Dialogue Education

I am an independent degree program student, which is great because I have designed a program of study based on my own interests. I study holistic health and there is no end to what there is to learn and directions to go with study. I work full time on top of my college study, so this has been a great way to learn what is exciting to me and to work toward a college degree. The one drawback is that there is no one to talk with about these great concepts. So, I'm starting this blog in the hopes that I may find someone who shares my interests and will engage in discussion, challenge ideas, share different perspectives, and get me out of my own mind.

I'll open the conversation with some thoughts about a book I read recently by Dawna Markova entitled Open Mind: Exploring the 6 Patterns of Natural Intelligence.

There are many theories of personality and learning styles. I am most familiar with the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI), from inventories and workshops in various employment activities throughout my life. I have also been exposed to information about learning styles and multiple intelligences theory during my experience working in elementary education. Markova, however, introduced me to a new concept of learning styles based on levels of consciousness. Her theory is that individuals take in information in every way: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Where most learning style theories determine one primary mode in which individuals perceive the world, Markova explains that we gather information on a conscious level (beta), a subconscious level (alpha), and an unconscious level (theta). The classic three forms of learning are incorporated in each of these levels. For example, as I understand my own learning styles, I fall into Markova’s category of AVK – or, auditory on the beta level, visual on the alpha level, and kinesthetic on the theta level. I determine this because I am most conscious of learning when I am in dialogue, thus the auditory channel is engaged. More subconsciously, I reinforce learning through visual cues, such as diagrams, pictures, and charts, or visual stimulus in the world around me. Finally, at the theta, or deepest level of consciousness, where the mind is “most capable of understanding the whole of something, the big picture, the widest landscape, this is also the place of deepest spiritual connection and healing, of that elusive inner voice or insight or gut feeling” (p. 29) I engage in learning through kinesthetic activity. I relax into epiphanies and inner peace through walking meditation, yoga, or even solitary exercise.

The theories of natural learning, as described by Markova, interest me for a variety of reasons. It seems logical to recognize that humans learn on many levels and in many ways, rather than to think that we are primarily one-faceted learners. Beyond that, however, is a connection I make to Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE), or the tendency to attribute our own behaviors to situational causes but others’ actions as being caused by character flaws, particularly in the case of negative behaviors. If Markova’s theories are true, FAE may be exacerbated by misunderstandings of how others perceive the world, or learn. In other words, because I am auditory at a conscious level and my husband is kinesthetic at a conscious level, I feel hurt that he is not more interested in dialogue about things that are important to me. Conversely, he wants me to be near him in physical proximity when we aren’t even talking – while I wonder, “Why bother if we’re not going to talk?” Therefore, in the past I have attributed his behavior to a character flaw, when it is possible that it is simply a difference in the ways in which we perceive the world.