Introduction
My strongest learning preference is reading and writing because I understand ideas best when I can examine them slowly, make notes, reorganize them, and explain them in my own words. This preference has shaped my academic confidence and my self-concept as a developing scholar. It has also influenced my long-term goal of becoming a lecturer who can communicate knowledge clearly and help other students learn. At the same time, preference should not be confused with a fixed “learning style.” Current evidence does not support the claim that students reliably learn better when instruction is matched to one permanent category such as visual, auditory, reading/writing, or kinesthetic. The Education Endowment Foundation’s updated review warns that learners are unlikely to have one stable style and that labeling them can restrict effort and expectations (Education Endowment Foundation, 2025). I therefore describe reading and writing as useful strategies that suit many of my academic tasks, not as limits on my ability to learn through discussion, demonstration, images, practice, or experience.
Why Reading and Writing Work Well for Me
Reading gives me control over pace. I can stop at a difficult paragraph, return to an earlier section, compare sources, and notice how an author builds an argument. I also benefit from seeing terminology and sentence structure in context because this supports vocabulary, spelling, and academic expression. Writing deepens the process because it forces me to decide what an idea actually means. A concept may feel clear until I try to explain it and discover missing steps. Note-taking, paraphrasing, outlining, and drafting therefore help me move from familiarity to understanding. These activities are most effective when they remain active. Simply copying a paragraph can create the appearance of study without requiring retrieval or interpretation. I learn more when I close the source and restate the idea, generate a question, compare arguments, or explain how the concept applies to a new example. Reading and writing support my development because they make thinking visible enough to examine and revise.
This preference is especially useful for literature, theory, argument, research, and written assessment, but it is not automatically the best method for every type of learning. A laboratory technique, pronunciation task, musical performance, clinical procedure, or physical skill may require observation and repeated practice that text alone cannot provide. Reading about swimming cannot produce the motor coordination needed to swim, and reading grammar rules does not automatically create fluent conversation. This distinction helps me avoid using my strength as an avoidance strategy. When I feel uncertain, I may be tempted to read more instead of asking a question, speaking aloud, testing myself, or applying the skill. Effective learning therefore depends on the nature of the task as well as preference. Research on learning styles is most useful to me when it encourages reflection on possible methods rather than persuading me that one method defines my ability (Pashler et al., 2008).
From Learning Styles to a Flexible Learning Toolkit
A better way to think about learning is to build a flexible toolkit of strategies. Reading, retrieval practice, discussion, visual representation, spaced review, feedback, demonstration, and direct application each solve different learning problems. The current EEF review reports extremely limited evidence for teaching approaches that group students by supposed learning styles and emphasizes that preferences can change across situations and over time (Education Endowment Foundation, 2025). This finding does not make personal preference meaningless. It simply means that preference should guide reflection without becoming a scientific label. If I am learning a complex theoretical framework, reading and writing may be efficient. If I need to understand relationships among concepts, a diagram can expose structure quickly. If I need to explain a difficult idea to students, speaking aloud reveals whether I can respond without relying on prepared wording. Flexibility therefore strengthens rather than threatens my reading/writing preference because it gives me more ways to test and extend what I have learned.
Self-Concept, Confidence, and the Success Cycle
My self-concept as a scholar should be positive without becoming fixed. I have developed confidence because reading and writing have allowed me to complete assignments, improve vocabulary, organize ideas, and respond to feedback. However, confidence is most useful when it is tied to evidence rather than the belief that I am already highly knowledgeable. A scholar should remain teachable and willing to change an interpretation when stronger evidence appears. I therefore see myself as a developing scholar with established strengths and clear areas for growth. Self-efficacy grows when I experience successful practice, observe effective models, receive constructive encouragement, and learn to interpret difficulty without panic. I can strengthen it by comparing earlier and later work, checking whether feedback has been applied, and testing whether I can explain a concept without looking at the source. One poor grade should not define my identity, just as confidence without preparation should not be confused with competence.
The four-stage cycle of evaluation, planning, implementation, and monitoring gives me a practical structure for academic development. Evaluation begins by identifying what I already know, what the assignment requires, and where the uncertainty lies. Planning turns that information into manageable actions and selects strategies appropriate to the outcome. Implementation requires beginning even when motivation is imperfect, reducing distractions, and recording questions rather than ignoring them. Monitoring checks whether learning is durable through self-testing, feedback, comparison with criteria, and explanation in my own words. I would add adjustment as a necessary final step because monitoring has little value if the strategy never changes. A plan may fail because the goal was too broad, the schedule unrealistic, or the chosen method poorly matched to the task. Reflection then informs the next cycle. This process makes improvement evidence-based rather than dependent on vague motivation (Kolb & Kolb, 2005).
The Tempest Experience and What It Revealed
A class exercise based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest demonstrates both the strength and the limitation of my preferred approach. We read a selected passage, identified its themes and literary features, and interpreted the meaning in our own language. This suited me because I could study vocabulary, imagery, character, and argument carefully before writing a paraphrase. The exercise showed that comprehension is active: translating the meaning did not mean replacing words mechanically but deciding which ideas were essential and preserving them without copying the phrasing (Shakespeare, 2015). I was more comfortable with the private reading and written interpretation than with presenting an uncertain idea aloud. That discomfort revealed an area for growth. A lecturer cannot rely only on carefully revised text. Teaching requires speaking, responding to unexpected questions, and revising explanations in real time. The exercise therefore encouraged me to add oral explanation and peer discussion to my normal reading process.
My Mission as a Learner and Future Lecturer
My educational mission is to develop knowledge and communication skills that allow me to understand complex issues, continue learning, and help others learn independently. Curiosity keeps education from becoming only a route to credentials. Integrity requires accurate citation and honest distinction between what I know, what another author argues, and what remains uncertain. Respect requires listening when classmates or authors interpret a text differently, while persistence means revising weak work rather than defending it simply because it is mine. I also want learning to serve society, but that goal requires humility. Education does not give me the right to assume that communities are ignorant or that my preferred theory automatically solves their problems. Useful scholarship begins with listening, context, and evidence. This is why lifelong learning is central to my mission. Becoming a lecturer would not complete my education; it would increase my responsibility to keep learning.
My action plan is therefore to keep reading and writing at the center of my study while deliberately strengthening other modes. Before reading, I will set questions so the task has a purpose. After reading, I will retrieve the main ideas without looking at the text and then check what I missed. I will space review rather than rely on one long session and seek feedback early enough to use it. Each week I can explain at least one concept aloud, create a diagram or conceptual map when relationships are important, and apply one idea to a practical example. Technology can support annotation, reference management, accessibility, and revision, but notifications and rapid switching can fragment attention. Generative AI may help create questions or feedback, but I remain responsible for verifying claims, protecting privacy, following academic rules, and ensuring that the final reasoning represents my own understanding rather than polished language I cannot explain.
Conclusion
Reading and writing are my strongest learning preferences because they allow me to examine information carefully, organize ideas, paraphrase meaning, and revise my thinking. They have contributed to my confidence and to my identity as a developing scholar, but they should not be treated as proof that I belong to one fixed learning-style category. Current evidence provides very limited support for matching instruction to such labels and suggests that students benefit more from flexible strategies and self-regulation (Education Endowment Foundation, 2025; Pashler et al., 2008). My success cycle of evaluation, planning, implementation, monitoring, and adjustment helps turn preference into disciplined learning. The Tempest exercise confirmed my strength in close reading while showing the need for discussion and oral explanation. My mission is to combine reading and writing with broader methods, use knowledge ethically, and continue developing into a lecturer who remains a learner rather than someone who assumes education has ended.
References
Coffield, F., Moseley, D., Hall, E., & Ecclestone, K. (2004). Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning: A systematic and critical review. Learning and Skills Research Centre.
Education Endowment Foundation. (2025). Learning styles. Teaching and Learning Toolkit.
Kolb, A. Y., & Kolb, D. A. (2005). Learning styles and learning spaces: Enhancing experiential learning in higher education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 4(2), 193–212.
Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9(3), 105–119.
Shakespeare, W. (2015). The Tempest (V. M. Vaughan & A. T. Vaughan, Eds.). Arden Shakespeare.
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