ABSTRACT
Whilst consideration has been given to how children develop their learning styles and more recently how adults then develop and adapt these, little has been investigated of the ‘grey area’ in between. Clearly individuals bring their own experiences to the learning process and during their education they will have encountered a variety of delivery methods that will have shaped how they learn. But what happens whilst an individual’s identity is developing to the interpretation and development of this learning style? If we are born with a style, how does this develop and alter? For many, leaving school and entering further education come at a time of great transition in their lives: individuals are trying to make sense of their own make-up, how to react and interpret knowledge, and discovering the absence of stable elements upon which their learning has previously occurred, such as friends and teachers as well as learning resources and methods. For a teacher it is therefore important to recognize and build upon what has already been learnt but not to take too much for granted. It is important to place the learning style in context and note the large number of factors with which it interrelates. Learning and development are not merely ascribable to the process of growing up; they are dependent upon events and experiences that occur within an individual’s environment (Gagne, 1977). Whilst all of the inputs are variables, it is the learning style that relates to the individual and can be seen as the filter that leads to the learning and development (see Figure 5.1).
