What's Your Style?

By Diane Gudat

Optimize your students' potential by teaching to various learning styles.

Next time you teach a class, watch what happens when you yell, “Let’s get started!” Chances are the students will run to their places—the exact same places they took for the previous class, and probably dozens of classes before that. Later, when you start across-the-floor combinations, take note of which dancers move to the front of the line and which filter back in almost the same order every week.

What’s going on? Do students choose their places in class according to their nature (shy or bold) or a pecking order that they have established? Certainly those are factors. But most likely they are simply facilitating their preferred learning style. Students can be classified into four distinctive learning styles based on Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences: trial and error, visual, auditory (or verbal), and combination. Where students place themselves on the floor or in line during class reveals which type of learner they are.

Trial-and-error learners will attempt a skill and discover the need for more information on their own. They will gather information based on their failure or success at a task, then try again. These outgoing students, who tend to place themselves in the center front of the classroom or line, possess the self-assuredness to jump out and try something. If they miss the details of a step they will sometimes fake it. Although they can accomplish skills, often they cannot tell you how or why they are able to do them. They sometimes doubt the corrections they receive until they feel them on their own. These students tend to be dramatic by nature and will either laugh or pout at initial failures. But whether they do a step right or wrong, they are natural leaders because of their willingness to step forward, and others will follow them.

Visual learners must see a movement clearly demonstrated before they are comfortable trying it. They learn better from steps and counts written on the board. Visual aids and mental imagery are extremely effective with these students. They often place themselves in the back of a class so they can watch as many people perform the material as possible before attempting it themselves. These students appreciate notated steps sent home for practice purposes, and some will take notes to review when they get home. They often ask teachers to repeat a step so they can watch it more carefully.

Auditory (verbal) learners must hear a description of a step or combination and want a detailed explanation of its rhythms and movements. Correct counting of rhythms and clear descriptions are extremely important for these students. They usually ask questions and place themselves close to the front of the classroom so they can clearly hear the information. Verbal learners tend to take on the role of class secretary, remembering the material and repeating exactly what the teacher has said weeks or months later. They are usually verbal people themselves and tend to get caught talking in class, sometimes checking with other students about what the teacher said or correcting others. Many adult beginners fall into this category. They fear trying something new physically and need as much verbal information as possible to gain the confidence to begin to move.

Combination learners utilize a mixture of some or all of the previously mentioned techniques. Some will vary their approach according to the type of dance class they are taking.

Ideally all students would be combination learners. In my experience, those who learn by more than one method tend to store the material longer and work better as a team. For example, at workshops I have found that students or teachers who do not physically attempt the material being presented but instead try to rely on notes or just watching cannot recall the material at the next session as well as those who actually do the movement. And I have observed that students who are allowed to study notes based on the movement they are working on have a clearer understanding of it.

Teachers should establish which type of learner each student is and encourage them to experiment with different learning styles. Simply changing where the students stand in class may allow them to learn in a different and sometimes more effective way.

For example, moving trial-and-error students to the back of the room will force them to watch others and teach them to work in a more structured way. Bringing visual learners to the front will force them to give something new a try without so much preparation, and may help them build confidence and learn to move in a freer, more organic way. Asking verbal learners to improvise may help them step outside their rational approach and find a new creative element or a different voice that has not had a chance to surface.

This technique of changing class positions may be most effective with students who are afraid to get out in front or are simply behaving out of habit. However, many students naturally use the learning style that is best for them, and forcing them to change may not yield positive results.

Because people learn in different ways, teachers must present the class material in every way possible to ensure that all students are gathering complete information. This means incorporating counting, detailed descriptions, demonstrations, visual aids, mental imagery, improvisation, hands-on corrections, and class-position juggling in each class. Knowing how students learn may be the key to unlocking their potential and improving the aptitude level of the entire class.