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Every child has unique strengths and faces individual challenges when it comes to learning. Recognizing that each student learns differently is crucial to creating a better learning environment for everyone in the classroom. Teachers who understand the needs of diverse learners and develop strategies to create a supportive environment for all students can help ensure that everyone has the opportunity to succeed.

Aspiring educators can focus their studies on special education to learn the skills and knowledge required to support different types of learners and create inclusive, successful classrooms. Bachelor’s and master’s programs in special education prepare individuals to provide diverse learners with the essential support they need to thrive.

What Does It Mean to Be a Diverse Learner?

Diverse learner is a term that refers to the different abilities, background, and learning style of a student. Students in every classroom have a range of academic skills, physical abilities, languages, cultures, and individual experiences that influence how they learn. For example, some students are visual learners, while others prefer to learn by hearing or touching.

Diversity in how students learn also considers students with learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, or developmental disorders, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); students on the autism spectrum; students with intellectual or physical disabilities; English language learners; and gifted students. Factors such as emotional challenges and socioeconomic status can also influence how students learn.

Types of Diverse Learners

Recognizing and addressing differences among diverse learners helps teachers create a space where all students can succeed. The following breaks down four types of learning styles and what can be done to address the special needs of students with that particular learning style.

Visual

Visual learners learn best when they see information. They might struggle to follow spoken directions and stay focused in noisy places. Eye contact helps them stay on track. To help visual learners, teachers can use pictures, charts, outlines, and flashcards. Another approach to keep visual learners involved is to use whiteboards or allow students to use their personal devices to sketch graphs, draw diagrams, or jot down quick examples as they work through a lesson.

Auditory

Auditory learners understand information best when it is spoken. They tend to be sociable and enjoy stories and discussions. Teachers can help these learners by explaining concepts aloud and using group work, class discussions, and audio-based activities. Other strategies can include working music, rhymes, or mnemonics into lessons, and, when appropriate, using audiobooks for assigned reading.

Read/Write

Read/write learners take in information best by reading and writing. For example, a read/write learner may prefer learning through books, handouts, or lists. Teachers can support these learners by offering written materials, promoting thorough notetaking, and allowing students to use a diary or journal to reflect on their learning experiences.

Kinesthetic

Kinesthetic learners, also known as tactile learners, learn best through hands-on activities. Instead of sitting during a lesson or watching a demonstration, they may prefer to try things themselves through experimentation. Teachers can help these learners by including physical tasks in lessons, such as solving puzzles, or encouraging movement and creative expression during class time.

How Teachers Address the Needs of Diverse Learners in the Classroom

Teachers can support diverse learners in the classroom by using strategies that go beyond traditional one-size-fits-all teaching methods. These strategies include the following:

• Differentiated instruction: Differentiated instruction supports students’ varying abilities, learning styles, and readiness levels by adjusting the content, teaching methods, and assessments for each type of learner.

• Inclusive pedagogy: Inclusive pedagogy creates a learning environment where all students have an equal opportunity to succeed by removing bias from lessons and ensuring diverse, representative materials are used.

• Universal Design for Learning (UDL): UDL is a framework intended to optimize teaching that focuses on three areas: engagement, representation, and action and expression.

Each of these strategies has similar goals: to keep every student engaged, to encourage students’ participation, to exhibit active listening, and to make students feel valued by recognizing and responding to their unique learning needs.

Examples of how teachers address the needs of diverse learners in the classroom include:

• Giving students choices in how they learn and demonstrate their knowledge, which promotes autonomy and engagement, and then adjusting the content and learning process and to fit each student’s readiness, interests, and learning style

• Encouraging active learning to engage students more fully in their education through participation, such as by turning lessons into games or activities. Students can physically interact with materials and create opportunities for collaboration and debate in the classroom

• Actively addressing biases and promoting an open, welcoming environment free from discrimination while promoting a sense of belonging and psychological safety in the classroom

• Teaching content in multiple ways, such as through videos, podcasts, demonstrations, and group work. Teachers can allow students to progress at their own pace by using adaptive learning tools and technologies to personalize each student’s learning path based on their skills and knowledge.

• Providing common accommodation for everyone, not just those with formal plans like individualized education programs (IEPs) or 504 plans, to ensure all students have equal access to learning

Improve Outcomes for Diverse Learners

Educators can create learning experiences that meet the needs of all students by employing a range of teaching methods. In collaboration with school leaders, school counselors, parents, and students, teachers can design programs that truly support their students’ learning.

Wilson College Online offers a bachelor’s degree in special education and a master’s degree in special education that prepares individuals for various special education certifications. Individuals in these programs gain skills in special education, classroom assessment, and inclusive teaching to advance in their education careers and make an impact in the lives of diverse learners.

Discover how Wilson College Online can help you become an innovator in special education.

Recommended Readings

Tips for Teaching Diversity in the Classroom

Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor: Career Overview

What Are the 4 Types of Learning Styles

Sources:

Avanti, “Engaging Students With Diverse Learning Needs”

CAST, Universal Design for Learning

EBSCO, “Differentiated Instruction”

Heliyon, “Accommodating Students’ Learning Styles Differences in English Language Classroom”

HMH, “6 Creative Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners”

Kids First, “Supporting Diverse Needs”

MethodsX, “Differentiation Approach in Education: Tailoring Instruction for Diverse Learner Needs”

Prodigy, “20 Differentiated Instruction Strategies and Examples [Plus Downloadable List]”