2.8 Entwistle’s theory of student approaches to learning
Noel Entwistle’s ideas are concerned with the ways in which individuals approach learning. They focus on how people go about learning a body of knowledge. This contrasts with community of practice theory, which is more interested in how groups of people together create knowledge or understanding, as the St Kildans did about ‘high-rise’ egg collecting.
This might suggest that we are going back to where we started on this course. You may recall that this starting point involved thinking about yourself as an individual learner. However, here we are encouraging you to think about how reflecting on a theory can help you understand your learning. We ask you to begin to assess its usefulness and personal relevance.
You may have heard of the term ‘learning styles’. Although learning styles are widely used in both education and at work, some approaches which use them have been criticised. If you want to find out more about this criticism, see the report Should We Be Using Learning Styles? (Coffield, et al., 2004). Reports like these argue that there is little evidence to back some of the claims made for learning styles.
We have selected Entwistle’s theory, which has not been criticised in this way, because it is based on evidence that has been gathered over a number of years. We hope you will find it interesting and useful in extending your thinking about how you might use learning to achieve change.