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Practitioners need to recognize that everyone learns differently. Therefore,
they need to practice offering various strategies for learning to students. As
learners try out different strategies, they will find what works best for them.
"To assume that one must teach to a particular learning style misses the fact
that a given student may be best taught by one method early in learning and
by another after the student has gained some competence." 80
The practitioner's role is to educate learners on the choices and to continually
discuss how strategies are working. This will help adults with their future
learning as they will be able to determine when they are being taught material
in a way that may not meet their learning preferences.
"Good teaching involves more than communicating the content of one's
discipline; a good teacher also needs both to motivate students to continue
learning and to teach them the skills and strategies needed for continued
learning." 81
Multiple Intelligences
Multiple Intelligences (MI) is a theory that addresses what the brain does with
information. It builds on the practice of looking at students' strengths and
weaknesses in learning.
Dr. Howard Gardner, the founder of the theory, proposes that there are at
least eight intelligences. Each person's intelligences work in several
combinations that are unique for each individual. That is, we all have eight
types of intelligence, but generally one or more of these intelligences tend to
predominate and this creates a particular style of learning for each individual.
There is no specific application method or instructional approach. The
application of MI is becoming widely practiced both in the K-12 schools and
more recently in adult literacy and ESL programs.82
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