became a driving force in motivating for change.
Narrowing the gap between at risk learners and high achievers prompted the adoption towards a learner- centred pedagogy that the Dunn and Dunn (1978) learning styles approach to teaching seemingly afforded for academic achievement and schooling success in this case.