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what you mean." Read her a menu in a restaurant and she'll have to
look at it herself. Buy her a present and you can't go too wrong with a book - but check
to see whether she's print oriented or prefers pictures. If the latter, she might even
prefer a videotape. Most visual learners, but not all, tend to be organized, tidy and well
dressed.
An auditory learner generally couldn't care less
about reading a book or an instruction manual. He'll have to ask for information.
He doesn't buy a car for its looks - he buys it for its stereo system. In a plane he'll
immediately strike up a conversation with his new neighbor. And when he grasps new
information, he says something like: "I hear what you're saying." If you buy him
a present, make it a tape recorder, not a book.
A kinesthetic, tactile learner always wants to be
on the move. If she bumps into you accidentally, she'll want to give you a
reassuring hug. When she grasps a new principle, "it feels right" to her. And
for her Christmas present: a laptop computer?
Your unique working style
Since the early 1990s New Zealand-based Barbara
Prashnig, who heads the Creative Learning Company, has introduced the Dunn and Dunn model
with great success in New Zealand primary and secondary schools and among MBA students at
the University of Auckland.
"People of all ages can learn virtually anything
if allowed to do it through their unique styles, through their own personal
strengths," she says in Diversity Is Our Strength: the learning revolution in
action. 12
She
has also built on the Dunns' research base to build practical program for analyzing
individual students' learning styles, anyone's individual working style, plus individual
teaching styles and training styles.
"Working style," she says, "can be
defined as the way people in the work force usually absorb and retain new and difficult
information, think or concentrate, generally do their daily work, and effectively solve
problems."
By inquiring through the World Wide Web, anyone can
quickly receive a computer printout showing strengths to build on and weaknesses to
overcome.13 "It's therefore ideal,"
she says, "for both individuals and companies looking at applications for any
position."
Her learning-style, working-style and teaching-style
programs are
Contents Page Preface
Introduction
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