SPECIAL REPORT | LEARNING STYLES
Learning with
V A RK
VISUAL MODE Prefers diagrams, flow charts, maps, graphs, graphic representations, highlighted text.
U
AURAL MODE Prefers learning through discussion, prefers to communicate by phone or emails and texting. Likes informal written communications.
Words by: Anne Lee
nderstanding preferred learning strategies can be a powerful tool when it comes to training your team. That’s because when people receive information in their preferred learning mode, they’re more likely to understand and retain it and then use it appropriately. Understanding your own learning preferences can make a big difference to how well you train your team members too. Canterbury-based educational specialist Neil Fleming is recognised globally for his development of the VARK questionnaire and support tools used in education and business. VARK stands for four learning preferences:
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READ/WRITE MODE Prefers written instructions, lists, manuals.communications.
KINESTHETIC MODE Prefers doing, likes videos, demonstrations, needs examples, real life situations and their experiences.
• Visual • Aural • Read/write • Kinesthetic “What people often don’t realise is that their learning preference will also be how they prefer to communicate when it comes to explaining something or teaching others. “It’s inwards and outwards – how you prefer to learn and how you prefer to train or communicate with others,” he says. So if you’ve been frustrated because people just don’t seem to be getting it when it comes to training or following instructions, it may be time to take a look at your own learning preferences and see how they marry up with your team. “If you’re strongly aural you will prefer to talk it through when it comes to learning but you may also rely heavily on giving verbal instructions when it comes to teaching.”
If your team is low scoring when it comes to aural and lean more towards kinesthetic they’ll prefer to learn through real life demonstration and doing it themselves, so your messages are going to take a lot longer to get through. Most people (55-65%) will have a combination of two or more learning preferences classifying them as multimodal and only about a third of the population will have a strong preference for just one way of learning. Neil’s VARK questionnaire allows for more than one answer to each question. It results in a score for each learning mode. If one stands out it may indicate a strong single preference but, for those with a similar score for two, three or even four preferences, adding all the scores together to get a total will give more insight. If the score is relatively low - between 14 and 26 – the person has a Type One
Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2020
