Varieties of learners

April 1, 2017 Educator's Corner Opinion

“Every child has a different learning style and pace. Each child is unique not only capable of learning but also capable of succeeding.” -Robert John Meehan
In my thirteen years of teaching, I have come to realize the students’ learning differences. I myself tried different strategies based on my own observations and my own learning terms.
Intelligent know-hows are the well-rounded students, at the same time creative and industrious. While the intelligent know-what are the students who don’t seem to care if they excel or not as long as they enjoy their life in the classroom. Some of them are choosy of their subjects because they don’t excel in some of the subjects.
The silent thinkers are the students who seem not to exist in the classroom because they don’t even dare to speak or recite during the class discussions. Some of them belong to the top performing students in the class, some belong to the average level, and some of them are considered the goats in the class. After some time, some of these silent thinkers would surprisingly come back to school and tell stories on how successful they are in the world of oral communication, a path we never expected them to follow.
Vocal bullies are those who verbally malign others but do not really hurt them physically. In addition, they love teasing and pissing off their classmates. They usually are so insensitive about the words they utter. Some of them are the disturbed and would blame their traumatic experiences for such act.
The violent bullies are those who do not only verbally malign others but hurt them physically. Others would say it is part of their gang initiation and “kursunadahan.” However, cases would be associated with traumatic experiences like physical or verbal abuse.
The tender, loving care (TLC) students are students with special needs. Dealing with them really requires patience, understanding and skill. They are in the class as part of inclusive education program of DepEd.
I call the students who neither belong to the mentioned types of the students as the pacifiers because they balance the classroom atmosphere.
These types of students have different preferences and learning styles; nevertheless, they all deserve to be treated fairly. Moreover, varied activities are given to suit their needs. It’s hard to deal with a class with different personalities and behaviors, but once we have taught them, we will forever feel the sense of fulfillment. Joeferino M. Guinumtad (Pines City National High School)