The following video explains the VARK model that was initially developed by Neil Fleming from Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1987. VARK focuses on the way people like to receive information and how they like to share what they have learned.
It makes sense to me that there are different preferences for how we receive and process information. Having done the VARK questionnaire, I come out as “multimodal”, which supports my feeling that I am not dominant in any one preference and like a mix of methods depending on the context. I think it’s important to teach students that everyone learns in different ways and developing different methods of receiving and sharing information can be helpful to us all.
VARK says nothing about trying to match teaching strategies to the learner’s study strategies in any class or group because it is what the learner does, not what the teacher does which is the VARK objective.
https://vark-learn.com/introduction-to-vark/
However, I do worry that there is a risk of wrongly categorising students or putting them in a box which discourages them from exploring a range of learning styles. From the video above shared by Main (2022), we can see that people seem more than ready to identify themselves as one type of learner (i.e. visual, kinaesthetic, etc.). They’ve clearly been told at some point what their preference is, but this makes me concerned that it can become self-fulfilling or an excuse for preferring texts to hands-on activities, or lacking strong reading/writing skills, or insufficient socioemotional development to be comfortable in group discussions. Nancekivell (2019) argues that adapting lessons to certain learning styles can be a waste of educators’ time and money and discourage students from learning through a blend of different methods. However, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that if a particular student is struggling with their learning, knowing their VARK preference can help teachers adapt their instruction to match the student’s preference for how information is received.
When teaching alpine skiing, I often notice some students in a group are not grasping the concept I am teaching and I have to find different ways of explaining or demonstrating the same thing until I can see they have understood me and can apply that knowledge themselves. For example, when teaching a centred stance on skis, some student get it right away from a combination of my explanation (aural) or demonstration (visual); some students need to try it for themselves and experiment until they feel it, or have me physically adjust their position (kinaesthetic); and some students will go away and read about it then come back the next day and tell me they now understand it (read/write).
My experience and studies on this topic tell me that in lesson planning we should use a variety of instructional methods that will correspond to a variety of learning styles or preferences for how information is received and shared. This will support effective learning for all regardless of their individual preferences. I still don’t think we need to survey every student in the classroom as this risks labelling them with a style or type that may well stick with them for the rest of their school life and beyond. However, there is a lot we can do as educators by simply observing and adapting to our students’ needs.
References
Main, P. (2015, November 15). Learning styles. Structural Learning. https://www.structural-learning.com/post/learning-styles
Nancekivell, S. (2019, May 30). Belief in learning styles myth may be detrimental. APA. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2019/05/learning-styles-myth#:~:text=WASHINGTON%20%E2%80%94%20Many%20people%2C%20including%20educators,by%20the%20American%20Psychological%20Association
Vark-learn.com (2023). VARK questionnaire. VARK Learn Limited. https://vark-learn.com/the-vark-questionnaire/