Learning Perspectives

According to the website Brainia

‘People learn in different ways’ – Explain these differences 

All people have various strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the learning process. Kolb (cited in Bingham and Drew 2004, p211) suggests that we as individuals all have an actual preference to how we learn and identified four main areas of learning that people can compare and relate themselves to. By knowing which style someone categorically falls into can help determine areas of learning which might be necessary to improve upon so as to become a better learner.

For someone to know their own preferred way of learning is an advantage in any academic circumstance, or any other situation for that matter. Many people do not even realise that they learn in one preferred way over another. It is not determined that there is a correct or incorrect way of learning – there are just simply different ways of doing it. Kolb (1984) identified four main ways in which people tend to learn. He labelled them according to the characteristics of the learning type and came up with the following model (cited in Bingham and Drew 2004, p211-p212):

Concrete – People that tend to learn in a concrete way will prefer to focus on the here and now rather than on generalisations or theories; their focus is placed on feelings and intuition; they prefer to be involved with people and like being engaged in real situations; they enjoy receiving feedback which is about them personally.
Reflective – People that tend to learn in a reflective way will place focus on the meaning of things by careful observation of ideas and situations; they will prefer to know how things actually happen; they are confident of their own opinions and thoughts; they do not like situations where there is a need to get something done.

Abstract – People that tend to learn in an abstract way will focus on the logical side of situations; they like to explore theories and concepts and are good at planning; they prefer to think alone rather than being involved in group discussions; they do not enjoy talking about personal feelings or receiving personal feedback.

Active – People that tend to learn in an active way enjoy being able to influence people and conditions of situations; they tend to be ‘go-getters’ and prefer doing things rather than observing them; they like homework projects, small group discussions and being able to apply a skill to a practical project; they are skilled at getting things done and value seeing results. 

Kolb (1984) reasoned that there is also a cycle of learning that people should follow. Each stage in the cycle relates to one of the ways of learning that Kolb (1984) identified as previously mentioned. For anyone to learn competently all the stages in the cycle should be followed and completed to at least some extent otherwise the learning cycle is not completed fully. 

Bingham and Drew (2004) adapted Kolb’s (1984) learning cycle and came up with their own version of the cycle which demonstrates how to learn effectively and is shown below. The way of learning that is associated with the stage in the cycle is shown in brackets:


Kolb (1984) suggested that there are also four learning styles which correspond to the four ways of learning. Each style aims to pinpoint the key factors that influence the ways people learn. 

Convergent – These peoples have good decision making skills, are good at solving problems and like experimenting; they prefer to be solving a technical assignment or problem rather than solving people problems.

Divergent – Divergent people have good imaginative ability and can look at a situation from many angles; they tend to be aware of people and their feelings and are aware of the meaning in things and their values.

Assimilative – These types of people have an ability to look at evidence and draw conclusions based on the information and details; they tend to focus more on abstract ideas and concepts rather than on people

Accommodative – Accommodative people like to be involved in new experiences; they like trying things out to see if they work; they actively seek out new opportunities and do not shy away from taking risks; they can easily adapt to new and changing situations. 

Based upon the learning styles as described above, individuals can categorise themselves into one or more of the learning approaches and identify personal strong points and weaknesses. Kolb’s (1984) model makes it possible for someone to identify the areas in which they do and do not tend to apply themselves naturally to. This enables them to distinguish areas in which they might want to place more focus on to develop and improve their learning techniques.

Based on this information it is easy to see why some people excel in areas that others shy away from. The fact that people have preferences to how they learn as individual’s plays an important factor as to how likely someone is to stay focussed on any given academic task. Teachers should acknowledge that as individuals we all have weaknesses and strengths and although it is difficult to adapt teaching methods around this matter, it should always be taken in to consideration. 

So to summarise, it is acknowledged that people have preferences in the way they learn. There is no right or wrong way that people should learn but it ought to be noted that to learn in the most efficient way, people should try to make a point of applying different techniques to their current preferred method of learning.