In my forty years of teaching, I have learned through my own research and classroom experience that there are three major types of atypical learners who suffer in a traditional classroom despite average or above average I.Q. ‘s.
Right-handed right-eyed visual learners are able to succeed in our traditional classrooms because their needs are met daily by teachers who are much like them. They often come to school reading because of their early access to the left (logic) hemisphere of the brain They fill our colleges, business and governmental agencies.
However, for the three types of atypical learners I shall introduce below school is much less rewarding due to an atypical learning style and brain profile. They do not succeed because their needs are not met in a traditional worksheet/lecture learning environment. When their needs are not met, they often become disruptive, isolated and belligerent. They are very frustrating to both their teachers and parents. Too often these children fill our prisons, juvenile centers and AA meetings.
If I could go into America’s prisons and test inmates in these three areas, I feel convinced that the majority of them would have one or more of these atypical learning profiles. The question then becomes, ‘Will we build better schools or bigger prisons? See attachment below.
P.E.A.R.L 