Week 9 # 1: Learning Strategies, Styles and Multiple Intelligence

Hello Everybody!

I welcome you all to the post of our eight week in this wonderful and rich course.

This week I read articles about learning strategies, learning styles and the theory of multiple intelligence. A good teacher must understand that different learners learn in different ways and possess different types of intelligence. Thus a good teacher should be able to blend various teaching approaches to meet the learners' demands. This will then lead to balanced teaching and balanced learning. Identifying, overtly teaching, and encouraging learners to consciously apply various learning styles in class is key to success. The balance that such teaching and learning embody is captured as follows:

Everybody is active sometimes and reflective sometimes. Your preference for one category or the other may be strong, moderate, or mild. A balance of the two is desirable. If you always act before reflecting you can jump into things prematurely and get into trouble, while if you spend too much time reflecting you may never get anything done.

Source: LEARNING STYLES AND STRATEGIES is active sometimes and reflective 

In this way, we will teach our learners to become strategic learners. Learners who know what to study, how, when and where to study it. Following are the benefits that strategic learners enjoy:

What happens to students when they become strategic?– The following outcomes can be expected:–
• Students trust their minds.–
• Students know there’s more than one right way to do things.–
• They acknowledge their mistakes and try to rectify them.–
• They evaluate their products and behavior.–
• Memories are enhanced.–
• Learning increases.–
• Self-esteem increases.–
 • Students feel a sense of power.–
• Students become more responsible.–
• Work completion and accuracy improve.–
• Students develop and use a personal study process.–
• They know how to “try.”–
 • On-task time increases; students are more “engaged.”–
Source: American English: Learning Strategies

You may want to know the various forms of intelligence that teachers and learners collaboratively strive to achieve in their classes. Then, take this:

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences 
1. Verbal-linguistic intelligence (well-developed verbal skills and sensitivity to the sounds, meanings and rhythms of words)
 2. Logical-mathematical intelligence (ability to think conceptually and abstractly, and capacity to discern logical and numerical patterns)
 3. Spatial-visual intelligence (capacity to think in images and pictures, to visualize accurately and abstractly)
 4. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (ability to control one’s body movements and to handle objects skillfully)
5. Musical intelligences (ability to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch and timber)
6. Interpersonal intelligence (capacity to detect and respond appropriately to the moods, motivations and desires of others)
 7. Intrapersonal (capacity to be self-aware and in tune with inner feelings, values, beliefs and thinking processes)
 8. Naturalist intelligence (ability to recognize and categorize plants, animals and other objects in nature)
9. Existential intelligence (sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence such as, What is the meaning of life? Why do we die? How did we get here? (Source: Thirteen ed online, 2004)
Soucrce: Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

As a language teacher, verbal-linguistic intelligence is of prime importance to me and my learners, but all learners must to grow into journalists, writers and interpreters (common careers for those with this form of intelligence). We also need accountants and managers (logical-mathematical intelligence), painters and architects (spatial-visual intelligence), physical education teachers and coaches (bodily-kinesthetic intelligence), musicians and DJs (musical intelligence), human resource officers and politicians (Interpersonal intelligence), as well as philosophers and environmentalists (intrapersonal, naturalist and existential intelligences). Society needs all of them the way our bodies need all their members. This necessitates balanced teaching and learning.

The above reflection has been born our of this week's readings and Nicenet discussion task.

Another exciting thing I did this week is that I made finishing touches on my final report draft and submitted it. I am highly indebted to all  course participants who made valuable suggestions to improve the quality of my report, though I shoulder the total responsibility for any errors still found in it.  I also completed the online survey/evaluation for this course and must confess that it was well conceived!

Look at the following photos of mine, please.

Don't I look like a DJ in them? Hahahahahaha! Hahahahaha! I think I do look like one. You can call me here DJ Nsah Mala. Hahahaha! Just laugh and relax from the stress of working on our final reports.

Enjoy the rest of this week. Best of love from Yaounde, Cameroon.

Nsah Mala
Cameroon