Hello Lora
I am intrigued more and more these days when I see a group of possibly
related words suddenly Initially Capitalised, and that they have taken
on either a new, but usually a specific meaning. So it is with Learning
Style Inventory. Is there is discrete meaning to this threesome of
words?
Anyway, in answer to your question, I believe that there is a viewpoint
regarding Learning Style Inventory that relates to the different
strategies we develop that allow us to learn and solve problems. The
theory originates from Vygotsky and has been developed and transformed
into a practical approach by Reuvan Feuerstein in Jerusalem.
Briefly Vygotsky and Feuerstein argue that we best cope with the breadth
of learning situations by adopting and developing a wide variety of
learning strategies. We tackle the problem of learning by applying the
best strategy we have. Children usually learn a widening range of
strategies in their early years. However some, particularly if they
live in isolated communities, will not be exposed to such wide ranges.
And there are stories of children who survived many early years with,
for example a single strategy for reading until they hit Grade 12 or
University.
How well we develop, and how we can improve poorly constructed
strategies is the core of Feuerstein's work. Human mediation, between
what is being learned and the learner can vastly improve a specific
strategy. And by re-enforcing the development of the strategy, the
learner improves their range of "approaches and tools" to tackle problem
solving and new learning.
I recently talked with an adult woman who has, for as long as she can
recall been hopeless at navigation when sitting in the passenger seat of
a car. She panicked, and admitted to be absolutely hopeless. Using
Feuerstein's spatial relationship Mediation work she is a transformed
person. She'll take you anywhere, accurately and with confidence!
As an introductory book, easy to read, I suggest Howard Sharron's
"Changing Children's Minds" ISBN 1-898149-24-0.
A couple of sites to assist your exploration:-
Roy Greenhalgh
Roy Greenhalgh Associates
Townwell House Cromhall Wotton under Edge Gloucestershire GL12 8AQ
UK
--Roy Greenhalgh <rgreenh@ibm.net>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>