Learning Styles: Bunk AND Inherently Racist?

There's this fuzzy idea that people have "learning styles", somehow related to Gardner's theory of  "multiple intelligences".   There's the equally fuzzy corollary that if you match instruction to a person's natural "style" or "intelligence", greater learning will take place.  Too bad the data don't support the corollary.  As Will Thallheimer wrote:

Let me be clear, my argument is not that people don't have different learning styles, learning preferences, or learning skills. My argument is that for real-world instructional-development situations, learning styles is an ineffective and inefficient waste of resources that is unlikely to produce meaningful results.

Nevertheless, educators persist in talking about "learning styles".  From a discussion over at Kitchen Table Math, I now learn that the "learning styles" may have racist overtones.

Lefty wrote:

Daniel Orey, a Cal State math ed prof, argues in his "Ethnomathematical Perspectives on the NCTM Standards," that 'minorities' (his term) have more social, less analytical learning styles than Anglo-Americans do.

So I went and read Orey's article. Yes, he does argue that.  From the article:

While giving many students timed tests, dittos, rote memory work, or works that asks them to copy and answer (often meaningless) problems, is mind-numbing for many children, it is particularly alienating for many minority children who come from cultures where human interaction and cooperation are highly valued.

Lefty goes on:

UNC ed profs Carol and William Malloy (both African American, I believe) argue in "Issues of Culture in Mathematics Teaching and Learning" that African American students are less analytical and more holistic, and (favoring group work over solo work) less individualistic and more attuned to the interdependence of people and the environment

Again, I went to chase down the references and the authors.

Carol Malloy is Associate Professor of Mathematics Education at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.  William Malloy was a professor at UNC-CH's ed school (teaching educational administration  and leadership)  until the summer of 2007, when he retired.  The article "Issues of Culture in Mathematics Teaching and Learning" was published in The Urban Review, Volume 30, Number 3, September 1998 , pp. 245-257(13), which I was able to download from http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com (your library must subscribe, sorry).

Yes, Malloy and Malloy do argue that African-American students "think differently" than

(p. 249) The African-American community values and encourages the acquisition of unique verbal expressiveness, but schools place highest value on the written demonstration of verbal knowledge. African-American students' view of the world is that of a unified environment (Shade, 1989; Stiff and Harvey, 1988); thus they use a mixture of holistic and analytical reasoning, but schools concentrate on analytical reasoning. African-American students are taught that an interdependence of people and environment is respected and encouraged, but schools teach individualism (Hale-Benson, 1986; Hilliard, 1976; Willis, 1992). African-American students rely on personalistic stimulation in learning; schools focus on inanimate or object stimulation (Shade, 1989). Students' cultural knowledge and school knowledge often conflict with variables related to the ways that the individual should relate and interact within the group, normative communication, and styles and interactions. These preferences have underlying assumptions of strong influences from culture; are preferences for student interaction with the environment; are influences on cognition, attitude, behavior and personality; and may be different from the majority population but are not deficient.

Palisadesk pointed out the dangers here:

In my district there is a real push to get teachers to include "learning style" (pseudo)information on students' IEPs. Over time I have noticed a clear bias in favor of black children being labeled "kinesthetic learners," Asian kids "visual learners" and white kids "auditory/visual learners" or having " verbal/logical intelligence" using Multiple Intelligence jargon.

[snip]

  She goes on to say that the assignment of "learning style" is not based on any valid tests, just "observation", and concludes:

When you say X is a "kinesthetic learner," you are basically saying, "forget all that higher-level thinking; algebra, critical reasoning, abstraction, language and mathematics are not for you, you can only learn with your hands. Off to McJobs!" Of course the people bandying about these stereotypes don't realize the import of what they're saying -- black kids better stick to menial labor -- but it's the soft underbelly of the crocodile.

At least one African-American scholar refutes the idea that there's a unique African-American learning style: Craig L. Frisby.

Frisby, C. L. (1993). One giant step backward: Myths of black cultural learning styles.School Psychology Review, 22,535-557.

The basic ideas in the article are summarized at this review at Learning point Associates--Why Do Achievement Gaps Exist? and Learning Point Associates--Researcher Critiques Assumptions

Summary And Conclusion: Why Black Cultural Learning Styles (BCLS) Models Represent A Giant Step Backward

This writer has attempted to show that little or no compelling support exists for the notion that blacks learn in fundamentally different ways than whites as a faction of their ethnic/racial culture. Hence, appeals to BCLS theory as an explanation for widespread racial group achievement disparities has scant explanatory power.

Nevertheless, one may legitimately ask why BCLS theory has had a long shelf-life in contemporary social/behavioral science literature. This article has suggested five major reasons why this may be the case:

1. The perpetuation of broad and unwarranted conclusions derived from flawed research (e.g., researchers' failure to adequately control for IQ, mental age, or SES in group comparisons).
2. Psuedoscientific theories that characterize African-Americans as having a mysterious culture which can be "truly" understood only by a select handful of "experts."
3. An academic community that is reluctant to assertively critique BCLS models for fear of being labeled as culturally insensitive or racially disloyal.
4. Hypersensitivity and resistance of influential special interest groups against any explanation for black/white achievement differences that is perceived as reflecting a "deficit" model.
5. An inability of modern educators (due to legal, social, and political constraints) to adopt practices that would ensure quality education for AfricanAmerican children, which lead to searches for simplistic "new ideas" for solving complex education problems.

Perhaps the most compelling argument for the conscious rejection of BCLS theory is its chilling similarity to educational theories promoted over a century ago during the era of almost universal segregated and inferior schooling for blacks. Armed with little more than superficial impressions and patronizing notions of black inferiority, 19th century "educators" argued that:

[T]he ground of distinction . . . is one of races, not of colors, merely. The distinction is one which the All-wise creator has seen fit to establish; and it is founded deep in the physical, mental, and moral natures of the two races. No legislation, no social customs, can efface this distinction . .. We maintain that the true interests of both races require that they should be kept distinct. Amalgamation is degradation. We would urge on our brethren of the African race, the duty of cultivating the genuine virtues peculiar to that race. (Crowell, Ingraham, & Kimball, 1846)

A different 19th century writer elucidates the "virtues" that characterize blacks:

As compared to the Caucasian race, (blacks) are . . . supposed to be less inventive, to have less power for mathematical analysis, and less adaptation for abstruse investigations generally, are less enterprising, less vigorous, and are less defiant of obstacles. But on the other hand, there is great unanimity in according to them a more cheerful, joyous and companionable nature, greater fondness and capacity for music, a keener relish for whatever, in their present state of development, may be regarded as beauty, and more quick, enduring and exalted religious affections. (Mann, 1852)

By vigorously promoting such questionable distinctions as found in Table 1, modern BCLS proponents perpetuate the same type of crude 19th century educational philosophizing that would be popularly labeled as "racist" today.

School psychologists, in their role as child advocates, must be careful to avoid being seduced by the simplistic appeal of BCLS assumptions. While it is certainly laudable to strive toward an appreciation of the relationship between a student's cultural (ethnic) background and the schooling process, this does not mean that purely "cultural" explanations for educational phenomena should be accepted uncritically. Although discussions of student "learning styles" dominates much of popular educational discourse, empirical support for the construct (as a reliable and robust explanation for learning outcomes) is weak In addition, I have argued elsewhere (Frisby, 1992) that the concept of "culture" and "cultural differences" is poorly understood, which leads to divisive ideological debates fraught with racial stereotyping and hidden political agendas. Therefore, to place confidence in the wedding of "culture" with "learning styles" is to build a foundation on quicksand.

Until our knowledge base matures, it is instructive for school psychologists and educators to follow the example of a 1988 panel appointed by the New York Board of Regents (O'Neil, 1990). The panel sharply criticized an education department report that made use of BCLS as an explanation for high dropout rates among African-American students (O'Neil, 1990). Specifically, the panel advised the Regents to avoid the use of language and construction which is generalized to entire populations with no recognition of the amount of diversity within all groups of students" (cited from O'neil, 1990, P. 8). The message for school psychologists is clear: best practices require a fundamental sensitivity to individual differences, not group stereotypes.

It is high time that BCLS models be laid to rest. Failure to do so may result in the realization that, instead of making significant steps forward, we have indeed made one giant step backward.

Here's the rest of Frisby's scholarly works  

Previous Posts Related to Learning Styles

• Learning Styles: Useful or a Crock?
• Relating Teaching Style to Content
• Dale's Cone--Or a Crock?

Elsewhere

• Susan Greenfield: "Learning Styles" Teaching a Waste of Resources
• Will Thallheimer: Learning Styles Challenge, 12 Months and Counting.

Comments

[child learning]

I can’t tell you what valuable skill you would be installing into your preschooler. If you help them in developing this type of problem solving skills and attitude, if you incorporate this into their daily preschool activities. The concept of "culture" with "learning styles" is to build a foundation on quicksand.

[Miss Profe]

I don't buy it. There are too many examples of African Americans who are creative, have invented things and have made significant contributions to virtually every field and discipline. To suggest that a particular racial group is pre-disposed on the basis of culture and that it doesn't have the brain power for higher levels of thinking is bullocks. A lot depends on the education and training that a person receives early in life, and, the level of motivation a person exercises later on in life to perfect the skill.

I agree: BCLS does lead to a step backwards to a place to which I don't want to see this society return.

[The CLA Approach to Education]

What's holding many of the African American students back is the "teaching styles" of some of their teachers. The inability to vary instruction based on the student(s) one encounters because you do not know any variety of teaching styles is one; the negative "labeling" of poor children, especially those who look unkempt, is a widespread practice, and I hate to say it, but observed among ALL kinds of teachers; the refusal to use "hands-on" learning techniques because "they get too excited" is another reason for the failure of "engaging the child in his or her OWn learning success"; the insistence on "discipline" which is ACTUALLY "punishment" is one of the mainstays of the regressive Black teaching agenda; and the list can go on and on. FOLKS - go into these inner city classrooms in the poorer neighborhoods sometimes and see it for yourselves! The children we are concerned most about and which the literature expounds on are the MOST at-risk, because from the start of their early elementary careers they are usually seen as "little deficit systems" (so labeled by Dr. Geneva Smitherman) Those children who "make it out of there", do so because of that one or more really great and understanding teacher -or- or the intervention of a parent or other adult to keep them on track -or- simply the child him/herself who made the decision not to give in to the stereotypes about them. Look for those school leaders for whom "failure is NOT an option" - this was the OLD traditional way of teaching and learning in the segregated systems and the unique ones today.

[jeff claus]

This blog and most of the comments that follow are grossly misinformed and, thus, seriously misrepresent the rich and valuable literature about culturally influenced learning and communication styles. There isn't room here to explain, inform, and educate, so I encourage you to read the following books: Geneva Gay's "Culturally Responsive Teaching," Janice Hale's "Black Children," Lisa Delpit's "Other People's Children," and Tempii Champion's "Understanding Storytelling Among African American Children." There are many other books and articles that present related information and ideas, but these will get you started. No one is saying that all members of a group think, act, or learn in the same way; but, good research demonstrates that many ways of communicating and doing things are culturally influenced, especilly for children from familes less assimilated into the dominant culture. A major problem exists in our schools when teachers of the dominant culture (or well socialized into it) make assumptions about the ability, nature, and potential of youth based on gross misunderstandings and misinterpretations of culture. See the research of Courtney Cazden and Shirley Brice Heath. Ignorance about these various forms of cultural influence can lead educators to make decisions and act in ways that are damaging and contribute significantly to the education gap. Deeper reading and more INFORMED opinion are vital in these kinds of discussions!

[jnuHOLLY]

I searched and searched for Frisby's quotes in the Article that you mentioned. The quotes you are referring to actually came from here:
Title:
`Afrocentric' explanations for school failure: Symptoms of denial, frustration, and despair. By: Frisby, Craig L., School Psychology Review, 02796015, 1993, Vol. 22, Issue 3

You may want to revise your post.

[Dr. Alexander O. Akpodiete, JD]

I clearly disagree with the generalization. As a black author, consultant, Life coach, educator and retired attorney, I caution you to guard against perpetuating stereotypes.
Dr. Alexander O. Akpodiete, JD
Author of Dr Alexander's Formula For Success: The Seven Open Secrets of Success."
E-mail: SuccessWithDrAlexander@gmail.com
www.AlexKApodiete.com