Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

The Rise, Fall, and Afterlife of Learning Styles: An Essay on Megarianism and Emancipation in Educational Potentiality

Studies in Philosophy and Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The status of learning styles theory in educational studies is uncertain as we inhabit the liminal phase between the theory’s death as proclaimed by educational psychologists who avow to have disproven it and whatever afterlife will follow. At this moment, with both past and future in view, that we have an opportunity to reflect on the foundational assumptions of the theory. Engaging in the growing community of Agambenian philosophy of education and the ongoing dialogue around educational potentiality, this article approaches learning styles theory as a paradigm of educational Megarianism. In this frame, the error of the learning styles theorists was not in the construction of a particular typology, but in the metaphysical approach to pedagogy. The reflection upon learning styles as paradigm also contributes a paradigmatic case of educational Megarianism to the discussion of potentiality in Agambenian philosophy of education.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. For a review of existing work in the three core lines of thought in Agambenian philosophy of education, “whatever,” “potentiality,” and “study,” see Murphy (2020, 67–70) See also Dickinson (2014).

  2. But see Makin (1996) who explicitly sets out “to rehabilitate the Megarians” (253).

  3. Developed further in his book Inoperative Learning (Lewis 2018).

  4. I thank one of the anonymous reviewers for highlighting this point.

  5. The summary by Cassidy (2004) remains a useful resource in cataloguing this diversity.

  6. Willingham et al. (2015) offer a different proposition to Scott (2010) on the appeal of learning styles theory, suggesting an optimistic pursuit of improved educational offerings (269).

  7. For a broader review of inoperativity in the context of destituent potential, see Newman (2017).

References

  • Agamben, Giorgio. 1990. The Coming Community. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Agamben, Giorgio. 1998. Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Agamben, Giorgio. 1999. Potentialities: Selected Essays in Philosophy. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Agamben, Giorgio. 2018. What is Real?. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aristotle, 2016. Metaphysics. Indianapolis: Hackett.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, D.T.J. 2012. Megaric Metaphysics. Ancient Philosophy 32: 303–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calvert, Brian. 1976. Aristotle and the Megarians on the Potentiality-Actuality Distinction. Apeiron 10(1): 34–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cassidy, Simon. 2004. Learning Styles: An Overview of Theories, Models, and Measures. Educational Psychology 24(4): 419–444.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cuevas, Joshua. 2015. Is Learning Styles-Based Instruction Effective? A Comprehensive Analysis of Recent Research on Learning Styles. Theory and Research in Education 13(3): 308–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curry, Lynn. 1990. A critique of the Research on Learning Styles. Educational Leadership 48(2): 50–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Curry, Lynn. 1983. An Organization of Learning Styles Theory and Constructs. Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, April 11–15, 1983, Montreal, Quebec.

  • Dekker, Sanne, Nikki C. Lee, Paul Howard-Jones, and Jelle Jolles. 2012. Neuromyths in Education: Prevalence and Predictors of Misconceptions among Teachers. Frontiers in Psychology 3(429): 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickinson, Colby. 2014. Citing ‘Whatever’ Authority: The Ethics of Quotation in Giorgio Agamben’s Work. Educational Philosophy and Theory 46(4): 406–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, Rita. 1983. Learning Style and Its Relation to Exceptionality at Both Ends of the Spectrum. Exceptional Children 49(6): 496–506.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, Rita, and Kenneth Dunn. 1978. Teaching Students Through Their Individual Learning Styles: A Practical Approach. Reston: Reston Publishing Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrell, Barbara G. 1983. A Factor Analytic Comparison of Four Learning-Styles Instruments. Journal of Educational Psychology 75(1): 33–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford, Derek R. 2014. A Critical Pedagogy of Ineffability: Identity, Education, and the Secret Life of Whatever. Educational Philosophy and Theory 46(4): 380–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford, Derek R. 2016. Communist Study: Education for the Commons. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ford, Derek R. 2017. Studying Like a Communist: Affect, the Party, and the Educational Limits to Capitalism. Educational Philosophy and Theory 49(5): 452–461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford, Derek R. 2018. Queer Communist Study: The Sinthomostudier Against the Capital-Debt-Learning Regime. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy 15(1): 8–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Honey, P., and A. Mumford. 1983. The Manual of Learning Styles. Maidenhead: Peter Honey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jasinski, Igor, and Tyson E. Lewis. 2016. The Educational Community as in-Tentional Community. Studies in Philosophy and Education 35: 371–383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirschner, Paul A. 2017. Stop Propagating the Learning Styles Myth. Computers & Education 106: 166–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirschner, Paul A., and Jeroen van Merrienboer. 2013. Do Learners Really Know Best? Urban Legends in Education. Educational Psychologist 48(3): 169–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolb, David A. 1981. Learning Styles and Disciplinary Differences. In The Modern American College: Responding to the New Realities of Diverse Students and a Changing Society, ed. Arthur W. Chickering, 232–255. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, Tyson E. 2006. The School as an Exceptional space: Rethinking Education from the Perspective of the Biopedagogical. Educational Theory 56(2): 159–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, Tyson E. 2013. On Study: Giorgio Agamben and Educational Potentiality. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, Tyson E. 2014. Education as Free Use: Giorgio Agamben on Studious Play, Toys, and the Inoperative Schoolhouse. Studies in Philosophy and Education 33: 201–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, Tyson E. 2018. Inoperative Learning: A Radical Rewriting of Educational Potentialities. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Makin, Stephen. 1996. Megarian Possibilities. Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition 83(3): 253–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mumford, Alan, and Peter Honey. 1992. Questions and Answers on the Learning Styles Questionnaire. Industrial and Commercial Teaching 24(7): 10–13.

  • Murphy, Michael P. A. 2019a. Potentiality, Political Protest, and Constituent Power: A Response to the Special Issue. Journal of International Political Theory. https://doi.org/10.1177/1755088219860858.

  • Murphy, Michael P. A. 2019b. What Does It Mean to be Anti-social? Potentiality and Political Ontology in The Buribunks. Griffith Law Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/10383441.2019.1646196.

  • Murphy, Michael P. A. 2020. Active Learning as Destituent Potential: Agambenian Philosophy of Education and Moderate Steps Towards the Coming Politics. Educational Philosophy and Theory 52(1): 66–78.

  • Newman, Saul. 2017. What is an Insurrection? Destituent Power and Ontological Anarchy in Agamben and Stirner. Political Studies 65(2): 284–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newton, Philip M. 2015. The Learning Styles Myth is Thriving in Higher Education. Frontiers in Psychology 6(1908): 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newton, Philip M., and Mahallad Miah. 2017. Evidence-Based Higher Education—Is the Learning Styles ‘Myth’ Important? Frontiers in Psychology 8(444): 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pashler, Harold, Mark McDaniel, Doug Rohrer, and Robert Bjork. 2009. Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest 9(3): 105–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, Catherine. 2010. The Enduring Appeal of ‘Learning Styles’. Australian Journal of Education 54(1): 5–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharp, John G., Rob Bower, and Jenny Byrne. 2008. VAK or VAKuous? Towards the Trivialization of Learning and the Death of Scholarship. Research Papers in Education 23(3): 293–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sims, Ronald R., John G. Veres, and Leasa G. Shake. 1989. An Exploratory Examination of the Convergence Between The Learning Styles Questionnaire and the Learning Style inventory II. Educational and Psychological Measurement 49: 227–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sloane, Amy, and Weili Zhao. 2014. Agamben’s Potentiality and the Chinese Dao: On Experiencing Gesture and Movement of Pedagogical Thought. Educational Philosophy and Theory 46(4): 348–363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, Alistair. 1996. Accelerated Learning in the Classroom. Stafford: Network Educational Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snow, Richard E., Joseph Tiffin, and Warren F. Seibert. 1965. Individual Differences and Instructional Film Effects. Journal of Educational Psychology 56(6): 315–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tallmadge, G.Kasten. 1968. Relationships between Training Methods and Learner Characteristics. Journal of Educational Psychology 59(1): 32–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tallmadge, G.Kasten, and James W. Shearer. 1969. Relationships Among Learning Styles, Instructional Methods, and the Nature of Learning Experiences. Journal of Educational Psychology 60(3): 222–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vleighe, Joris. 2013. Experiencing (Im)Potentiality: Bollnow and Agamben on the Educational Meaning of School Practices. Studies in Philosophy and Education 32: 189–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vleighe, Joris. 2016. Schooling Bodies to Read and Write: A Technosomatic Perspective. Educational Theory 66(4): 441–455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, Michael C. 2013. In the Beginning: The International Relations Enlightenment and the Ends of International Relations Theory. European Journal of International Relations 19(3): 647–665.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willingham, Daniel T., Elizabeth M. Hughes, and David H. Dobolyi. 2015. The Scientific Status of Learning Styles Theories. Teaching of Psychology 42(3): 266–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, Weili. 2019a. China’s Education, Curriculum Knowledge, and Cultural Inscriptions: Dancing With the Wind. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, Weili. 2019b. Daoist onto un-learning as a Radical form of study: Re-imagining Study from an Eastern Perspective. Studies in Philosophy and Education 38: 261–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Funding was provided by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. I would like to thank the editor and reviewers of Studies in Philosophy and Education for their thoughtful engagement with prior versions of the article. The opinions and arguments expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect an official position of the Algonquin & Lakeshore CDSB.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael P. A. Murphy.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Murphy, M.P.A. The Rise, Fall, and Afterlife of Learning Styles: An Essay on Megarianism and Emancipation in Educational Potentiality. Stud Philos Educ 39, 205–217 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-019-09698-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-019-09698-5

Keywords

Navigation