Within Teacher Belief
When belief becomes classroom routine
The Wellcome survey shows how learning styles moved from belief into lesson planning and classroom routines.
On this page
- What teachers reported using learning styles for
- Why varied teaching is not the same as diagnosis
- The opportunity cost of style based planning
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Introduction
The Wellcome survey is important not because it measured belief in learning styles, but because it documented how that belief was being translated into everyday teaching practice. In its 2014 report How Neuroscience is Affecting Education, Wellcome found that 76% of surveyed teachers reported currently using learning styles, while a further 16% had used them previously. Only a small minority had heard of the idea without using it. The significance of these figures is that learning styles had moved beyond a theoretical preference and become embedded in classroom routines, lesson design and professional decision-making. [Wellcome]wellcome.orgHow neuroscience is affecting educationWellcomeHow neuroscience is affecting education: - WellcomeJanuary 3, 2014 — 7,8 A large majority (76 per cent) of teachers surveyed curr…
For understanding misconceptions in education, this distinction matters. A belief becomes more consequential when it influences how teachers allocate time, plan lessons and think about learners. The Wellcome data therefore provides a snapshot of the point at which a widely accepted idea became a practical framework for classroom action. [Wellcome]wellcome.orgWellcome: HomeWellcome supports discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, and we're taking on three worldwide health challenges…
What teachers reported using learning styles for
One of the most revealing parts of the Wellcome survey was that it did not merely ask whether teachers had heard of learning styles. It asked how they used them.
Among teachers who described their practice:
- 25% reported building learning styles into lesson planning.
- 14% said they used the approach to try to reach all learners and benefit different types of students.
- 14% reported using learning-style thinking in all or most lessons.
- 11% discussed learning styles with pupils so that students could identify their own preferred style.
- 6% used questionnaires or assessments to determine students’ learning styles. [Wellcome]wellcome.orgHow neuroscience is affecting educationWellcomeHow neuroscience is affecting education: - WellcomeJanuary 3, 2014 — 7,8 A large majority (76 per cent) of teachers surveyed curr…
These responses show several levels of implementation. At the lightest level, teachers used learning styles as a reminder to vary activities. At the strongest level, some were actively classifying pupils and adjusting instruction on the basis of those classifications. The survey therefore captured a spectrum ranging from general teaching habits to more formal attempts to diagnose and accommodate supposedly distinct learner types. [Wellcome]wellcome.orgWellcome: HomeWellcome supports discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, and we're taking on three worldwide health challenges…
The findings are particularly notable because they concern actual reported behaviour rather than abstract agreement with a survey statement. Many discussions of learning styles focus on whether teachers believe the idea. The Wellcome results show that many teachers reported acting on it. [Wellcome]wellcome.orgWellcome: HomeWellcome supports discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, and we're taking on three worldwide health challenges…
Why varied teaching is not the same as diagnosis
The Wellcome report also revealed an important complication. Most teachers who explained their use of learning styles did not describe the approach in its original, narrow form. According to the report, 61% referred to using more than the traditional visual, auditory and kinaesthetic categories. Many appeared to interpret learning styles as a broader commitment to offering different activities, formats and choices. [Wellcome]wellcome.orgWellcome: HomeWellcome supports discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, and we're taking on three worldwide health challenges…
This distinction helps explain why learning styles remained attractive even as evidence against the matching hypothesis accumulated. A teacher who uses diagrams, discussion, practical activities and written explanations is often employing sensible instructional variety. The problem arises when that variety is justified by the assumption that pupils belong to stable categories such as “visual learners” or “auditory learners” and therefore require specially matched instruction. [Wellcome]wellcome.orgWellcome: HomeWellcome supports discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, and we're taking on three worldwide health challenges…
The Wellcome data suggests that many teachers were blending these ideas together. As a result, support for varied teaching methods could easily be interpreted as support for learning-style diagnosis. Later research has argued that the term “learning styles” often means different things to different educators, making survey responses difficult to interpret unless implementation details are examined closely. [ResearchGate]researchgate.netResearchGate(PDF) The learning styles neuromyth: when the same term…30 Jul 2020 — In terms of identifying LS, educators reported using…
This helps explain an apparent paradox. Teachers may be reporting practices that are educationally reasonable—using multiple examples, different forms of explanation and varied classroom activities—while simultaneously framing those practices through a theory that lacks strong empirical support. [Wellcome]wellcome.orgWellcome: HomeWellcome supports discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, and we're taking on three worldwide health challenges…
The opportunity cost of style-based planning
The most significant implication of the Wellcome survey is not simply that learning styles were popular. It is that teacher effort was being directed towards a framework that many reviews had already found weakly supported.
When a quarter of respondents report incorporating learning styles into lesson planning, the issue becomes one of resource allocation. Planning time is limited. Time spent identifying styles, administering questionnaires, categorising pupils or redesigning lessons around presumed learner types is time not spent on approaches with stronger evidence bases. [Wellcome]wellcome.orgWellcome: HomeWellcome supports discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, and we're taking on three worldwide health challenges…
The survey therefore highlights a practical cost of educational myths. Even if learning-style activities do not directly harm learning, they can shape professional priorities. Teachers may invest effort in classification systems that offer little demonstrable benefit while overlooking factors that are more clearly linked to learning outcomes, such as prior knowledge, practice, feedback, curriculum sequencing or subject-specific teaching methods. [PMC]pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govthe Myth: Training in Education or Neuroscience…by K Macdonald · 2017 · Cited by 455 — found that the learning styles neuromyth was th…
The Wellcome findings are especially valuable because they show this process at the implementation stage. Rather than revealing only what educators believed, they reveal how a belief became embedded in planning decisions, classroom routines and conversations with students. That makes the survey one of the clearest pieces of evidence that the learning-styles idea was functioning not merely as a popular theory, but as an operational part of classroom practice in many schools. [Wellcome]wellcome.orgWellcome: HomeWellcome supports discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, and we're taking on three worldwide health challenges… [PMC]pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govHow Neuroscience Is Affecting Education: Report of Teacher and Parent Surveys.Read more…
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Endnotes
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Source: wellcome.org
Title: How neuroscience is affecting education
Link: https://wellcome.org/sites/default/files/wtp055240.pdfSource snippet
WellcomeHow neuroscience is affecting education: - WellcomeJanuary 3, 2014 — 7,8 A large majority (76 per cent) of teachers surveyed curr...
Published: January 3, 2014
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Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5554523/Source snippet
the Myth: Training in Education or Neuroscience...by K Macdonald · 2017 · Cited by 455 — found that the learning styles neuromyth was th...
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Source: researchgate.net
Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342669733_The_learning_styles_neuromyth_when_the_same_term_means_different_things_to_different_teachersSource snippet
ResearchGate(PDF) The learning styles neuromyth: when the same term...30 Jul 2020 — In terms of identifying LS, educators reported using...
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Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5366351/Source snippet
How Neuroscience Is Affecting Education: Report of Teacher and Parent Surveys.Read more...
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Source: wellcome.org
Link: https://wellcome.org/Source snippet
Wellcome: HomeWellcome supports discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, and we're taking on three worldwide health challenges...
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Source: youtube.com
Title: How neuroscience is affecting education
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Y8Z2t0NisSource snippet
[Debunking]({{ 'debunking/' | relative_url }}) learning styles in the classroom...
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Source: Wikipedia
Title: Wellcome Trust
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellcome_TrustSource snippet
Wellcome TrustThe Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was establi...
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Source: wellcomeopenresearch.org
Link: https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/Source snippet
ir research outputs quickly, openly and transparently.Read more...
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Source: youtube.com
Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/wellcometrust
Additional References
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Source: learnus.co.uk
Link: https://www.learnus.co.uk/LSREducationalNeuroscience.pdfSource snippet
Teachers' attitudes towards educational neuroscienceA majority of teachers (71%) agree that it is relevant to their professional developm...
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Source: dana.org
Link: [https://dana.org/article/when-the-myth-is-the-message-neuromythsSource snippet
When the Myth is the Message: Neuromyths and EducationWe investigate some of the most common neuromyths that pervade the education commun...
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Source: theguardian.com
Link: https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2015/apr/24/can-neuroscientists-dispel-the-myth-that-children-have-different-learning-styles-im-a-scientist-learning-zone-wellcome-trustSource snippet
Can neuroscientists dispel the myth that children have...24 Apr 2015 — Worryingly, 76% of teachers responded that they used learning sty...
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Source: educationalneuroscience.org.uk
Title: children have different learning styles
Link: https://educationalneuroscience.org.uk/wordpress/resources/neuromyth-or-neurofact/children-have-different-learning-styles/Source snippet
A survey from 2012 found that up to 93% of UK teachers believed in learning styles [v], and as recently as 2021, learning styles continue...
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Source: my.chartered.college
Title: sponsored article what can education learn from neuroscience
Link: https://my.chartered.college/impact_article/sponsored-article-what-can-education-learn-from-neuroscience/Source snippet
article: What can education learn from...22 Feb 2018 — For example, a survey by the Wellcome Trust in 2014 found that 76% of teachers we...
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Source: the-learning-agency.com
Link: https://the-learning-agency.com/insights/debunking-the-learning-styles-neuromyth/Source snippet
They can have adverse effects on educational practice. The Nature study examines...Read more...
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Source: cis.org.au
Link: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/knowledge-is-power-what-do-teachers-believe-about-learning/Source snippet
pheric dominance suggest teachers do self-report incorporating myths...Read more...
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Source: lthechat.com
Link: https://lthechat.com/2020/10/11/lthechat186-debunking-neuromyths-in-education-what-psychology-really-tells-us/Source snippet
#LTHEchat185: Debunking Neuromyths in Education:...Oct 11, 2020 — This suggests that learners assume a way of learning either as a “visu...
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Source: youtube.com
Title: Debunking learning styles in the classroom
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD12mZ_rYpMSource snippet
The science of learning for teachers...
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Source: youtube.com
Title: Why the learning styles myth persists
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bWueJub_eUSource snippet
Evidence-based teaching and neuromyths...
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