Abstract
M.Ed.
Business managers and most industries argue that many academic theories offered at
schools are irrelevant and do not solve the real problems, which are facing people in life.
Newspaper editorials and local television channels also voice this dissatisfaction. They
remind us on a regular basis that we have lost our competitive edge with other countries.
Generally, learners in Mpumalanga, South Africa, do not perform well in their external
examinations, our learners do not fare well compared with international achievement
measures. Dropouts are unlikely to join a work force and become successful citizens.
Instead, precisely the opposite is the far greater likelihood (Strange, 1992: 105).
One should remember that, teaching is a creative art. Good educators, like good artists,
have their own individual styles of performing. They also respect the individuality of their
learners in the realization that everybody learns through his or her own perceptions. In
affirming the presence and validity of different learning styles (Lankard, N.D.:2)
postulates that there are two types of learners : relational learners and analytical learners.
Relational learners place an emphasis on affectivity and reality-based learning, a broad
and personal approach to the processing of information, a search for relevance and
personal meaning in what is taught and a need for qualitative feedback. On the other hand, analytical learners place an emphasis on the information itself, exhibit sequential and structural thinking, are more task-orientated academically and can more easily learn
material that is inanimate and impersonal.