1

Running head: A Disposition for Diversity

A Disposition for Diversity: How do learning styles create a diverse classroom environment to

meet the needs of students with disabilities?

MacKenzie Hooker

Wesleyan College

EDU 290

Dr. Haberlin
2
Running head: A Disposition for Diversity

A Disposition for Diversity: How do learning styles create a diverse classroom environment to

meet the needs of students with disabilities?

Classrooms experience multiple types of diversity such as racial, learning styles, physical

and cognitive disabilities, language, and ethnicity. The focus of this paper is to introduce ideas

and ways to effectively use multiple learning styles in order to meet the needs of all disabilities.

Learning styles are a key factor in how students learn and comprehend material, but many

students learn in a different way than others. These disabilities and learning types not only

contribute to the range of diversity between the students, but also creates a diverse classroom

where learning is encouraged in different ways. Incorporating different types of learning styles

will help students with disabilities learn in ways that are best for them and allow students to pull

from other learning styles to create a better understanding of a certain idea.

There are many various forms of diversity that appear in an everyday classroom such as

racial diversity, differences in learning styles, physical and cognitive disabilities, mixed

languages, ethnicities, and cultures, sexual orientation, and socio-economic classes. One major

case in the history of education happened to be one relating to race. Brown v. Board of

Education of Topeka was a case and movement that eventually broke the segregation laws in

schools. When a colored student was denied entrance into an all-white elementary school, a

lawsuit was brought into the courtroom that schools for black students were not equal to the

schools for white students. This issue was backed by the fourteenth amendment and the case was

closed when the chief justice stated that when discussing the field of education, the idea of

separate but equal has no place (“Brown v. Board of Education”, 2009). This case started a

movement for African Americans and allowed schools to become integrated and diverse in race.
3
Running head: A Disposition for Diversity

Smith (2007) states that there are three groups of students that are thought of as diverse

including culturally diverse students, linguistically diverse students, and culturally and

linguistically diverse students with disabilities. She states that culturally diverse students are

those whose background is different than that of the American mainstream society, linguistically

diverse students are those whose native language is different than the English language, and a

culturally and/or linguistically diverse student are those who have at least one identifiable

disability.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or also known as IDEA, includes

thirteen different types of disabilities that a child may have, hindering the educational intake.

IDEA defines these disabilities under section 300.8 which include autism, deaf-blindness,

deafness, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities,

orthopedic impairment, other health impairments, specific learning disability, speech or language

impairment, traumatic brain injury, and visual impairments. These disabilities would qualify a

student for special education and related type services.

Smith (2007) states that there are multiple ways to access general education curriculum

that allows students with such needs to comprehend and identify what they are being taught. The

purpose for these alternatives is so that students can achieve independence. A universal design

for learning is not only used for those with disabilities but for any student. The universal design

for learning is simply a way to learn curriculum in a nonstandard way that increase a students

want to participate during instruction. Other ways to help a student with a disability could be

providing the student with accommodations and modifications such as enlarged texts, braille, and

altercation of assignments and/or tests. Technology can also be used to help students with

disabilities such as providing audio versions of books or a voice output device.

4
Running head: A Disposition for Diversity

The most frequent difference in students that educators can recognize is the diverse

amount of learning styles that one classroom can hold. Learning styles are the way students learn

the best. This can include comprehension of the material, application to everyday life,

recognition outside of the classroom, further thinking into an idea, etc. When thinking of the

different learning styles, many people are familiar with the common seven that are used today.

These include visual (spatial), aural (auditory-musical), verbal (linguistic), physical (kinesthetic),

logical (mathematical), social (interpersonal), and solitary (intrapersonal) (“The Seven Learning

Styles”, 2019).

Each student has a way of learning that best suits them. Some may be familiar with the

seven learning styles, but they may not be familiar with the ideas behind them. Learning-styles-

online provides explanations to how each style learns and what is involved with each style of

learning. A visual learner is someone who prefers to use images and pictures. A visual learner

uses the occipital lobes at the back of the brain to manage the visual sense and spatial orientation.

An aural learner uses the temporal lobes in order to use music and sound while learning. A

verbal learner uses the temporal and frontal lobes of their brain to use words in writing and

speaking. A physical learner is one that uses their own body, such as their hands. This type of

learner is going to rely on the cerebellum and motor cortex of the brain. A logical learner is one

who uses logic and reasoning from the parietal lobes to drive their thinking. The social and

solitary learning styles are complete opposites of one another. Many know these styles as an

interpersonal individual and an intrapersonal individual. Both of these learning styles used the

frontal lobes to handle social activities, but one is more active than the other.

In addition to the most common forms of learning styles, some may have different views

of how students learn. Bass and Vaughn (1966) believe that there are five learning methods.
5
Running head: A Disposition for Diversity

These include trial and error resulting in rewards when successful and punishments when failed,

perceptual organization which assumes that the learner looks at an entire situation before taking

action, behavior modeling involving the observation of others to see what works for them before

taking action, meditation that involves the learning of language uses to obtain knowledge, and

reflection which involves thinking, putting together information, and making impressions. Others

may believe in cycles rather than styles or methods. Kolb believed in a four part cycle, the

learning cycle, consisting of concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract

conceptualization, and active experimentation. Honey and Mumford also believed in a four part

cycle, the management learning cycle, consisting of activity, what happened, why it happened,

and testing it out and a four part learning consisting of activist, reflector, theorist, and pragmatist.

Not only is it important for educators to understand the different needs of every type of learner,

but it is also important for them to know how to teach a classroom with diverse learning styles to

where every child is being accommodated while in the classroom.

Hart (2009) explains many different ways to incorporate different learning strategies in a

classroom of culturally and linguistically diverse students with special needs. Analytic teaching

can be used for educators to identify which teaching methods are best suitable for a particular

students. Curriculum-based assessments can be used to understand where each student is in

relation to curricular content. Language sampling can be used to identify the differences in

language between a student without a language disability and a language disordered student.

Similar to language sampling, narrative analysis can be used instead for written language. After

identifying what disability these students may be struggling with, an educator can then create

different ways of teaching and relaying information to each student individually and as a whole

class.
6
Running head: A Disposition for Diversity

There are many ways that a child can be accompanied by alternate learning. Wanting to

become an educator myself, I believe that it is important to understand the different ways in

which children learn and the different ways to accommodate those that have a disability. Such

accommodation could possibly include large print text books, closed captions on any video that

may be presented to the class, alternatives to traditional testing and assessments, interpreters or

signers that can assist a child throughout their day at school, using advanced technology, etc.

However, not is it important for an educator to be able to identify the styles that students learn

by, but it is also important for an educator to make the child feel successful in the classroom.

This could be accomplished by establishing a comfortable learning environment that is suitable

for all students, encouraging students to think outside of the box, using rewards as a way to

motivate, offering feedback that is helpful but also encouraging, etc.

Children with disabilities are often overlooked in an everyday classroom. It seems as if

students that have no disability are focused in on more than those with a disability. However,

incorporating the different learning styles on an everyday basis while also creating the lesson for

those needing accommodations, each child can benefit from learning off of one another. Children

with disabilities should not have to be in separate classrooms, but educators should be aware of

the ways to accommodate any child that may be place in their class.
7
Running head: A Disposition for Diversity

References

Grace, M. (2001). Learning styles. British Dental Journal, 191(3), 125-8.

doi:http://dx.doi.org.wesleyancollege.idm.oclc.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.4801116a

Hart, J. E. (2009). Strategies for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students With Special

Needs. Preventing School Failure, 53(3), 197–208. https://doi-

org.wesleyancollege.idm.oclc.org/10.3200/PSFL.53.3.197-208

History.com Editors. (2009, October 27). Brown v. Board of Education. Retrieved from

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/brown-v-board-of-education-of-topeka.

Overview of learning styles. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.learning-styles-online.com/overview/.

Sec. 300.8 Child with a disability. (2018, May 25). Retrieved from

https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/a/300.8.

Smith, D. D., (2007). Introduction to special education: making a difference. Boston, MA:

Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.