What is personalised learning? This term is currently a very popular phrase in the world of education. Wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personalised_Learning), Every Child Matters: (www.everychildmatters.gov.uk?ete/personalisedlearning) and the Standards Site: (www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/personalisedlearning) all offer background and further information regarding the topic. For me, it is the curriculum you plan and implement for every child to ensure their strengths and weaknesses are developed so they encounter challenge in a supportive, nurturing environment.
The whole process begins with a full, diagnostic assessment which details understanding and attainment across a range of subject areas. It is essential that a breadth of subjects form the basis of the curriculum. Ultimately, teachers and schools have a responsibility to prepare the children for the world around them, not to just extend children as far as they can go without giving them essential life skills. What is the point of developing a genius if a child is unable to relate to the world in which they live, particularly their peers?
The results of the assessment enable teachers to create the curriculum. This may result in a combination of ability ranges. A child may be outstanding in maths, not so good in English, but be gifted in art. Personalised learning addresses all of these differences and results in a curriculum which challenges the child to think, develop new skills, consolidate knowledge and apply this knowledge in a range of applications.
Objectives could be taken from different year groups to best match the child’s ability. This offers the correct challenge whilst keeping the child in the correct age group. Moving a child to an older or younger age group based on ability can prove to be detrimental socially and emotionally. As we have all seen children who have been fast tracked and placed in older year groups do not have the required social etiquette and this often ends in disaster.
It is essential for the teacher to regularly assess a child’s progress to ensure the curriculum is matched to their needs and report progress back to the parents. Parents play an important part in the process. A great deal of support can be offered at home. Homework can sustain learning and help to consolidate concepts. Involving parents in the process takes learning out of the classroom into the wider world. If learning can be applied in a range of circumstances and situations, then skills become more enhanced.
You may ask how a teacher can deliver this in a classroom. In the real situation personalised learning is differentiation. Differentiation, as the word implies, offers different objectives to each child dependent on their needs. Teachers should be planning for three levels of ability for every lesson. They should be planning for the ‘more able’, ‘able’ and ‘less able’ child within the class. Beyond these levels you have the gifted and talented and those with specific learning difficulties who require more specialised support.
Children should not work at the able level and then progress to extension or easier work. They should go straight in at their level. For example, if your objective was to teach addition to a Reception class the ‘able’ child may add a single and a two digit number together. The ‘more able’ may add two, two digit numbers or even three numbers together and the’ less able’ may add two single digit numbers. The important message is that they are working at the edge of their understanding. The work is offering them challenge, an opportunity for them to think and extend their knowledge.
Teachers have also monitored learning styles. This is the essential key that can unlock learning. Analysing how a child learns enables the teacher to utilise a particular style of teaching and task to enable the child to fully interact and understand the work presented to them.
There are three main styles:
• Auditory learning which occurs through hearing the spoken word.
• Kinesthetic learning which occurs through doing and interacting.
• Visual learning which occurs through looking at images, mind maps, demonstrations and body language.
Children will also employ a combination of the above to facilitate learning. The teacher’s job is to ensure they are able to access the curriculum utilising the best learning style, or styles, for them.
The final aspect is the environment in which they learn. Class size has an enormous part to play. If teachers are trying to teach large classes then this becomes more challenging. Small classes enable excellent adult/child interaction and help to create a purposeful atmosphere. An interactive classroom fully resourced and engaging assists learning and fosters independent thought.
In summary, personalised learning is a combination of careful assessment, objectives matched to need, nurture, guidance and the opportunity for teaching to utilize the best learning styles and for all of the above to take place in a supportive environment. With all of these elements working together every child has access to a curriculum that supports their learning and is not a curriculum in which they have to fit in to. On the contrary: The curriculum should fit around them.
Author Resource:-
Matt Crick is writing for St Mary’s Hall, an independent school for girls situated in Brighton, that offers Pre-preparatory, Preparatory, Secondary and Sixth Form education. St Mary’s was founded in 1836 and is one of England’s oldest private independent schools located in attractive grounds and in easy reach of Brighton’s historic city centre. St Mary’s also hosts a reputable private nursery school that encourages a culture of learning and respect for knowledge at an early age. For more information visit: http://www.stmaryshall.co.uk
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