But does it really matter if people believe in learning styles? Yes, it does.

Much has been written about how there is no evidence that learning styles exist and that well-intentioned teachers are wasting valuable time trying to differentiate to them. Nonetheless, I’ve had people say to me, “Okay, but does it really do any harm if a teacher or parent thinks students have a learning style?” Well, according to Sun and colleagues’ (2023) findings, the answer is yes. They found that parents, teachers, and students consistently rated “hands-on” learners as less smart than “visual” learners. And they said that visual learners would do better in math, language arts, etc. whereas hands-on would do better in gym, art, etc. Teachers’ and parents’ beliefs can affect how they interact with students, leading those students to start to internalize those beliefs, even implicitly. That means the teacher or parent who thinks a student is a hands-on learner may unintentionally send the message that the student isn’t as “smart” as others, leading the student to internalize this view, also. Yikes!

This is NOT fine, of course. Sun et al’s work is further reason to stay vigilant about busting the learning styles myth. Let’s keep spreading the good word.