Personalised learning
Putting the learner at the heart of the education system
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A pamphlet entitled A National Conversation About Personalised Learning was released in October 2004. The booklet sets out the Department's understanding of personalised learning and invites all schools to join a conversation about how best to develop it.
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Your ideas could help shape how personalised learning develops: have your say at the personalised learning discussion forum.
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A DCSF-funded research project is exploring the approaches employed by schools in using personalised learning. Find out how to take part.
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See the Standards Site for the core information on personalised learning.
An outline of personalised learning was introduced by Schools Standards Minister David Miliband in January 2004:
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Decisive progress in educational standards occurs where every child matters; careful attention is paid to their individual learning styles, motivations, and needs; there is rigorous use of pupil target setting linked to high quality assessment; lessons are well paced and enjoyable; and pupils are supported by partnership with others well beyond the classroom.
Personalised learning involves 'high expectation of every child, given practical form by high-quality teaching based on a sound knowledge and understanding of each child's needs', said Miliband. It is not individualised learning where pupils sit alone at a computer. Personalised learning involves the teaching, curriculum and school organisation being designed to reach as many pupils as possible with diverse needs and experiences for as much of the time as possible. The progress of the individual is ensured by:
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whole-class and group interaction
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tailored, focused intervention for pupils who are underachieving at any level to support group work.
You can download the full speech on personalised learning from Online Publications. To read the background to why personalised learning has become so central to education, see the introduction to it by the Innovation Unit of the DCSF and download the publication Learning about Personalisation.
Personalised learning: Teaching and learning
Assessment for learning
A personalised offer depends on really knowing the strengths and
weaknesses of individual children and young people. A key means of doing so is
by assessment for learning and the use of evidence and dialogue to
identify every pupil's learning needs. Clear feedback for and from pupils
is essential so that there is clarity on what they need to improve and how best
they can do so.
Effective teaching and learning strategies that develop the competence and confidence of every learner by actively engaging and stretching them are key. For teachers, it means a focus on their repertoire of teaching skills, their subject specialisms and their management of the learning experience. For pupils, this means a focus on their learning skills and their capability to take forward their own learning.
The curriculum: A focus on creativity and
choice
Personalised learning is not a departure from the National Curriculum.
Rather, it is a way of applying the core script that is the curriculum in a way
that is tailored to the learning of every pupil.
The strategy Excellence and Enjoyment set out the principles of creativity which inform personalised learning at primary school level. You can download the full document.
At secondary school level, the new 14 to 19 opportunities available will enable all young people to choose the path that is most appropriate to their ambitions. Wider choice and more career-focused learning will ensure that they are well placed to move on to further education or vocational options effectively. See the 14 to 19 area of this site.
Personalised learning is crucial to the Foundation Stage too. Building on the curriculum and the Foundation Stage Profile, it facilitates young children's learning.
Greater choice and autonomy
The direction education is moving in encourages learners to be more
involved in their own education. Giving pupils a voice and motivating them to
take decisions about their own education - through guidance and increased
choices - will engage them and enable them to take responsibility for
their own education as well as teach them to think independently. See the Five-year Strategy.
Personalised careers
Individualised learning is an opportunity for teachers to hone their
expertise in their chosen subject(s) and to feel that teaching - as well
as learning - draws out the strengths of the individual. Personalisation
brings career development opportunities to practitioners.
Assessment and target-setting
Assessment for learning
Assessment will need to be formative as well as summative. Rather than
being simply a retrospective appraisal of pupils' performance, it should be
seen as a tool which helps to inform teachers and other education staff about
how best to shape learning to the individual. It will help to inform teaching
styles and choices in order to meet individual needs.
Ofsted: A new inspection style
A new model of inspection has been proposed that is lighter-touch and
at shorter notice, in the interest of reducing the burden on schools. Read
about the consultation and plans for the future of Ofsted.
Partnerships
Personalised learning doesn't mean learning in a vacuum. On the contrary, it encourages schools to draw on networks for mutual support. Rather than reinvent the wheel, experience and expertise can be shared. Case studies can help. See TeacherNet's case studies database and the School in Focus features.
More formal systems of partnership are to be created or continued. The Standards Site provides information about collaboration. Examples of collaborations include the Leading Edge Partnership and Federations. Foundation partnerships will build on these to enable schools to work together with greater autonomy from their local authorities.
Parents and the community
Engaging parents and the wider community to participate in school life
further sustains the aims of personalised learning, giving additional support
to pupils. The following links offer advice on working with parents:
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TeacherNet: working with parents
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Directgov: area for parents
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Standards Site: parental involvement
If parents want more information, you can recommend the ParentCentre site, which offers help to parents who want to get involved in their children's learning.
The school: making pupils the prime
consideration
Personalised learning also means making the school pupil-centric above
all else. Effective learning must inform classroom layout, school organisation
and the overall ethos.
Last updated: 16 July 2007
