When faced with students who have learning skills, styles, and backgrounds very different from their own, teachers can promote academic rigor by engaging in reality pedagogy. This approach proposes seven strategies, or Cs: Cogenerative dialogues (in which teachers solicit feedback from a dissimilar group of students); coteaching (in which students…

How important is it that every student in a school is excited about learning? Should a student be allowed to use all his/her strengths in learning? Do you know someone who wasn't a particularly good student but has been very successful in life? What these seemingly unrelated questions have in common is an appreciation for the range of talents that…

This article presents comments of high school students at the Howard Gardner School in Alexandria, Virginia, who were asked, What should teachers know about students to help them learn? Twelve high school students from the Howard Gardner School in Alexandria, Virginia, describe how their best teachers get to know them and thus were more able to…

When teaching to the "typical" student doesn't work, teachers can tap into students' areas of greatest comfort, confidence, and passion and teach to their strengths. Five principles guide this work, which involves learning to recognize diverse student strengths, helping students see their capabilities in a positive light, helping students…

A learning environment stimulating enough for extraverted students may be too stimulating for introverted students (and for the teacher). (Author)

The triarchic theory of human cognition posits three types of cognitive skills: analytical, creative, and practical. Triarchic teaching means teaching to students' strengths and weaknesses. This article shows how the model can be successfully applied to improve schools' existing reading programs. (Contains 13 references.) (MLH)

A style is a preferred way of using one's abilities. People vary their styles to suit different tasks and situations. According to mental government theory, we organize ourselves according to certain government types. There are 13 styles under 5 categories: functions, forms, levels, scope, and leanings. Students receive more favorable evaluations…

Studies show that students are capable of correctly identifying their own learning styles. (JM)

Educators have three approaches to learning styles: focusing on the individual, using comprehensive models to adapt instruction to major learning differences, and identifying key elements of an individual's learning style and matching instruction and materials to these differences. One controversial aspect of learning styles is the use of…

An associate law professor recounts the incompatibility of his own professors' analytical teaching methods with her dynamic learning mode. Since learning the 4MAT principles, she has used alternative approaches to help law students move from experiential learning to abstract thought, to practical theory applications, and to development of new…

Although students may learn in many ways, the essential skills and content they learn can remain steady. As demonstrated by three teaching approaches to the study of ancient Rome, students can take different roads to the same destination. Successful differentiation is rooted in student engagement and student understanding. (MLH)

Currently, only one-third of U.S. students read at acceptably high levels. Designed for inclusive programs, Reading Styles recognizes that everyone, not just "handicapped" students, has varying strengths and weaknesses. The program identifies youngsters' individual strengths; matches reading methods, materials, and strategies to these…

Student differences in learning mathematics are categorized under four different mathematical learning styles. The names of books providing examples on how mathematics teachers can differentiate their classroom instructions are mentioned.

Active, teacher-centered instruction is not necessarily effective with all students for all purposes. (Author)

Cultures have distinctive learning style patterns, but the great variation among individuals within groups requires educators to use diverse teaching strategies. Researchers identify three kinds of information about culture and learning styles: observation-based descriptions of cultural groups of learners, data-based descriptions of specific…