The Department for Education has come under fire for sending out a newsletter promoting debunked learning styles.
In its Get Into Teaching newsletter, the DfE said there were “three types of learners” - visual, auditory and kinaesthetic.
It also invited readers to take part in a quiz to determine their own “learning style”.
A screenshot of the newsletter was shared on social media by primary education lecturer Sarah Brownsword, and criticised by the DfE’s own behaviour tsar, Tom Bennett, who joked that he could not dispense of the theory.
*keeps flushing* IT’S NOT GOING https://t.co/hwjitgqu7G
- Tom Bennett (@tombennett71) March 23, 2021
“I’ve been in touch and fire from the Heavens shall fall upon it, and the earth where it stood shall be salted,” he wrote.
Update: I’ve been in touch and fire from the Heavens shall fall upon it, and the earth where it stood shall be salted. https://t.co/w3pqergcqo
- Tom Bennett (@tombennett71) March 24, 2021
Learning styles widely debunked
Mr Bennett subsequently indicated that the newsletter had been retracted.
*FLUSHHHHHH*
Finally! https://t.co/w3pqergcqo pic.twitter.com/o5skcFO7gM
- Tom Bennett (@tombennett71) March 24, 2021
The visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learning styles “neuromyth” has been widely debunked.
In fact, as Ms Brownsword pointed out, the DfE’s own teacher training framework cites a paper entitled “The Myth of Learning Styles” by Daniel Willingham.
The framework itself states: “There is a common misconception that pupils have distinct and identifiable learning styles.
“This is not supported by evidence and attempting to tailor lessons to learning styles is unlikely to be beneficial.”
In response to the newsletter, Daniel Muijs, former Ofsted head of research, tweeted: “Doesn’t surprise me. When I was at Ofsted, a civil service fast-streamer used learning styles in a presentation. She’d been taught about it in fast-stream training.”
The Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET) added: “I remember going to a conference when learning styles first hit. Those dismissing it were almost entirely from the university sector, while those in favour were not.”
The DfE has been approached for comment.
