Diversity in Learning Styles: A Rationale for Using Visual Resources in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Learning Situations

Abstract

Accommodating diverse learning styles and recognising multimodal literacies in teaching and learning contexts significantly influence the way teaching and learning events are approached, facilitated and mediated. Proponents of the multimodal literacies theory suggest that meaning is communicated through a synchronisation of modes, including written language, visual resources, sound and motion, while proponents of theories of learning style preferences identify various learning styles of which visual learning is one. These ways of thinking support the incorporation and use of visual materials in teaching and learning. In such environments, visual resources can be used to provide information and elicit emotions, but, in education for sustainable development (ESD) learning contexts, they can also be used to move learners to thinking critically about the causes and consequences, and for proposing ways of resolving environmental crises and risks. This paper investigates the potential and role of visual resources in encouraging learning, critical thinking, creativity and cooperative learning in ESD learning environments.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p1644