What kind of a learner are you?

What kind of a learner are you?

Does this question look funny?

Not really, we differ from each other on our learning style preferences. Some of you learn only when you read or see; some learn better when they listen; yet some others need to do something to learn.

Let me share with you two very interesting learning (or learner!) incidences with which I have been personally associated.

Have you heard of Prof. Moonis Raza? A very well known scholar; he was director of NIEPA, the institution that works as India's national braintrust for the Government of India for educational policy making and planning; he was also vice-chancellor of Delhi University. He, in my assessment, was a great learner. I worked with him in NIEPA. There were several instances when he would broach a subject that was supposedly my specialization. He would do it with other colleagues as well. During the discourse, he will keep asking questions to me and my colleagues, and we try and clarify from our understanding of the subject. After an hour long rich discussion, he would ultimately ask for a book to read. And won’t hesitate to say, “I really learnt it now. But tell me or give me a book. Unless I read myself, tasalli nehi hoti (don’t feel satisfied)”. And we knew, once he read, he was the master. Moonis Raza was a typical visual learner. Unless he sees the knowledge in print, he finds it difficult to grasp.

Another is my own case. While I was finishing my M. Sc. from Calcutta University, out of fun of learning something I have read all through out, I took admission in Rabindra Bharati University in a Diploma Course in Tagore Literature. My exams were over and results were out. I was called by Prof. Sadhan Bhattacharya, our professor and a well known critic of Rabindra Literature. He taught us the paper on Rabindra Literature Criticism. Mortally afraid of his great height, I met him with fear and hesitation. Very unlike his style, he appreciated me, ‘I have taught this subject for so many years, I have never come across such a brilliant criticism of Rabindra Nath from comparative literature background by a student. I understand, you are a student of science. When did you read so much of literary criticism?’

I politely responded, “Sir, actually, I have not read”.

“Then? But what you wrote in your exams is authentic. How did you manage that?”

Lest my professor suspects me of mal-practice, I told him, “Sir, my father is a very good scholar of comparative literature. Whenever he would explain Tagore to me, he will refer to other literatures. I have rattled out all that he told me over the last few years. Sir, scholarship on comparative literature belongs to my father.”

“My God, you remembered all that!”

Yes, because I am primarily an auditory learner.

Besides the visual and auditory learner, there is a third variety called kinesthetic learner. They seem to learn better when they actually carry out a physical activity rather than ‘listening to a lecture or merely watching a demonstration’. “Students associated with this predominant learning style are thought to be natural discovery learners; they have realizations through doing, as opposed to having thought first before initiating action” (Wikipaedia, 28.4.2010). Kinesthetic learners are great learners from experience.

Have you checked with yourself and found out what is your own native style.

But, hold on for a minute
All of us actually learn in all the three styles. Moonis Raza did learn by listening or doing also; I too learn by reading, observing and doing. Similarly, you too learn through all three means. You are best in one of the styles. What is your native style?? How do you learn best – by listening, by watching or by doing?

Don’t go by what people say out of their own personal (individual) experience. It is good and also right for them; may or may not good for you. Examine yourself and identify your native style. There are enough research in this area. For example, kinesthetic learners learn best when they work through a programmed or structured learning material or experiment or construct something. Some love reading while walking or even dancing with music. Please understand, there is nothing wrong in such behaviour as long as learning happens.


While majority of the learners are either dominantly visual or auditory, about 15% learners are kinesthetic. Depending upon your native style, you should adjust your learning efforts and optimize the benefits.

So, what’s your native style? Ask yourself, ask your friends, parents and near ones who have had enough opportunity to watch and observe you. Listen to every one, but take your own decision.

How do you develop inquisitiveness?

Hey! How do you develop inquisitiveness? Can you learn to be inquisitive?
Yes, of course.
In fact, if you ask your parents, they will tell you that you were actually very inquisitive when you were a small child. You asked so many questions to your parents, sometimes irritating, sometimes even embarrassing. Then slowly and steadily you lost out; lost a powerful tool of learning. Not your fault. Adults around you wanted you ‘to behave’ and not ask ‘unnecessary questions’. Good child as you are, you learnt to behave; but to the detriment of your development interest.

Your inquisitiveness is not dead. It has only gone to sleep. You have to wake it up and welcome it. You have to only bring that child-like quality back. Can you do that?

Just as elders trained you not to be inquisitive, you can train yourself to be inquisitive. And the technique is simple.

Find missing information

When you read a chapter in your textbook, try and identify the missing information. Identify what more information, facts and interpretations could have been there. I wrote in my previous posting about Latitude-Longitude. There are large number of missing information in the book. For example, what is the distance in miles or kilometers between Equator and Tropic of Cancer? Is the distance between the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer same as that between Equator and Tropic of Capricorn, and so on? Why should you, on earth, learn latitude and longitude at all? All those who did not go to the school, managed their lives without knowing these imaginary lines? Why should these lines continue to be imaginary; why not the countries mark these lines like now extinct Berlin Wall or Chinese Wall or something else?

Read every paragraph carefully; then reflect what’s missing; or ask yourself, “can I have some more information? Can I have some different interpretation?”

Ask, what if?

My favourite ‘What if’ is from history. What would be the history of Mughal Dynasty in India if Akbar was not born at all? What would have happened to Indian Freedom Movement if Advocate Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi would have ‘minded his own business’ and stick to his profession? What would happen if you throw a piece of raw sodium into water? What would happen if UN decides to name the longitudes passing through either Beijing or New Delhi, the capitals of two most powerful countries in the future, as Prime Meridian and not the one passing through Greenwich?

Create as many ‘what if’s as you can in whatever subject and whatever topic you read. It must be your habit. It does not matter whether you can find the answer. Remember, being wild in your question is “GOOD”, not being practical.

Ask why?

When you throw a piece of sodium in water, whatever happens, why does it happen? Why did Gandhiji withdrew his movements at the nick of time? Why should one read history? Why should you learn algebra, unless you want to be a mathematician? And so on.

Ask, How many ways … ?

Ask yourself, how many ways can I use a book? How many ways can I write with a pen? How many ways can I move my body from one place to another? How many ways can I answer a question? How many ways can I solve a theorem in Geometry? How many ways can I express my happiness? How many ways can I write this paragraph? How many ways can the latitudes and longitudes be actually drawn on the earth? Remember, countries do draw their boundaries.

You can add more.

Developing inquisitiveness is not one-shot affair. It needs continuous practise. Keep doing in every subject, every chapter. Keep practising outside the books – at home, in the playground, in social groups and among pals. Make it a habit.

Please remember, INQUISITIVENESS is a celebrated habit. That erudite scholars keep searching and reading new books is because of their inquisitiveness; scientists spend hours and days and years together in research labs because of their inquisitiveness, painters and artists keep experimenting with new forms because of their inquisitiveness. Active INQUISITIVENESS makes one a great learner.

Explore and Research

Once you have generated questions, you need to find answers. You have to identify the sources for answer. These sources are
v Human beings,
v Printed materials,
v Electronic media.
v Add, any other

Resourceful human beings are teachers, parents, elder siblings, friends, and neighbours. Printed materials can be your own textbook, supplementary material, textbooks of higher grades, reference books, etc.
Electronic media resources are websites, Wikis, Blogs, You tube, Teacher Tube, e-mails, chats, etc.

Honestly, when I got stuck with the question about the distance between equator and Tropic of Capricorn, I found the answer in Youtube. Similarly, reference books are a great resource to satisfy your inquisitiveness. Of course, teachers, knowledgeable parents and neighbours are great resources; particularly resourceful are the bright senior students.

Your net target is to discover the knowledge. While you try and discover, do not accept any one source for granted. Check the same information from more than one source, compare and then decide. Your discovery, then, becomes more dependable.

Learner within you

Cultivate a Learner within you

Ask yourself, ‘am I a learner’? If you get the answer ‘yes’ from within, ask again, “What’s the proof”? “What are the indicators to call myself a learner?’ Remember, all students are not learners, but all learners are students. Student, in conventional sense is a designation for those who are enrolled in a school or a college. Studentship, in real sense, is a mind set; mind set of a learner. Few who may or may not be enrolled in any school or college are students in that real sense of the term. Whosoever has the ‘student mind set’ is a learner.

Look at a cricketer, a pianist, a painter, a good teacher, a creative carpenter, and others. A cricketer not only plays, but also enjoys. Almost every cricketer whether legendry Sachin Tendulkar or dynamic captain MS Dhoni or Yuvaraj of Indian cricket, Yuvaraj Singh or the young turbanator Harbhajan Singh has made such statement more than once. So is a painter, a pianist and a vocal musician or a carpenter or a dedicated teacher; they all enjoy what they do. They find joy and excitement in cricket or painting or music or crafting a new furniture or teaching in a novel way. So, the first criteria is the joy in what you do.

Do you enjoy learning or it comes as a burden to you?
If you already enjoy learning tasks, you are a learner.
If you want to be a learner, you must enjoy learning.

Secondly, all those who excel in sports and games, art and painting, music and sculpting, teaching and mentoring are very inquisitive. They seamlessly search for new ideas, new methods of doing things. They are never satisfied with what they already know. They believe there is something more somewhere. So they keep exploring.
Do you?
For example, when you studied Latitude-Longitude in Geography, did you ask ‘What is the distance between the equator and Tropic of Capricorn; or what is the distance between two meridians at equator, and at the Tropic of Cancer, or why does Prime Meridian go through Greenwich and not Beijing or New Delhi?"
Are you satisfied with what you know and think ‘this is enough’?
Are you inquisitive – do you keep asking questions to others, keep looking in books and websites?
If you are satisfied with what you know, you may qualify as a student but not as a learner.
If you are seamlessly inquisitive like a child, you are a learner.

Remember, inquisitiveness and joy are interrelated. You are inquisitive because you find joy in learning something new. So, you must be both inquisitive and enjoy what follows due to your inquisitiveness.

Next, all learners are not only inquisitive, but they also tend to experiment and explore. They are unlikely to accept knowledge as written in the books or told by their teachers and elders. They verify knowledge. In the process, they discover knowledge that already exists, and sometimes new. Remember, there is nothing wrong in discovering knowledge. Many people advise not to reinvent wheels. This is a dangerous advice. You must reinvent wheels. What are important is not wheels; what is important is ‘reinventing’. Learners develop the habit of reinventing and inventing.

After all, we all celebrate Columbus who did not create, but only discovered America that already existed. Learners verify knowledge; learners experiment with new ways of solving problems.

Do you accept knowledge as they come or question them, research and verify them?
Do you experiment to find new solutions to old problems?
You will qualify as a learner only if you try to verify existing knowledge and experiment with your knowledge.

Please see the link. You will verify knowledge and experiment because you are inquisitive and not fully satisfied with what you know. You find joy in verifying knowledge as well as experimenting and finding new ways of doing things.

If you are a learner, you will be inquisitive, a researcher and an experimenter; and all these you will enjoy.

You must create a learner out of you – much larger than a designated student. Be inquisitive, research on the knowledge, experiment with new tools and techniques to find new solutions. I assure you, you will enjoy.

Who are Smart Learners

Who is a smart Learner?

Most students spend lot of time reading the same paragraphs from the textbooks again and again. They mechanically repeat till they are able to memorize and repeat without seeing the book. That's no great achievement. It is like a donkey who carries bags of sugar without knowing or testing the sweetness of what it carries. It percieves weight of sugar as as carrying junks and scraps. Learning becomes boring, dull and monotonous.

No wonder, efforts to learn the daily home tasks becomes stressful. Yet, learning does not happen. Do you want to check? Just try and recollect what you learnt 'by heart' six months after your examination is over. That inability to recollect and rattle it out is called Learning Loss; people may call it forgetting. You lost so much of learning after so much of efforts, because your ways of learning was unsmart. Why don't you practise smart learning techniques from now on.

Smart learners spend lesser time in mechanical repeatitive reading of the same paragraphs, spends less money on private tuition; instead adopt smart learnig techniques that make their learning faster, deeper and sustainable with minimum learning loss, as an exciting activity, and joyful. And they emerge as happy, inquisitive, ever exploring human beings.

I have created this blog especially for you who are still in the school grades I'll share with you my life long learning and research on

How to develop Habits of Smart Learning?

How to Learn without Stress?

How to develop Learning as a Passion?

Please share your comments and views so that others and I can benefit.

Wishing you all the best,