You Are Not a Kinesthetic Learner: The Troubled History of the Learning Style Idea
A compelling history of the learning style concept and how it was shaped by shifting ideas in psychology, anthropology, and education.
 
The widely embraced notion that we all process information in one of three distinct modes—visual, auditory, or kinesthetic—has informed educational practices for decades. In recent years, however, numerous studies have questioned the effectiveness of aligning instruction with the alleged learning styles of individual students. So, why is it still commonplace in the literature on beneficial teaching at all levels of education?

In You Are Not a Kinesthetic Learner: The Troubled History of a Dangerous Idea, historian Thomas Fallace traces the origins, evolution, and history of the learning style idea, demonstrating its relationship to a legacy of unequal education for children of color. Fallace argues that the research supporting the learning style idea was problematic from its inception in the 1910s and that it was used to label and justify a diminished curriculum for many Black and Latine students, whose cultural differences were perceived as weaknesses. In recent years, numerous empirical studies have not found the approach to be effective. This fascinating history clearly shows the danger of sorting and labeling students with permanent style identities and makes a strong case for removing learning styles as the basis for any educators’ instructional toolkit.

The first book-length history of learning styles, You Are Not a Kinesthetic Learner encourages us all to consider the research, be open to future developments and updates, and question even our most intuitive assumptions.
1146267209
You Are Not a Kinesthetic Learner: The Troubled History of the Learning Style Idea
A compelling history of the learning style concept and how it was shaped by shifting ideas in psychology, anthropology, and education.
 
The widely embraced notion that we all process information in one of three distinct modes—visual, auditory, or kinesthetic—has informed educational practices for decades. In recent years, however, numerous studies have questioned the effectiveness of aligning instruction with the alleged learning styles of individual students. So, why is it still commonplace in the literature on beneficial teaching at all levels of education?

In You Are Not a Kinesthetic Learner: The Troubled History of a Dangerous Idea, historian Thomas Fallace traces the origins, evolution, and history of the learning style idea, demonstrating its relationship to a legacy of unequal education for children of color. Fallace argues that the research supporting the learning style idea was problematic from its inception in the 1910s and that it was used to label and justify a diminished curriculum for many Black and Latine students, whose cultural differences were perceived as weaknesses. In recent years, numerous empirical studies have not found the approach to be effective. This fascinating history clearly shows the danger of sorting and labeling students with permanent style identities and makes a strong case for removing learning styles as the basis for any educators’ instructional toolkit.

The first book-length history of learning styles, You Are Not a Kinesthetic Learner encourages us all to consider the research, be open to future developments and updates, and question even our most intuitive assumptions.
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You Are Not a Kinesthetic Learner: The Troubled History of the Learning Style Idea

You Are Not a Kinesthetic Learner: The Troubled History of the Learning Style Idea

by Thomas Fallace
You Are Not a Kinesthetic Learner: The Troubled History of the Learning Style Idea

You Are Not a Kinesthetic Learner: The Troubled History of the Learning Style Idea

by Thomas Fallace

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Overview

A compelling history of the learning style concept and how it was shaped by shifting ideas in psychology, anthropology, and education.
 
The widely embraced notion that we all process information in one of three distinct modes—visual, auditory, or kinesthetic—has informed educational practices for decades. In recent years, however, numerous studies have questioned the effectiveness of aligning instruction with the alleged learning styles of individual students. So, why is it still commonplace in the literature on beneficial teaching at all levels of education?

In You Are Not a Kinesthetic Learner: The Troubled History of a Dangerous Idea, historian Thomas Fallace traces the origins, evolution, and history of the learning style idea, demonstrating its relationship to a legacy of unequal education for children of color. Fallace argues that the research supporting the learning style idea was problematic from its inception in the 1910s and that it was used to label and justify a diminished curriculum for many Black and Latine students, whose cultural differences were perceived as weaknesses. In recent years, numerous empirical studies have not found the approach to be effective. This fascinating history clearly shows the danger of sorting and labeling students with permanent style identities and makes a strong case for removing learning styles as the basis for any educators’ instructional toolkit.

The first book-length history of learning styles, You Are Not a Kinesthetic Learner encourages us all to consider the research, be open to future developments and updates, and question even our most intuitive assumptions.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780226841373
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication date: 05/14/2025
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 240
File size: 545 KB

About the Author

Thomas Fallace is professor of education at William Paterson University. He is the author of In the Shadow of Authoritarianism: American Education in the Twentieth Century and Race and the Origins of Progressive Education, 1890–1929, among others.

 

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Learning Style Idea

1: Sensory Channels and Personality Types

2: Diagnosing Learning Styles

3: The Rise and Fall of the Black Learning Style Idea

4: Multiple Intelligences as Learning Styles

5: The Kinesthetic Learner as Identity

6: The Peak Years

7: Debunking the Myth of Learning Styles

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index

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