Microfinance Practice: RE: [MFP] Four recommendations for learning from clients

How do you learn?
Do you ever wonder why some people are known as "straight A students" while other people struggle in school - even though they're smart?
Do you know people who didn't finish high school, and have found great success in their careers?

People learn in different ways. And no one has a better learning style than anyone else. Some experts say there are as many as seven different learning styles; but it's easier to narrow it down to three types of learning :

1. Listening (auditory) learners

2. Seeing (visual) learners
3. Touch/experience (kinesthetic or tactile) learners

If a touch/experience learner had to do a task they would buy the materials and get started. They don't read instructions or ask any questions. Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing. They learn by moving and touching. They solve problems by physically working through them. They like to try new things and they can be your best allies for change management in an organization. Unfortunately, our education system does not serve them well.

Developing sensitivity to differing people learning styles can help in designing learning delivery methods. From my experience, people in developing countries have learning styles that may differ from those in developed countries. "Do we learn in different ways? could be an important question.

Normand Arsenault

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SOURCES

Cultural Learning Styles

Author: Al Heredia, 1999
http://library.educationworld.net/a12/a12-166.html

Extract:

"Where does the incongruity between learning styles of minority students and traditional classroom practice originate? According to a New York State Board of Regents' report on learning styles, the traditional school curriculum follows a "linear, step-by-step approach to learning" (Martel, 1998). Ogbu (1988) states that the traditional curriculum reflects "the middle class cultural values, beliefs, and norms of schools." Such an approach focuses on linguistic and quantitative strengths. It limits learning by limiting instructional strategies that can successfully address student learning styles. The conclusion for researchers is that students of color who fail academically do so because of their differences in learning style when compared to mainstream students (Irvine and York, 1995)."

Learning Styles of African American Children: A Review of the Literature and Interventions

Madge Gill Willis 1
http://jbp.sagepub.com/content/16/1/47.abstract

Abstract:

"A review of theories, research, and models of the learning styles of Black children reveals that Black children generally learn in ways characterized by factors of social/affective emphases, harmony, holistic perspectives, expressive creativity, and nonverbal communication. Underlying these approaches are assumptions that Black Americans (African Americans) have been strongly influenced by their African heritage and culture, and that Black children's learning styles are different-but not deficient. Implications for interventions include recommendations for instructional interventions, curriculum organization, assessment, and suggestions for future research."

How do you learn?

http://www.worldwidelearn.com/education-articles/how-do-you-learn.htm

What's YOUR Learning Style?

http://sunburst.usd.edu/~bwjames/tut/learning-style/index.html

Three Different Learning Styles

http://sunburst.usd.edu/~bwjames/tut/learning-style/styleres.html

Understanding and Identifying Auditory, Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Styles

http://sunburst.usd.edu/~bwjames/tut/learning-style/styleunder.html

Helping Kinesthetic Learners Succeed

http://www.education.com/magazine/article/kinesthetic_learner/

The Classroom Mosaic: Culture and Learning

http://www.learner.org/courses/learningclassroom/support/06_culture.pdf

TED TALKS

Ali Carr-Chellman: Gaming to re-engage boys in learning

http://www.ted.com/talks/ali_carr_chellman_gaming_to_re_engage_boys_in_learning.html

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!

http://blog.ted.com/2010/05/24/bring_on_the_re/

Sir Ken Robinson - Leading a Learning Revolution

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XTCSTW24Ss

TED Talk on Learning in India

http://rburnett.ecuad.ca/ronburnett/2011/2/17/ted-talk-on-learning-in-india.html

Diana Laufenberg: How to learn? From mistakes

http://www.ted.com/talks/diana_laufenberg_3_ways_to_teach.html

8 talks about learning from failure

http://blog.ted.com/2013/03/04/8-talks-about-learning-from-failure/

THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE ON LEARNING

The Influences of Culture on Learning and Assessment
http://blogs.ubc.ca/dryan/files/2008/10/fulltext.pdf

Learning styles across cultures
Luciano Mariani, Perspectives, a journal of TESOL-Italy, vol. XXXIV, n. 2., Fall 2007.
http://www.learningpaths.org/papers/paperculturalstyles.htm

Does the Way We Teach Create Behavior Disorders In Culturally Different Students?
http://www.behavioradvisor.com/C-Learn.html

Teaching and Learning in Central Africa - Fellowship of Grace

http://www.fgbc.org/aquilaproject/documents/TeachingandLearninginCentralAfrica.pdf

Cultural Difference and its influence on learning

http://community.flexiblelearning.net.au/TeachingTrainingLearners/content/article_4502.htm

Crosscultural Differences in Learning Styles of Secondary

http://crosscultured.com/documents/Cognitive,%20Learning%20Strategies/Learning%20styles.pdf

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From: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of cgap@worldbank.org
Sent: 4 avril 2013 09:14
To: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MFP] Four recommendations for learning from clients

Client-centricity is the latest buzz word in financial inclusion. Beyond the rhetoric, financial service providers have to figure out what it takes to listen to clients continuously and to implement what they are learning in the form of better products, delivery channels, or overall customer experience. A first step for providers is analyzing the value of understanding clients and how they can incorporate what they hear in ways that yield actionable insights. Some providers have client-centricity baked into their systems, operations, and human resources. For others, it is a bigger stretch to put clients at the center of the operational model.

With this in mind, CGAP and MicroSave have four recommendations for listening to and learning from clients: