Self-Awareness in Learning and Communication | Origin: LS105R
This is a general discussion forum for the following learning topic:
Your Leadership Toolkit --> Self-Awareness in Learning and Communication
Post what you've learned about this topic and how you intend to apply it. Feel free to post questions and comments too.
Comment on Ryan Pierce's post:
Well said. Leaning into our weaker learning areas is where the real growth happens — and as leaders, modeling that flexibility gives our teams permission to do the same. Creating experiences that honor the variability of learners is one of the most respectful things we can do in education. Thanks for naming both sides of that coin.
With Benevolence, Shannon
Comment on Davina Jones's post:
Really good point. The goal itself often dictates the best modality — deep conversation builds understanding in ways that a chart simply cannot, no matter how visual someone considers themselves. I think the real sweet spot is when leaders hold both in tension: know the learner's preferences AND know what the task actually requires. Defaulting to preference alone can actually limit growth, while ignoring preference can create unnecessary friction. Thanks for the thoughtful push back — this is the kind of nuance that makes leadership conversations better.
With Benevolence, Shannon
This module was a practical reminder that the way I communicate and teach has to meet people where they learn best — not just where I prefer to teach. Learning that 40% of people are kinesthetic, 35% are visual, and 25% are auditory was eye-opening. It means that traditional lecture-heavy teaching actually misses the majority of learners, and even well-designed slide decks only reach about a third of the room. Going forward, I want to be more intentional about blending all three styles into how I lead meetings, train faculty, and support students at the Early College Center — showing, explaining, and letting people do. Self-awareness about my own style is the starting point, but real leadership means adapting so others can learn, grow, and contribute their best.
With Benevolence, Shannon
Being reminded of the 3 types of learners is always helpful when you need to help Instructors think of classroom activities and lesson development. I'm thinking AI will be able to help with this as well.
Instead of focusing on learning styles exclusively, I think leaders should choose the modality based on the primary learning goal or task, and not solely on a person's personal style. For example, a person may declare to be a visual learner, but they may learn and grow best and more effectively by engaging in deep and meaningful conversations with their peers or teammates where they question assumptions and embrace new perspectives, versus simply processing info through graphs, charts, or illustrations or written notes.
As a leader, it is paramount to understand the learning styles of your team, so you know the most effective way to interact with them.
I learned that approximately 35% of people are visual learners. I thought the percentage would be higher. I also thought auditory learning percentages would be lower. I can apply this learned knowledge when I teach.
Understanding an adapting your leadership to various learning styles is important.
I was really surprised by the amount of people who actually are kinesthetic learners, really good data!
I am a Kinesthetic learner so I when I teach, I use both hands on and verbal teacher.
A majority of the population are kinesthetic learners, with the next majority as visual learners. I believe I fall between the two, as both a kinesthetic and visual learner.
For learning styles I always recommend "Make it Stick" so educators and students can grasp the idea of how true learning can occur in any environment.
Incorporating activities is crucial for the kinesthetic learner.
I learned that more people are kinesthetic learners than I originally thought!
Kinesthetic learning involves physical experience touching, holding, feeling, doing, all those practical hands-on experiences.
I've heard some say that there is very little validity in this approach to explaining learning styles, hearing that it has been no longer accepted by scholars. Well, all I can say is that learning styles make a lot of sense to me. I am a kinesthetic learner. I know from my own experience that lecturing or something that isn't hands-on isn't going to sink very far in. From my experiences in the classroom, I also know that gearing lessons to a variety of learning styles makes the class more engaging and interesting.
Seems to be perfectly valid based on my experience.
I learned that 40% of people are kinesthetic leaners and learn best by being more hands-on.
I learned that 40% of people are kinesthetic learners. It is important to understand someone's learning style so that you can use different techniques and activities to accommodate their learning style.
I always considered myself a visual learner, but have learned through this that I am also a kinesthetic learner as well. Understanding the language that each type of learner may typically use can be really helpful of knowing the best way to connect and pass information along to that person. Being able to adapt to other types of learning styles will help make me a better leader.
