All of us either as teachers or parents have experience trying to explain something to a child or another adult and they do just not understand it. You know that you are explaining it very clearly and that anyone should understand, but they just don’t get it. It is as if you are speaking a different language. Well, you kind of are speaking a different language. Each one of us has a preferred learning modality. Your learning modality is the language you speak when interpreting your world. And your learning modality is not necessarily the same as your husband’s, wife’s, child’s or bosses. These various learning modalities can cause lots of problems with communication. This article will explain what a learning modality is and what you can do to communicate better with people who have different learning modalities.
What are learning modalities?
A learning modality is the way we interpret the world through our senses. Our senses are our “eyes” for the world. This is how we process the information that we get from the world and how we respond to the world. What are our senses? They are visual, auditory, kinesthetic, gustatory and olfactory. Or more simply put sight, sound, taste, touch and smell. We sometimes use our olfactory (smell) and gustatory (taste) to interpret the world. And often many memories are connected to one or all of these. But more often we are using one or two of the other 3 senses (hearing, sight, and touch).
Quite often we favor one or two of these senses rather than using them all equally. If a person is primarily visual they experience the world quite differently than someone who is primarily auditory or kinesthetic. Let’s take a look at some of those differences. One way people show their differences is the way that they talk. People who are more visual use phrases that talk about “seeing” the world a certain way. People who are more auditory use phrases that talk about “hearing” the world a certain way. People who are more kinesthetic use phrases that talk about “feeling” the world in a certain way. The chart below shows phrases that different types of people use.
Sensory Talk
Visual
Auditory
Kinesthetic
If we look more clearly.
Sounds familiar.
How do you feel about …?
The difference was like night and day.
Tell more.
There were a few stumbling blocks.
How do you see yourself?
Does what he said ring a bell with you?
I’ll get in touch with her.
It’s a bit hazy right now.
He gave a satisfactory account of himself.
It slipped through the cracks.
I see what you’re saying.
At last we have harmony at home.
I’m all shook up.
He’s such a colorful character.
They granted me an audience.
I’m not following you.
A sight for sore eyes.
She had me completely tongue-tied
Let’s sort things out.
Let’s get some perspective.
These colors are really loud.
Get a load of this!
We are a company with a vision.
I didn’t like his tone of voice.
Can you pull some stings?
We see eye to eye on the subject.
She’s a scream.
She came to grips with the problem.
It’s a bit vague.
In a manner of speaking…
Get over it.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt.
I want everybody in the room to voice an opinion.
I can’t handle the pressure.
See you later.
He received thunderous applause.
He’s a pain in the neck.
Can you imagine?
That’s as clear as a bell.
Stay in touch.
Let me make this clear.
Hold your tongue!
Hang is there.
To better understand how this would exhibit itself, let us imagine we are over hearing a conversation between the Smith’s - a husband (Hank) and wife (Sue). The husband’s preferred representational system is visual and the wife’s is auditory.
Despite the good smell of bacon and pancakes, the Smith’s are not enjoying a very pleasant breakfast.
“It’s a bright, shiny Sea Ray yacht!” exclaims Hank. “It’s beautiful! Can’t you just picture the two of us cruising around the waters down in the Keys?”
“Actually, I can’t,” says Sue icily. “All I can hear are the monthly boat bills dropping through our mail slot. I don’t think you ever listen when I tell we can have more important things to spend money on.”
Hank storms out of the house in anger, but that evening, after leaving work, he buys a multicolor picture for Sue in an attempt to win her over. Arriving home, he finds her in the living room and hands her the exquisitely wrapped picture.
“And what is this for?” Sue asks distantly as she removes the picture from its wrapping. “What’s the occasion?”
“Why, it’s just to show how much I love you!” protests Hank, feeling rejected.
“A picture doesn’t tell me anything!” Sue snaps as she briskly leaves the room.
Hank slumps down on the couch, looking at the colorful picture, confused why his gesture did not work.
What happened here? Hank is Visual. He makes sense of the world primarily through what he sees; the bright, shiny yacht, his “picture” of them in the boat, the colorful picture. Sue is Auditory. She hears the boat bills dropping through the mail slot; she doesn’t think Hank “listens” when she “tells” him something.
Can this marriage (or at least the hoped-for boat purchase) be saved? You bet. A new CD of Sue’s favorite singer– something that appeals to her ears – would sound much better to her. Here’s how Hank could have handled it had he been more sensitive to the way Sue experiences the world.
“I’m really sorry, Sue,” declares Hank in a soft, pleasant voice (after giving her the new CD). He proceeds to use some “auditory” words with his wife. “I’ll tell you what – let’s put some harmony back in this house and talk it through a bit. Does that sound okay to you?” Sue nods, taking in the suddenly more acceptable words and the meaning they convey.
Why is the way we speak to each other important? Why do people with two different modalities have trouble communicating with each other? In the story above a husband and his wife are not communicating with each other. She may not be able to visualize what he “sees” and he doesn’t understand what she “hears”. But if he tried to talk using the auditory predicates then they would be able to communicate better. If you become aware of the sensory talk of others then you will soon learn to recognize when some one is speaking in a preference other than your own, then you can adjust your speech so that you are “speaking the same language” so to speak. This greatly improves your communication skills.
Are there other ways to tell what someone’s sensorial preferences are besides their speech? Yes, there are. People express their sensory preferences in many ways. If you start to become aware of the ways people are expressing themselves you will better understand and be able to communicate better with those around you. You can also tell by all the things listed in the chart below:
Comparison of People by Sensory Preferences
Characteristic
Visuals
Auditories
Kinesthetics
Speaking pace
Fast.
Medium.
Slow and includes a lot of detail.
General
Looks matter.
Need to see proof or evidence before they take anything seriously.
Responds emotionally to the quality of sound.
Enjoys the spoken word and loves conversation, but things must sound right.
Things need to be well constructed and right-feeling.
Enjoys the way things feel.
Thinking Mode
In pictures.
Work with words and sounds.
Translate pictures, words, and sounds into feelings.
Gestures
Waves their hands around, sometimes touching their pictures when talking.
Some what less than visual.
Easygoing gestures.
Tonality
Sometimes monotonous voices
They have fluid, melodic, sensitive, persuasive, expressive voices.
Lower easygoing voices.
Eye cues
Frequently look up left and right
Frequently look side to side
Frequently look down
Wardrobe and looks
Snappy, impeccable.
They think they are snappy dressers, but may fall short.
Textured clothing with quiet tones.
Permanent facial hair.
Posture and Body
Trim body and head upright.
Some what between visual and heaver kinesthetics.
Group 1: Super fit types
Group 2: Sensitive, laid-back, down-to-earth, bighearted who may have higher proportion of heaver bodies.
Personal Environment
Surrounded by good looking stuff.
Must be acoustically pleasing and without distributing sounds.
Comfortable surrounds.
Work habits
Confident, fast decisions and where specific procedures are to be followed.
Have control because they have some kind of vision of how things should be.
Words and sound are the currency.
Slow and deliberate decisions.
Professions
Visual artists.
Broadcasters, teachers, lawyers, counselors and writers.
Athletes, dancers, emergency service, and trade folk, product sales people, workers in medicine & food business.
As you can see your sensory preferences affect all aspects of your life. They affect your wardrobe, eyes, posture, body, personal environment, work habits, and profession. Something that affects your life so strongly is worth learning more about, right? If you are interested in taking a test to determine your sensorial preferences you can find it on my website at www.A-Plus-Learning.com.
If we become more aware of our sensory preferences and those of others close to us it can help our lives in many ways. Our sensory preferences affect the way we communicate and present ourselves to the world.
Another way that our sensory preferences affect us is the way we learn. If you went online and took the test or maybe you already know your sensory preference by reading the charts. Most of us seem to favor one or two sense over the others. When we primarily use one or two sensory modes, information gets filter in different way. If you are a student in school or homeschooling, this can alter how well you do in school. This is especially a problem if the person (teacher) who is presenting the information to you does not share the same sensory preference as you. Yes, sensory preferences also affect how you teach and how you learn.
You can often tell what sensory preference a teacher has by looking at her classroom.
An auditory teacher’s classroom – The physical organization of this classroom is not immediately noticeable. Teacher and student desks are grouped together for easy group discussions. The reading table and chairs are in a quiet corner. The open shelves are neat but organized in no particular fashion. The chalkboard contains the morning “news report” to be read orally each morning. There is one bulletin board in the room with a seasonal display on it only changed occasionally. Two learning centers and a listening station are along the side of the classroom.
The listening station has a CD and a tape player. There are lots of tapes and CDs for learning basic skills, and music and sounds for listening. Each of the learning centers has a cassette recorder in plain sight. The directions for each center are on cassette tapes.
Lessons in the classroom are mainly in the form of verbal discussion and lecture. There are many discussions after lessons and student can talk to each other when completing their work. Reading instructions includes reading aloud and phonics lessons. The class does spelling bees. For math lessons, they do math games, oral math problems and oral flash cards.
Children often work in small groups for skill instructions, games and enrichment. There is a constant buzz of activities as the children have discussions and share their work with each other.
A Kinesthetic Teacher’s Classroom: The physical organization in this classroom is not evident at all. The teacher’s desk is out of the way in a far corner. Items on the desk are in disarray; the desk is used mainly as readily accessible storage space for hands on activities, supplies, and other assorted items. The student desks are along the wall with wide aisles between rows leaving the center of the room with lots of open space. Beyond the open space is the chalkboard. The chalkboard gives evidence of much use. The open shelf-space contains many items such as hands on activities, models, diagrams, and construction materials. The shelves are organized by subject and type of activity: art supplies, science activities, math manipulative, books, social studies models, and student-made art pieces. The bulletin board is near the teacher’s desk and contains geometric drawings by the children. There are no particular learning centers.
The learning aids in this classroom are of the three-dimensional, manipulative type. Cones, cubes, pyramids, rulers, protractors, clay, crayons, sandpaper, both wood and plastic blocks are numerous. A model of an ancient castle is being built in one corner. A life size human model with removable organs stands in the corner near the science shelf.
Class instruction involves a lot of acting out scenes in the open space or making human models of concepts being learned. Instructional examples are reinforced with gestures, models, and hands-on experience. Children are encouraged to write their spelling words on chalkboards or paper.
The children are welcome to move freely around the room. The chalk board is used frequently to work out math problems or children get manipulatives to help them calculate. Group instructions include acting out plays, role playing problems, as well as group discussions. Quiet talking is allowed as long as it is not disturbing others.
The Visual Teacher’s Classroom: The physical organization in this classroom is the most obvious of the 3 types of classrooms. A visual classroom is very symmetrical with desks usually in groups or rows facing the teacher’s desk. There are many colorful displays in the room, bulletin boards with the current subject displayed, and children’s work on both the walls and bulletin boards. The teacher’s desk is very neat and organized. Supplies are organized nicely in containers labeled clearly showing where things go.
There are several learning centers that are clearly marked with bright colored signs. Each center has several visual aids, charts, graphs, and pictures to assist with learning. The learning centers also contain DVD players and color coded activity cards. The letters of the alphabet are in an orderly display along the wall with other posters that help explain the subject mater being learned. There is a large wall map and the chalk board that is divided into sections for each subject and each subject is color coordinated with different colors of chalk.
The teacher makes frequent use of an overhead projector. Much instruction takes place from the teacher’s desk. Workbooks, worksheets, and pictorial presentations are often used for instruction. Reading is usually done silently stressing a sight word approach. The children use pictures clues to figure out new words. Math drill is either from worksheets or flashcards. Spelling is practiced through the use of flashcards. Instructions to the children are often in the form of task cards or printed materials. Art activities are common, usually two-dimensional, with line, color, and shape stressed. Responding to printed material is frequent.
The students need to ask permission to talk or get out of their seats. Slide films and movies provide instruction or as special activity. Coloring and picture making are encouraged for open activity periods. Written work is common.
These three classrooms could be the same grade level and right next to each other. What is very interesting is that these teachers may have no idea why they prefer their classroom this way. It is just what is natural to them. Notice also that these are the preferences for the teacher, not necessarily for the students. Students just like teachers, are individuals and differ from one another. One of ways teachers show their differences is through their classroom organization and teaching style. If the students learning style in these classrooms match the teacher’s teaching style then the student will learn easily. However, if primarily auditory student is placed in a primarily visual classroom, the student may struggle and the teacher might be frustrated that the student is unable to perform in the manner that she would like the student to perform.
Is one of these methods of learning better than the others for learning academics? Actually, yes there is. You have heard that phrase before that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well this statement is very true for learning almost all academics the visual form of learning is one of the best ways to learn. For example, if you needed to memorize the following axiom from geometry:
When two parallel lines are cut by an adjacent line the opposite interior angles are equal.
It is much easier to look at the picture and describe it, than to try to remember each of the words in the phrase.
If you imagine a picture of DaVinci’s Last Supper, there are so many details in the picture that it would take several pages of words to describe all the details or you could visualize the picture and have all the details in one place.
Visual learning is different from how the visual teacher manages her classroom. Visual learning teaches the learner how to create and use the pictures in their minds to store and retrieve the needed information. It trains you how to use your mind for maximum learning. Auditory, Visual and Kinesthetic learners can be taught to use visualize strategies which gives them the skills to learn quickly and easily in school. Even people who are primarily visual can benefit from these skills, because they can learn how to use the abilities they already have more effectively. If you are interested in learning more about learning in a visual way, contact us about classes and private tutoring at:
A+ Learning Solutions
