What’s your learning style? And does it matter?

What type of learner are you? Perhaps you’re somebody who needs to read information and then write it down to remember it all.

Or maybe you’re more likely to retain new facts if they are presented visually, through a case study, or demonstration.

Researchers have dedicated a great deal of time to identifying different ‘styles’ of learning and developing methods to tap into each one to get the best outcome for individual students.

Since its launch in 1987, the VARK model remains one of the most enduring learning models, broadly categorising learners into four groups:

1. Visual: Those who like information depicted through charts, diagrams, maps and graphs
2. Auditory: Those who prefer to listen to information
3. Read/write: Those who like information expressed as words
4. Kinaesthetic: Those who prefer to learn through demonstrations, simulations, and videos of “real” things, as well as case studies and practical applications. 

Countless books have been written, keynotes presented, and courses designed around the idea that everybody learns via one of these four styles.

However, most experts say that we’re very rarely one or the other and that tapping into an individual’s motivation to learn could be even more valuable in unlocking the key to professional development. 

We’re all on a learning spectrum

Gavin Freeman, performance psychologist and leadership development consultant, says the idea of learning styles shouldn’t be completely thrown out, but our understanding of our relationship with those learning styles requires a re-think.

“We’re all wired in slightly different ways. What is comfortable for me in the way I understand the world may or may not be comfortable for you,” says Freeman, co-author of Don’t Let Me Die in Economy Class: How the Ordinary Become Extraordinary.

“We all have schemas, or pictures developed by the ways our brains interpret the world. We also have biases, meaning some people prefer verbal instructions, while others prefer visual instructions.”

“Our ways of learning are aligned to those schemas and biases via a variety of different mechanisms, and fundamentally there are only four recognised mechanisms when it comes to learning.”

Freeman explains that the four styles of learning aren’t exclusive or independent of each other. Instead, people need to think of themselves as being somewhere on a series of spectrums:

1. Visual/verbal: Do you prefer to listen to instructions or see them?
2. Active/reflective: Do you prefer to learn by doing or thinking?
3. Sensing/intuition: Do you tend to rely on facts or gut feelings?
4. Sequential/global: Do you like details and step-by-step instructions or do you prefer to get a sense of the bigger picture and work out the details for yourself? 

“You can do a questionnaire to gain effective insight into your particular preferences,” Freeman says.

“But the important thing to note is that it is just that – a preference. It is not an absolute. Learning style will never be an absolute, and each continuum is going to have its own level of importance to the learning style of each individual.”

Practical applications of learning styles

An understanding of learning styles is particularly important for insurance brokers, Freeman says, because they are often tasked with explaining complex information to a client who might have a very limited understanding of insurance products or levels of cover.

He suggests that if a verbal explanation of business interruption cover isn’t having the desired effect, they might consider an illustration, or provide an infographic of what might happen if the business was forced to cease trading for a period due to fire or property damage. 

Similarly, if a manager is explaining a concept to a staff member, or briefing a contractor, they should keep in mind that individuals have different preferences and vary their communication styles to consider more learners.

“If you stick to one specific style — verbal only, for example — the listener probably won’t switch off, but they may not engage,” Freeman says. 

“And remember motivation to learn is also important. If you’re in an industry that requires training, you’ll need to tap into the personal desires of individuals. Some people don’t want to learn, so there needs to be a driver for them. Is it about career progression, income, confidence, or the ability to solve important problems?”

Activating the drive to learn

Find the individual’s unique motivation to learn, Freeman says, and you will switch on their desire to engage with learning opportunities.

Rebecca Slingo, General Manager of Learning at ANZIIF, agrees. 

“Success in education is about activating the right learning strategies to switch on the right cognition,” she says.

“We use training methods or strategies to trigger or activate the cognition which, in turn, gives the student the learning outcomes they need. It’s not about styles of learning, it’s about considering that different people have different learning skills. We look for a predictability of learning.”

While no strategy guarantees learning engagement, Slingo says that ANZIIF uses educational techniques that are designed to inject predictability into the outcome. 

It’s less about giving people information, she says, and more about putting them in a supported situation where they can explore, fact-find and connect to the learning content, and then motivating them to do so.

“We shape the students’ thinking by providing experiences that are structured for the desired learning outcomes,” she says.

This also extends to engaging ‘reluctant’ learners.

“One of the methodologies for motivation is called the balance of consequences,” Slingo says.

“What are the positive and negative consequences of engaging or not engaging with the learning? We help the student understand what the consequences are of learning or not learning.”

Positive effects of engagement might be enhanced employment opportunities or the ability to provide better advice to customers. While a negative consequence of not engaging could be not having the knowledge base to do your job well, the increased likelihood of compliance issues, and reduced job performance.

When you design for maximum predictable performance, there is a greater chance of switching the learning on and creating training that works, as opposed to training that exists to tick a box, Slingo says.

“We ensure that ANZIIF training has appropriate activities,” she says. “They’re activities that always produce meaningful and productive learner engagement. Depending on what it is that must be learned, we design it to switch on the right type of cognition for the very best results.”