Learning Syles: The Playground Theory of Learning

Unlocking the Playground in My Mind: An Educator's Story

by Shelly Loewen
The Journey of Learning
I am a professional Learning Specialist, so it should come as no surprise that I am concerned with how people experience the learning and teaching process. My concern and passion for both developed from my experience early in life. Beginning in elementary school and throughout college I struggled to make formal education work for me. I loved learning but due to my inadequate reading skills was unable to make sense of material that was only seen – not heard or offered experientially. Only by recognizing my strengths and compensating for my learning inadequacies was I able to succeed.

The dichotomy of loving learning and struggling in school fueled my interest in learning and transformed my "me-search" endeavors into research goals. I studied the human psyche while earning a BA in Psychology at George Fox University. After graduation, I tutored English to junior high and high school students at Landmark School, an institution for students with learning disabilities. It was there that I recognized my learning challenges were commonplace for many of the students I taught. After identifying my learning difficulties, I developed strategies that helped me overcome those challenges. That experience led me to Azusa Pacific University where, on the road to an MA in Social Science (emphasis in student development), I explored other learning techniques that proved helpful both to me and to my students. As a result of these experiences, teaching for universities and vocational programs, and developing Performance Professionals, an educational consulting practice, I realized that helping learners learn and teachers teach was my mission in life.

The Playground Theory™ of Learning
I have experimented with many personality and learning assessments since 1980. While I appreciate the insights they provide, I find that their complexity and limitations begs the question: "How does this information help me learn?" While on a walk in 1991 that question led me to the playground. I was attracted to the activity there, observed people interacting and playing and I realized that the playground is not only a place for children to grow but also a representation of any given learning environment. The playground is truly a microcosm of the human learning process. With further exploration, a learning theory began to take form: We (people) learn similarly to the way we play and our learning process is a dynamic combination of our character (cognitive & affective) and sensory (psychomotor) learning style values. I saw that our minds are like a playground and unlocking that playground was the key to our learning success. This theory, now known as the Playground Theory™ of Learning became my professional focus and the foundation for my consulting work.

After returning home from that extraordinary walk I began developing an assessment that reflected the Playground Theory of Learning. The assessment was simple and consisted of 18 questions, evaluating both character and the sensory ways of learning. I used the assessment and applied the theory throughout my practice, recording feedback and developing strategies directly related to individual assessment results. Ultimately I was able to unlock the playground in my mind and develop the skills necessary to help clients, colleagues and students achieve academic or professional success.

Dynamic Learning Process
Many learning theories focus on learning styles, most of which are personality-driven, sensory-dominant, or experientially oriented. Although learning styles have been researched for decades, their application is yet to be viewed as definitive or as consistent as personality preferences. After years of research, it was clear to me that the human learning process mirrored the process of human development: it is dynamic, always growing. Perhaps that is why determining one's primary learning style has been a challenge for Educators worldwide.

With that in mind, I sought out a way to assess and describe the learning process dynamic, using the Playground Theory of Learning and the assessment. Both focus on 7 Key Learning Characteristics (KLC), including character (TIPP – Traditional, Ideational, Playful and Personal) and sensory (VAK – Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic) learning-style values. Each KLC approaches learning differently. While the Traditional values learning through structure, the Ideational learns from theories (see Graph A). Although analysis confirms that each KLC can stand alone as a preferred learning style, it is more likely that an individual's or group's learning process will include multiple strengths and/or combinations thereof. For example, groups with a combination of Playful and Personal will be more apt to learn from an emotional experience while a Traditional and Ideational group will learn when intellectually stimulated. Adding various sensory preferences and strengths also impacts the learning process: imagine the learning difference between a more creative group that listens to and/or hears information (auditory) compared with one that is more kinesthetically inclined and learns through hands-on experience. The teaching implications are considerable.

Graph A: Playground Theory™ of Learning (Key Learning Characteristics & Combination Dynamics)

Exploring the connections between the 7 characteristics while acknowledging the differences of each helped me recognize learning as a dynamic process versus a single and/or static learning style.

Validity of the Tool
Between 1991 and 1999, over 4,000 individuals used the assessment and the related strategies in their original form (paper assessment and oral presentation of results). Based on individual feedback and success stories, I began evaluating the validity of the tool. Observing frequent patterns within individual assessment results, I began to make informal comparisons between the tool and several well-known personality and learning style theories (Jung, Kolb, Gregorc, Dunn, Gardner, etc.). Similarities between the assessment and other tools were apparent (e.g., Traditional was similar to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator's 'Judging' preference, Ideational was similar to Gregorc's 'Abstract Sequential' learning style, Personal was similar to the LSI's 'Concrete Experience', etc.) – they all measured some sort of human preference, style and/or learning values. However, the Playground Theory and the combined character and sensory scales set my assessment apart, making it difficult to validate the tool by simply comparing it to more familiar indicators.

Since comparative validation was limited, face validity became critical and ultimately proved that there was something to the theory and the tool. Out of a sample group of 4000, more than 98% of those users confirmed face validity of the assessment after receiving oral feedback and a presentation on the Playground Theory of Learning. The feedback from those who disagreed with their results (on some level) was carefully considered and included in the continued research and the development of the tool.

TIPP™ Learning System
After researching and using the Playground Theory of Learning and assessment for almost 10 years, I realized that the World Wide Web provided the perfect method of distribution. A web interface would automatically score the assessment (see Graph B), and 1) provide learners with a Learning-Character™ Profile (LCP), character and sensory information regarding their learning dynamic and twelve strategies designed to help them maximize their learning efforts, and 2) provide instructors with a profile for instructors (LCPI), including the LCP information along with the instructor's teaching strengths and preferences.

Graph B: On-line System – TIPP™ Assessment

Finally, the web-based software would also allow instructors to view a profile summary on individual users (LCPS) and/or create aggregate groups (GLCPS), offering them insight into how the individuals' or groups' learn and how to address learner diversity on either level (Graph C).

Graph C – Group Learning-Character Profile Summary

Based on the assessment's scoring possibilities, I refined the feedback and strategies I had collected and developed it into 4 sets of 144 profiles, each providing clear, effective, and user-friendly learning and/or teaching information. Together with my business partner Scott Reed (BA, Whitman College, MBA, Seattle University), we outlined the security and functionality of the web site, selected a development company, and created the TIPP Learning System (the System) – an on-line learning style assessment package. The System was officially launched at www.performanceprofessionals.com July, 2001 and realizes the company's dream of supporting both sides of the learning equation – helping learners maximize their learning efforts and helping instructors address the learning differences of individuals and groups with ease.

The Power of the Playground
Given my struggles in school, I couldn't have imagined life as an educator. Yet, because of my learning process, my educational challenges, I do what I do today. Those challenges led me to the playground – looking for ways to understand the learning process – looking for the key to unlock the playground in my mind, and, helping me recognize that learning truly is a way of life.

About the Author: Shelly Loewen, MA, Learning Specialist, Founder and CEO of Performance Professionals, Inc. has worked to help learners learn and teachers teach since 1980. She has coordinated learning programs for elementary through post-secondary students, taught for 3 West Coast universities, vocational schools nation-wide, provided customized training programs for many companies and professional associations around the Northwest, and served in management positions on both the campus and corporate levels. In 1990 Ms. Loewen founded Performance Professionals, Inc. and began a consulting practice, working with learners (students, clients, employees) and instructors (teachers, trainers, supervisors, coaches) and providing training programs to businesses and schools.

For more on the reliability research the TIPP Learning System, information about using the System with your organization, testimonials from satisfied users, details about the TIPP Instructor Qualification Program or if you would like to experience the System for yourself, please contact Shelly Loewen by phone (206.228.8767) or e-mail her at saloewen@performanceprofessionals.com.

© September 2002 New Horizons for Learning
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