As a parent, how often have you questioned whether your parenting techniques have made fundamental impacts on your child’s development or are they inherently “who they are” based on their genetic build-up? The nature vs. nurture debate is a longstanding question and popular parenting discussion that has fascinated phycologists for decades. 

Nature refers to genetic and hereditary influences passed down from our parents and grandparents, from physical appearance to our personality characteristics. Nurture refers to environmental influences such as early childhood experiences, parenting styles, social relationships and community.  

In the past, this debate commonly took a very one-sided approach with contributors drawing a line in the sand and arguing that it was either nature or nurture that had the most significant impact. Today, most parents will agree (through first-hand experience) that both factors play a critical role in a child’s development. 

Have you ever considered this question in relation to your child’s education and the way in which you approach their schooling? In this article will take a closer look at this question and unpack some ideas on how a child’s learning environment and schooling model impacts their ability to retain information and how this affects their willingness to learn. 

Teaching styles

In a recent interview, CambriLearn student and Mensa member Christopher Oosthuizen says; “I like to be taught how to think and not what to think”. From this 8-year-old’s brilliant mind, we can see how important it is for our teaching methods to reflect the child’s preferred style of learning. With such a profound and analytical mind, Christopher thrives on self-empowerment, learning through experimentation and being provided with the right tools to discover learning concepts. For Christopher, homeschooling provides an optimal learning zone​​™. 

Natural abilities

No two children are the same and therefore they will not learn in the same way or at the same pace. There is simply no one size fits all solution to education and creating a personalised learning journey based on a child’s natural abilities is the best chance to ensure educational success. 

As a parent, you might prefer to read a manual whilst your child might prefer to see instructions in a diagram format. Parents should celebrate and strategically approach each student’s preferred learning style in order to promote optimal learning and knowledge retention. According to the VARK system, there are four types of learning styles – visual, auditory, reading/writing and kinaesthetic. This short quiz can help you better understand your child’s preferred learning style

Learning environments 

One of the key factors when instilling a child’s love for learning is to consider their learning environment. One child may enjoy online learning through interactive online materials and gamified learning platforms whereas another child may learn better through one-on-one tutor support. 

A child’s learning environment has a direct and lasting impact on the way in which they absorb and retain information. Parents need to consider which learning environment best suits their child’s unique needs in order to harness their love for learning. This liberates them to pursue their own interests and teaches them how to manage themselves throughout their education journey. 

Understanding your child’s preferred learning style can be a difficult task, consider taking this online quiz to help shed some valuable insights on your child’s optimal learning environment.