[weldedtogether]

We see the same issues in education with kids learning in different ways, and those who learn better in X way might learn less because they're being taught in Y way.

It comes down to the overhead in time and complexity (usually money as well) being too high to justify accommodating everyone. We just sorta jam everyone into the same thing and figure we'll get enough out of them. As the culture shifts more toward worker's work/life balance being important (if it ever does here in the US) I think this will change, but I don't think we'll see ever enough flexibility to accommodate everyone. We'll settle on another standard and stick to it till enough people complain.

[junipertea]

Different learning styles are actually disputed [0], but I agree that 1. it's easier for employer to fit everyone in one box. 2. If people had more individual approaches, they would work better

[0]https://www.educationnext.org/stubborn-myth-learning-styles-...

[bityard]

I read that article but it doesn't seem to actually say much, other than "leaning styles == bad." My best guess is that the author has built a strawman and his definition of "different learning styles" is markedly different (or narrower) than the common understanding of the phase.

I consider myself a pretty open-minded individual and a strong adherent to the idea that (properly conducted!) science furthers human progress, health, and happiness. But there's no way anyone can convince me that, given the exceptionally wide variability in the way human brains process information, that there is "one true way" to teach somebody something. Or even "one true way" for a specific individual that applies to all subjects.

For instance, there is an entire generation who seem to learn faster and/or better by watching well-produced videos on a topic. For them, reading a textbook or other forms of documentation takes too long or just plain doesn't work. This is basically what all of those modern online course sites and coding bootcamps are doing.

I'm the complete opposite. I'd rather sift through book-sized volumes of written documentation and tutorials (or in a pinch, a textbook) to quickly gain an overall big-picture view of a topic and then dive into specific details as necessary. For me, watching videos takes too long, and I get bored and sleepy watching them. Give me something to read, reflect on, and play with.

Another example: my son, unlike most of his peers, can't sit still in a classroom. Nor can he watch educational videos for any particular length of time. He is not (yet?) a self-directed learner because if you put him in front of an electronic device of any kind, he will tinker with all of the settings on the device instead of using it for its intended purpose. However, he absolutely excels at one-on-one tutoring because I have managed to teach him some fairly advanced (for his age) math, computer, and electronics concepts just by sitting down and talking about these things with him as if it was just casual conversation. The problem, of course, is that the way schools are structured, this cannot possibly scale even to just the kids that need it the most.

[TimPC]

There is a sizeable contingent in education that ascribes to the theory that learning styles is mostly bunk. The differences in outcomes for students taught with a preferred learning style vs students taught with their least preferred learning style is consistently quite small. There is also the practical consideration that teaching each student in their preferred of n teaching styles requires n times the instruction time. A large number of educators believe you get best results by just letting the teacher pick the approach to teaching they are most comfortable with.

[paulsutter]

Your link doesn't demonstrate that all people learn in the same way, merely tries to debunk a specific/narrow set of learning styles (that seem bizarre in the first place)

[TameAntelope]

Here are a few better sources. "Learning styles" are not established science, by any means.

https://career.ucsf.edu/sites/g/files/tkssra2771/f/Article%2...

https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA628405045&sid=googleS...

https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/LearningStylesMyth

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/04/the-myth...

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-...

[sushid]

I don't think you're disproving the parent commenter with these links. Again, it appears that the VARK learning styles are likely nonsense but that doesn't mean people don't have different learning preferences that work better for them.

[mym1990]

The idea is that many people will learn best when a combination of teaching methods are present, rather than one person always being taught in style X vs style Y. But most schools and teaching institutions are setup as farms that make students believe that if they don't find success in this narrow little box, then they must be dumb or doing something wrong.

Surely the idea that people learn in the same way is as bizarre as the idea that people learn in one of 4 ways.

[whatever1]

I have at least one counter example.

Graduate level Math/Physics.

There are people who cannot understand unless they see the algebra.

There also people that will not understand until they see the geometrical interpretation of the problem.

[DharmaPolice]

Clearly we can't accomodate everyone but it seems achievable to work toward a culture where (for example) meetings are discouraged at 6pm where some employees start at 8am or 9am.

One of the very minor customs that has developed (spontaneously) in my organisation (and I assume elsewhere) during the pandemic is (internally) people are quite likely to ask if it's OK to call you. This isn't a rule and obviously doesn't apply with anything urgent but it's starting to feel almost approaching rude now to call someone about a routine matter without checking whether they've got a minute for a call. Personally, I like that.

A lot of emphasis is understandably given to statutory/regulatory intervention to protect workers but there are small cultural things we can do to make work a bit less awful (like not scheduling your team meeting at a time when you know multiple people are taking their kids to school or right at the end of the day where you know people have trains to catch or whatever). These don't need to be documented corporate policies (because then it becomes something else) but just customs that quietly evolve over time.