Personalized Learning in Classrooms

young guy with a tablet outdoorsFor the past several months, I have been part of a team attending a Vermont seminar series on proficiency based graduation and personalized learning.  At times, I have found myself so overwhelmed that I wondered how a transformation so enormous could be possible? I have felt the sinking feeling of doubt that such amazing transformations are simply not possible in a public education setting.  After the initial shock and feelings of futility, I began to identify the smaller action steps that need to take place in order for this change to occur.

Mindset

As usual, before we even begin to make any changes, we need to get in the right mindset; this change is not going to happen overnight; nobody will be making this change alone or in a vacuum.  It is important to go into these changes knowing that many times they will be uncomfortable and we may even fail (sarcasm).  We will definitely fail.  Along with a growth mindset going into this, we need to meet ourselves where we are and make change from there.  Each one of us is in a different place, but there are many strategies, techniques and methods we are already using that lend themselves to personalized learning.

I keep ending up back at the idea of autonomy, mastery and purpose.  These three key ideas lead to motivation which in turn leads to self-directed learners.  Self-directed learners have the characteristics needed to truly personalize learning.  Much of what is already happening in classrooms already uses the ideas of autonomy, mastery and purpose.  If we can leverage what we are already doing and ramp it up some, we can begin to make movement towards more transformational changes.

Autonomy

Autonomy refers to the ability of someone to make choices about what, when and how they do something.  Of course there are simple ways of doing this by offering options for final products; an essay or a speech, for example.  Teachers can offer various ways of accessing information; read aloud, read silently, read using an audio book; offering options about presenting first or last.  What other choices would you be willing to offer students? What would be a stretch for you? How else could students begin to make choices about learning in your classroom?  If you struggle with how to give up control, consider what routines and procedures you could put in place to manage these choices.  Maybe there are regular times that students must check in with you.  Perhaps there is a form that students fill out to document the choices you are allowing.  Consider any technology that might help you manage student learning choices.

Mastery

Mastery has to do with the ability for students to go deep in their learning.  We have certainly been moving away from “coverage” teaching for many years philosophically.  Depending on where you are geographically and which district you work in, the stakes around testing may be forcing “coverage” teaching despite the clear research against it.  But many teachers are going deep through project-based learning, collaborative learning practices, and effective use of formative assessment. If you find yourself struggling with the issue of time when considering these options, I want you to consider two possibilities.  One possibility is that you are “covering” more when you engage students in project-based learning.  So, yes, it may take longer, but are students actually learning just as much and in a more integrated, authentic and memorable way? Would a project-based learning option be more efficient? Second, again, consider the routines and procedures that you could teach in order to make sure time is used wisely by students.  As you become more of a facilitator, you will need to consider new management techniques to help organize learning in new ways.

Purpose

Purpose requires students to “make a difference”.  They need a real reason and to feel as if the work they are doing has an impact beyond the classroom. I think this is the hardest issue to address and the issue that we have done the least to change.  I still find myself unable to tell students why much of what they are learning will have an impact on their lives.  While it is true that sometimes kids don’t know what they need to know, we need to work harder at engaging kids.  Even more important, we need to acknowledge that this is important for their learning.  It isn’t enough to tell kids that we know what’s good for them.  To be honest, I’m not sure that is entirely true anymore.  The world has changed drastically just in the last decade and it will continue to change at breakneck speed.  Do we really know what is best for students to learn? The kids we are teaching are going to have to create their own jobs.  We need to be teaching them how to do this thinking.  Much of this has to do with providing scaffolds that allow students to make meaningful choices.  We should be creating environments where students are exploring not only their surface interests but their talents and passions; the activities that make them forget that they are doing work.  The content we are used to teaching may not have as much value anymore.  I’m sure that is a controversial statement for many to take in and I encourage comments of discord but I think we need to question ourselves when we say students have to know something.  We should take the time to figure out how they might use it or what skill it helps them develop.  And if it does turn out to be essential, we need to take the time to help them uncover why as it relates to them.  This process of getting to oneself may seem extraneous but it is in fact essential to learning.  Spending time allowing students to get to know themselves as well as time you spend getting to know your students is worthwhile when you go back to the essential components of motivation.

As we consider the changes that we are willing to make, keep coming back to routines, management strategies and technologies that might help you organize and scaffold learning experiences that provide autonomy, mastery and purpose.   Please add your own specific examples in the comments section so we can begin to help each other build a repertoire of methods that work toward autonomy, mastery and purpose.  If you are struggling with what to do in your classroom, consider a #fearlessteachr that you know.  What would they do?

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