What does this mean to an instructor? Simply put we need to consider the different reasons and ways that people learn. Students can be auditory, visual and tactile learners. Students can be intuitive or logical learners. They can be active or reflective learners. They can be independent or teacher dependent.
Of course diversity can have a massive impact on how students learn. Their culture, race, socio-economic position or whether they live with disabilities can all impact how a person learns.
What can we do as instructors? Below this AI generated diverse learners image I give some simple tips…
Here are some useful tips to help support a diverse classroom:
- consider doing a learning style assessment
- teach as a team so that you can complement your teacher partner’s style of teaching
- From time to time mix student groupings for activities
- Mix teaching modalities
- Use oral and visual cues
- Be comfortable with silence from time to time when teaching