Auditory

Visual

Kinesthetic

There are basically three styles of learning which correlate to the three parts of the human soul (will, mind and emotions). The auditory style correlates to the will of the soul. The visual correlates to the mind of the soul, and the kinesthetic correlates to the emotion of the soul.

Just as in the human personalities, there is most always a blending of the three areas for each unique personality, there is also a unique blend of learning styles for the individual. There are generally ‘leanings’ or ‘bents’, however, in one direction or another.

The Bible correlates ‘hearing’ to ‘obeying’. Those who receive commands verbally, act decisively to fulfill what is spoken. Auditory learners are ‘will’ centered in their personality temperaments (Choleric). This works well in militaristic situations requiring instant obedience for instant results. Auditory (aural) learners prefer lectures over book study or social interaction, although they can function to a certain extent in either of these other areas. The will-centered learner, being the center-most area between the mind and the emotions, can lean a little to the mind-centered learning style or the other direction, to the emotion-centered learning style, but will not involve himself fully in either area. Due to the strength of his decision to do so, he can function in these other areas up to a certain point, but will finally grow weary, returning to his most natural place of auditory learning.

It is easy to see the metaphoric relationship throughout Scripture of the ‘eye’ to the ‘mind’. Visual learners are ‘mind-centered’ in their personality temperaments (Melancholy) and relate to visual stimuli such as text-books, charts, graphs, videos, etc. Visual learners are on opposite extremes from the kinesthetic learners, just as the mind-centered personalities are opposite from the emotion-centered personalities. Visual learners will be able to connect to the auditory (or will-centered) learning style more easily than the kinesthetic, and will easily be overwhelmed by ‘too much’ stimulus of social interactivity. They prefer to be alone in their work, where they can be singularly focused. They are usually highly organized in their thoughts, and require that organization in order to learn. When things become disorganized and ‘out of control’, they find it difficult to focus and be successful in their work.

Kinesthetic learners are emotion-centered (Sanguine personality) in their learning style, and require social interaction and ‘hands-on’ involvement, in order to fully absorb what they are learning. Simply sitting in a class-room reading a text-book is boring and non-inspiring to them, while class-participation, a job doing something, or some form of ‘manipulative’ is essential to maximize their learning process. These people can be very intelligent, but lack motivation in the traditional class-room structure, which is geared primarily towards the visual and aural learner. The kinesthetic learner may be branded as unintelligent or ‘unfocussed’ simply because his learning style is not being accessed properly in the learning environment.

The combination of all three styles, is (as stated above) what relates to most people. Some people lean strongly to one of the three areas, while others have a greater ‘blend’ of all three. The most unified of all three areas could be classified as the Phlegmatic personality. Yet even these have a slight leaning in one direction or another. Some people are blended with a stronger aggressive will. Others are blended with a more submissive will. The combination of the three elements of mind, will and emotions (visual, aural, and kinesthetic respectively) are as diverse as the number of people ever to have lived. The goal of this study is not to demean or subjugate people into a ‘cookie-cutter’ view of human relationships, but rather to simply encourage a more effective learning environment. Any communicator, whether they be a leader, teacher, or colleague, would be well-advised to continue the pursuit of successfully relating to others, giving them the best opportunity to connect through the most applicable tools to their style of learning.

(for more study, see the Trinity Concepts Key)