Why Do People Experience Difficulty With Learning?

Why Do People Experience Difficulty With Learning?

Kenneth Boulding once said that “The willingness to make a fool of oneself is a prerequisite to rapid learning”. I must admit that I have made a fool of myself many times in the quest for knowledge. Where do I start? Learning to operate a flight simulator? Learning to speak French? Dancing Salsa? Learning to play the saxophone? Golf? Playing the guitar? Minecraft? Playing FIFA 2018? The list is endless. Am I going to stop? No! Having made a commitment to lifelong learning, I will continue learning at every given opportunity.

There are many lessons from my postgraduate study in adult learning that I still apply which confirms that we do not stop learning after leaving school. We continue to learn to adapt to the many major changes that affect our lives. I remember the day a longtime mentee called me while I was preparing for a management meeting. He skipped the usual greetings as he vented angrily about a team member that he claims is incapable of learning anything. I stole a glance at my watch and encouraged him to tell me more. All his attempts at making him do things the way he wants have failed. Why can’t he do it the way I want? When he had finished venting, I started a conversation with him around the following questions:

How did you conclude that he is incapable of learning anything? He doesn't do what I tell him to do how I want it! He responded. When was the last time you recognised the positive things he does? Silence. Do you have faith in your ability to transform people? Silence. What is his preferred learning style? What do you mean? I repeated my question. Do you know his preferred learning style? He responded that it has never crossed his mind. I quickly introduced him to Honey and Mumford’s learning styles theory. 

Learning styles, I said, were developed by Peter Honey and Alan Mumford, based upon the work of Kolb, and they identified four distinct learning styles or preferences: Activist, Theorist; Pragmatist and Reflector. These are the learning approaches that individuals naturally prefer and they recommend that in order to maximise one's own personal learning each learner ought to:

a. understand their learning style

b. seek out opportunities to learn using that style

To understand your particular learning style, I explained, Honey and Mumford developed a Learning Style Questionnaire and with the information provided by the questionnaire, you will be in a far better position to do really useful things.

Would you like to know your preferred learning style? I asked. I sent him the learning style questionnaire (LSQ) to complete. He was astonished when he got the feedback. Now imagine how you will feel if you know the preferred learning style of all your team members, I said. I added that during my postgraduate programme, we were made aware that people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may not be able to sit still long enough to focus on specific tasks. Children with autism typically have difficulty speaking, understanding language, and interacting with people. People with mental retardation, characterized primarily by very low intelligence, may have trouble mastering basic living tasks and academic skills. Are you observant enough to spot these symptoms?

I reminded him that he cannot predict the learning an individual will take from an activity. That is dependent on other factors. He needs to build confidence before addressing attitudes and behaviour. Sensing receptivity in his voice, I went on to explain the VAK/VARK learning principle, Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing and Kinesthetic, to him.

1. Visual: when someone has a preference for learning from seeing

2. Auditory: when someone has a preference for learning by listening and speaking 

3. Reading/Writing: when someone has a preference for learning from reading and writing

4. Kinesthetic: when someone has a preference for learning from touching and doing. 

I reiterated that VAK/VARK is based on the principles of experiential learning which teaches us that the learner is central to the learning process. I added that a balanced learning intervention would employ all preferences in varying degrees to achieve learning. The line manager/trainer/coach must understand the learner’s preferred learning style. This is a key element of the psychology of learning. I said that both children and adults learn a lot through observation and imitation. Many people learn academic, athletic, and musical skills by observing and then imitating a teacher. Our ability to learn new things well is determined by psychology of learning. It helps teachers to understand the best ways to educate children. It helps psychologists, social workers, and criminologists to understand how certain experiences change people’s behaviours.

As I got up to join the meeting, I advised him to make use of the principles of learning to bring out the best in his team members and gave him an assignment to read about the Seven Learning Styles.

Ogochukwu Philip-Ogbu

Finance Analyst|Project Manager|Data Analyst|Tableau|Python|Power Bi|Sql|Excel

3y

Learning about learning styles😁. This is nice as it helps future leaders like myself to know how to deal with fellow colleagues and workers. Thank you for your shared knowledge.

Victoria Anumene

Project Manager | UI/UX Designer | Agile & Scrum | Passionate about Delivering Impactful Projects

4y

Very accurate. Learning processes in Psychology class taught that a person’s learning style influences and guides the way they learn and recall information.

Olaronke Blaize SPHRiâ„¢, ACIPM

I partner with CEO’s to drive people strategy II Hired 100% of open roles on YoY basis II Global Technical Recruiter II Skilled in Managing Distributed Teams & Virtual Work Environments II People & Culture Lead

4y

Learning indeed is a lifelong process.

Adeyinka Joshua Adeyemi, PMP®

Talent Acquisition Specialist | Talent Management Consultant | Human Resources Partner | Labour & Development Economist | Project Management Specialist | Change Management | HR Data Analyst

4y

I think the "Growth mindset theory" as postulated by Carol Dweck will be helpful in changing people's attitudes towards learning. Thank you for sharing this with us Father VB.

To view or add a comment, sign in

Insights from the community

Others also viewed

Explore topics