At a special education meeting, there is often lots of discussion about goals that will help the teacher focus on the area of need for the student in the classroom.  And, often these goals are based on scientific and research based theories of learning.  At the end of the meeting, both parents and educators feel that they have met the academic needs of the students.  Or, have they?  According to Daniel Willingham, he wrote in his article, “You’re not a visual learner” (NY Times, 10/7/18) that there is no scientific evidence that learning styles exist.  In fact, studies and research shows that students do not learn in accordance to what is their perceived learning style.  Mr. Willingham suggests that students change the way they think when trying to understand a concept.  And, neither blame the student nor the teacher when a student may not understand a concept and use the excuse that your child can only understand in one learning style.  In fact, practice does make perfect and we can learn using any style that helps us gain information.

Thus, next time you are at your child’s IEP meeting, discuss possibilities and different ways of addressing a learning deficit.  In this way, your child’s IEP will truly be reflective of your child’s style of learning.

New York Times

October 7, 2018

Daniel Willingham

“You’re not a visual learner”