06/29/2001

The Learner's Dimension

Kathleen A. Butler, Ph.D. is the president and director of The Learner's Dimension, a staff development firm created in 1982 that provides educational programs and publications. An internationally acclaimed researcher, teacher and author in the fields of professional development, learning and teaching styles and curriculum development, Kathleen's work has been read and recognized worldwide. She has provided in-depth, site-based courses for educators throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Great Britain. Kathleen has been a member of the faculty of the Catholic School Leadership Program at Boston College, an adjunct instructor at several colleges and universities, a director of the former ASCD International Network on Learning Styles, and institute presenter for Phi Delta Kappa and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. A former secondary math and history teacher, she received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Connecticut in 1982, and specializes in providing in-depth courses on her work. For additional information: http://www.learnersdimension.com

Thank you, Dr. Butler, for sharing your perspectives about learning styles with the SNET Internet audience.

Children with Style
By Kathleen A. Butler, Ph.D.

Parents often say that their children are as different as night and day. "My son is just like his mother. I don't understand either of them. But my daughter and I see eye-to-eye." At other times both parents comment, "She's so different from either of us. We're always surprised at her way of thinking."

Parents who talk about their children's styles want to understand their children as unique individuals but also have concerns that their children relate well to the world around them. Considering style differences in personality and in learning can take the mystery out of our children's behavior and outlook. When all is said and done, parents want their children to work from their own gifts and talents, but to also have the skills to be flexible and effective when they must work in ways that are less natural to them. In other words, parents want their children to develop balanced learning abilities.

Parents play a significant role in their children's education by being close to their children at home and by developing a positive relationship with their teachers. From a teacher's point of view, parents are the best advocates for their children because they have opportunity to observe their child at his or her natural best, in his/her most unguarded moments. These are the times in which our children "tell" us how they learn best, through their behavior, comments, insight and creativity.

Teachers learn about each child within the community setting of school and the social structure of the classroom. Together, teachers and parents can be exceptional advocates for every learner when they work together to understand and develop both the individual needs of the child and the needs of the child as a member of a community.

Children need to develop their own strengths as persons and as learners, but children truly flourish when they can both use their strengths and have skills to be flexible in many ways. The purpose of working with style is, therefore, threefold:

• To honor and address the natural gifts of each learner.
• To help each child become a thoughtful, self-directed learner capable of meeting high academic expectations in his/her best way.
• To help each child develop skills of flexibility for self and skills of capability with others.

1. Realistic Style
   • needs and enjoys structure, clear definitions, specificity, predictability
   • likes to work with hands-on projects
   • pays attention to time and detail
   • creative in structured, precise ways, e.g. builds state set for the school play

2. Analytical Style
   • admires logic, wants expert teachers, loves academics
   • needs quiet environment to think and work; works in depth
   • reads at an early age, usually; likes ideas, debate, logic
   • creative by showing depth of knowledge, e.g. participates on debate team

3. Pragmatic Style
   • practical problem-solver; finds ways to get things done
   • knows how to shortcut details; fascinated with strategies
   • loses interest easily in routine work; looks to do things
   • creative in adaptive ways, e.g. streamlines how food drive is run

4. Personal Style
   • extremely sensitive to own and other's feelings; can be physically upset over conflict
   • flexible, accepting and responsive to positive aspects in others
   • does best in cooperative groups through discussion and writing
   • creative in humanistic, interpretive ways, e.g. excels as a peer counselor

5. Divergent Style
   • like finding out-of-the ordinary answers to problems; doesn't want to be like everyone else
   • is a risk-taker in the eyes of others; tries what others do not imagine
   • enjoys seeing "what will happen if . "
   • creative in original, unique ways, e.g. finds way to develop student program against the odds

• give open-ended assignments, develop flexibility and reduce perfectionism for the Realistic Learner

• give nontraditional assignments for seeing another's point of view to reduce the critical edge for the Analytic Learner

• give in-depth assignments and conceptual work to help the Pragmatic Learner take details more seriously

• give specifically structured assignments which require memorizing details and facts to the Personal Learner to help this student take things less seriously

• give structured, detailed assignments with deadlines to the Divergent Learner to see how their actions affect others

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