Personalised Learning

How to teach boys through play

scameron — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:11:09 +0100

Having taught largely in Key Stage 2 during my teaching career, I decided to try my hand with younger children for three very clear reasons. Firstly, in working with many schools and individual teachers around the country, I had come to realise that where the really important, ground- breaking stuff is going on in education at the moment, is in the early years. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that there is a revolution going on in the world of birth to five.

Gender differences in school: implications for education

scameron — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:40:48 +0100

We live in a world rich in data – possibly too rich! The statistics from the Foundation Stage Profile Results for England for 2007-08 show that girls continue to outperform boys in all 13 assessment scales. The gap is particularly wide in the following areas:

Professional learning for personalisation agenda

scameron — Wed, 13 May 2009 09:55:01 +0100

Effective teaching may be the hardest job there is.
William Glasser

How can aspiring footballers be encouraged to gain academic qualifications?

scameron — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:36:24 +0100

The dream of many a young boy is to become a professional footballer, earning an extravagant salary, driving a fast car, a WAG on his arm, celebrity status and a lavish lifestyle as advertised in glossy magazines and tabloid newspapers. However, the reality is that a only a tiny minority of youngsters have the talent to pursue this career and even fewer have the drive and work ethic required. These invaluable characteristics do not often appear in individuals and to achieve these football aspirations at a high level they need to be carefully nurtured and supported.

Making personalised learning a reality

scameron — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:05:50 +0000

For the past 18 years, I have been attempting to find ways of allowing learners to gain more control over their own progression. In 1993, as head of a science and technology faculty in an average-sized secondary school, I worked out ways to share assessment criteria with students and their parents. This had a dramatic impact on the departmental results, raising them from 35% A*-C up to 67% A*-C.

Understanding ability grouping

scameron — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:31:42 +0000

Ability grouping is a generic term used to describe different types of organisation based on pupils’ perceived ability. One of the biggest areas of confusion in the field is the associated terminology – it is often the case that the same term is used to talk about different types of grouping or different vocabulary to talk about the same approach. The table below gives key terms and definitions as adapted from Sukhnandon and Lee (1998).

How to keeps parents homework happy

scameron — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:49:21 +0000

Why is it that when parents are asked about issues they have with their school, one group of parents will always indicate that too much homework is set, while another will tell you that there is too little?

Personalised learning: the core curriculum

scameron — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:54:31 +0000

In most schools nearly 50% of Key Stage 4 curriculum time is given to the core subjects of English, mathematics and science. In terms of the variety of qualifications offered, this large chunk of teaching has generally been the most static. Middle leaders may have trialled all kinds of creative styles of delivery – from single-sex grouping to intervention groups – and may have changed examinations boards, considering both linear and modular syllabi, all with the aim of raising pupil attainment.

'Virtual' schooling: education outside school

scameron — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:34:33 +0100

Billie Murram is gathering an impressive set of qualifications and has set her sights on becoming an IT tutor. Things could have turned out very differently for this 17-year-old from Kingston upon Thames. She opted out of school because bullying made her life a misery and she found it increasingly difficult to study in the classroom. ‘I just made excuses for not attending. I had a home tutor for a while, but this didn’t enable me to sit any exams.’

How to plan classroom seating layouts

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:28:28 +0100

Taking time to produce a well thought out classroom seating plan can have positive effects all through the school year. Seating plans to encourage group learning experiences and tips to accomodate new ways of learning are explored in this free downloadable resource. Written by John Beresford

Understanding and managing classroom space

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:28:27 +0100

The use of space in a learning environment can significantly affect teaching and learning.

This resource offers advice on classroom ownership, spatial arrangements and classroom layouts, and explains how you can avoid teaching in a poor learning environment even when changing the size of the space is not an option.

Written by Jane McGregor

How to give effective directions in class

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:40 +0100

Introduction

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Individual plans to help manage behaviour

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:40 +0100
Introduction
Individual education plans (IEPs), pastoral support plans (PSPs) and behaviour plans (BPs) were once innovational ways to ensure a planned and appropriately targeted approach to meeting the individual needs of a named pupil. They now form a common and effective element of most teaching and learning environments.

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SENCO's role in reading part 2: interventions

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:35 +0100

Support for SENCOs

Reading 2: Interventions

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"Successful schools are creative schools"

tina — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:33 +0100
It could be argued that the bedrock of effective professional and personal development in schools is the extent to which creativity in staff members is harnessed and nurtured. Without paying specific attention to creativity, a crucial dimension of potential may be lost. With this in mind, we take a look at the ways in which schools might support creativity, in all its many manifestations, in order to boost CPD. We also report on the so − called creativity 'squeeze' that seems to be happening in some schools.

Quote of the week

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Individual Education Plans (IEPs): are they useful?

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:33 +0100

IEPs – a useful way of focusing on a child’s needs and how to meet them, or just another bureaucratic chore? This week we reflect on how IEPs, and IBPs (‘behaviour’) can be used sensibly as a means to an end, rather than an end in themselves!
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Personalised learning in practice: a case study

cassandrafaria — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:31 +0100

Terry Curtis, AST in Modern Foreign Languages at King Harold School in Essex, has been instrumental in setting up a virtual teaching and learning environment (VTLE) for his school. I caught up with him to find out all about it, and how it affects personalised learning in the school.
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Personalisation for gifted and talented students

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:21:00 +0100
One might argue that if education is personalised to meet the needs of individuals, then gifted and talented education is redundant: but, on the other hand, personalisation might prove the perfect mechanism for embedding gifted education within overall provision. This can only work, however, if we truly understand the concept of personalisation and how best to exploit it.

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The changing aims of primary education

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:58 +0100
Can schools be both learner-centred and standards-led at at the same time? Two papers for the Primary Review describe the emergence of such a hybrid from the century-long struggle to define the aims of education.

Personalised learning
A paper comparing approaches in six countries – Scotland, Sweden, Germany, Ireland, France, England and Wales – over the last 40 years observes the struggle has been between calls for:

a flexible and autonomous system shaped around the needs of children

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Linking pedagogical theory and personalised learning

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:57 +0100

Developing a shared understanding and a common language to talk about pedagogy are crucial steps towards transforming teaching and learning to ensure that there is continuity and progression at all stages of the learning journey. The core principles outlined below were developed to be relevant for all learners regardless of age or stage, and are strongly aligned to the expectations of Every Child Matters.
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Personalised learning: promoting engagement and reflection

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:53 +0100

What is it? Why do it?
Personalised learning (PL) favours individual learners’ interests, talents, needs and aspirations. It attempts to correct the inevitable impersonality of prescribed curricula. Personalised learning is concerned with negotiating courses that enable learners to extend and apply generic, as much as specific, capabilities independently beyond the classroom and after they have left school.
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Making provision for how boys learn best

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:53 +0100

I was always in trouble at school; infants, juniors and secondary. How would I describe myself? Bright, but bored probably sums me up as a pupil! One of my former teachers said, when he heard that I had gone into teacher training, ‘Well, at least he knows all the tricks!’
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Motivating underachievers: techniques and tactics

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:51 +0100

Teaching underachieving students can be more difficult than teaching students who are doing well enough or very well. When students underachieve, their talent and ability find no expression. They are likely to become disaffected, and may well disrupt others. As we fail, our job satisfaction drops and the ethos and morale of the group and community suffer. Underachieving pupils present a challenge we have to respond to. Resolving underachievement teaches us a great deal about learning, and makes teaching as rewarding as it gets.
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Using the Institutional Quality Standards to improve G&T provision

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:51 +0100
Provision for gifted and talented pupils is a major part of personalising learning. National Strategies (Training materials for Leading teachers for gifted and talented education, DfES, 2007)

One of the most important things for a school to remember is that gifted and talented provision is not something separate, it is part of the school being a good school. Deborah Eyre (Training materials for Leading teachers for gifted and talented education, DfES, 2007)

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Legal basics for teachers: pupils in care

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:43 +0100
The White Paper Care Matters — Time for Change sets out steps that the Government will take, with local authorities and schools, to improve the outcomes of children and young people in care. It builds on responses to the Green Paper Care Matters: Transforming the Lives of Children and Young People in Care.

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From personalised to person-centred

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:42 +0100

The current high-profile commitment to personalised learning has the potential to usher in a new era of creative learning and to prepare us much better for the needs of a 21st-century ‘knowledge society.’ It could help us to explore and develop ways of learning that contribute to a wider and deeper human flourishing.
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Motivating every learner

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:36 +0100

The best form of motivation is self-motivation. Pupils need to connect with teachers if they are achieve this. Teachers can motivate their pupils by meeting their needs for the three ‘As’: affiliation, agency and autonomy. They do this through the energisers that create a motivating learning climate; the flip side of the energisers are the drainers – things that staff need to avoid doing.
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Including G&T pupils in the primary classroom

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:35 +0100
The ‘open-door’ approach to G&T provision involves offering high quality learning opportunities to all children, rather than offering a special diet exclusively to those identified as G&T (the ‘closed-door approach’). In this way, children flourish and may well excel, merely as a result of being exposed to a classroom atmosphere based on the premise of enriching provision for all.
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Early years: role of the key person

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:35 +0100

‘Quality in work with babies and young children can only be delivered through a caring, personal relationship between baby or child and practitioner. In nurseries, a key person system needs to link an individual practitioner with individual children and with their parent(s).’
Lindon, J (2005)

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Differentiation - some practical suggestions

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:35 +0100

What makes a well-differentiated lesson that hasn’t taken you longer to prepare than it takes to deliver? Below are some practical suggestions to help you engage and challenge your able, gifted and talented pupils in a mixed-ability class.

By task
1. Use an able pupil to quickly recap on the previous lesson’s learning for the other pupils.
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Vertical tutoring and the personalisation agenda

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:31 +0100

What’s long, strong and surprisingly popular? The answer, you may be surprised to hear, is a vertical tutor group. Having both worked as heads of year we had thought of ourselves as strong advocates of the horizontal, year-based pastoral system that still prevails in most schools in this country. However, we now look back on our move to a vertical system – within which tutor groups are equally comprised of students drawn from all year groups within the school – as one of the strongest school improvement measures that we have introduced to the school.

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What's new about personalised learning?

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:31 +0100

I think we need to be really clear about one thing. Personalised learning is not a dynamic new initiative. I would argue that most schools will have already designed curriculum and their teaching methods to meet the needs of each child.
What does seem to be new about personalised learning is that it is a concentrated drive to make the best practices universal and consistent across all schools – particularly for those children who are the most challenging and whose needs are the most difficult to meet.
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SEN and personalised learning in secondary curriculum review

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:31 +0100
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) completed consultation on its major review of the secondary curriculum for 11- to 14-year-olds at the end of April 2007. After consultation, final revision and ministerial decision, the revised curriculum was due to schools for planning purposes from September 2007. It will become statutory for year groups as follows: September 2008: Year 7 pupils; September 2009: Years 7 and 8; September 2010: Years 7, 8 and 9. In addition, changes to the Key Stage 4 curriculum will take effect from September 2009.

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How to personalise learning

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:30 +0100

The term personalised learning has become the focus of attention in education over the last year and was brought into sharper focus by the Gilbert review on teaching and learning in 2020. In her address to the recent Westminster Education Forum seminar, Personalised Learning: Theory into Practice, Sue Hackman, chief adviser on school standards at the DfES, noted that the term owes its provenance to the world of business and commerce. Here it is seen as the product of a post-industrial society which specialises, customises, innovates and targets consumer goods.
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Pedagogy and personalisation: new guidance

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:29 +0100

It is now several years since the old CPD working group in the DfES was told that the government thought it was about time that teachers were reintroduced to pedagogy. Of course, you might say that it never went away; that teachers have always talked to each other about what should be taught and how they should do it and about what should be assessed and how they should do that as well. The trouble is that since at least 1988 teachers have largely received official wisdom and not generated it for themselves.
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How to keep G&T provision at the top of your school's agenda

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:27 +0100

The role of G&T coordinator may change hands regularly: it is often added on to another, wider job specification, or it can be act as a springboard to further promotion. Consistency and continuity is sometimes hard to foster and while new, one-off initiatives are valuable and enjoyed by able pupils, it is regular opportunities and effective systems that make a school justifiably proud of its efforts to genuinely stretch, challenge and support the gifted and talented.
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Behind the buzzwords: Personalised learning

ewtemp — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:22 +0100

We have taken a selection of comments from the policy, research and practice communities and looked to see what commonality, if any, exists, in how the term personalised learning is being used and what it means to different groups. This brief survey suggests that we need to exercise caution about putting systems reform before individuals and contexts.
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A vision of personalised learning

ewtemp — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:21 +0100

The Teaching and Learning in 2020 Review Group was set up with the remit to give a clear vision of what ‘personalised learning’ might look like in schools by that year. In 2020 children who started this school year in Reception will be entering higher education or employment and although concerned with the whole range of pupils, the report’s proposals are likely to be particularly helpful to SENCOs in promoting an inclusive curriculum with teaching and learning approaches adapted to individual needs.

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Governor briefing: changes in the focus of education

ewtemp — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:19 +0100

by Joan Sallis

One is the movement towards making designated schools into centres of whole community concern for children from babyhood, with all the agencies which serve the family collaborating to achieve the best possible environment for the health, happiness and learning of the individual. The other is the unmistakable spontaneous movement of schools themselves into a whole-child approach to learning – body, mind and spirit all needing to be nurtured.
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Howard Gardner: more than multiple intelligences

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:18 +0100

Howard Gardner has mixed news for the would-be genius: we can’t all be exceptional – but we can still learn a lot from those who are. Indeed, he believes it is the duty of educators to draw their students’ attention to the lives of exceptional individuals. In his book Extraordinary Minds he examines the lives of four such individuals, seeking to understand the nature of genius and draw lessons for the rest of us.

A science of extraordinariness
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Robert Sternberg's educational theories

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:18 +0100

Born in 1949, American psychologist Robert Sternberg says that he was considered a ‘dummy’ in his first years at school. At university he dropped out of psychology because of his poor grades and switched to maths. This is hardly the background one would expect of the man who is now IBM professor of psychology and education at Yale., but Sternberg’s research has been driven by his personal problems.
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Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's theory of flow

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:18 +0100

One student is in her room doing her homework. Another is downstairs watching TV. Which one is really enjoying herself? According to Hungarian American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced chick-sent-me-high-ee), it’s more likely to be the former. If course material is well organised and logically presented, will students learn it? Only if they are motivated, says Csikszentmihalyi.
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Teaching and learning interventions

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:15 +0100

In teaching and learning, we are increasingly concerned with improving students’ attainment through focused interventions and it is becoming the responsibility of individual teachers, subject leaders or teaching and learning coordinators to select the best intervention for their students from a dazzling array of options. But how and where to start? How can teachers make informed choices? One important tool at our disposal is meta-analysis, though it is only one of a range of tools that teachers need.
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Personalised learning: the view from the DfES

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:14 +0100

‘Personalisation’, ‘personalised education’, ‘personalised learning’. These three terms are used interchangeably, often with little clarity. So what exactly is personalisation and why is it so important for G&T education?
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Personalised learning and G&T

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:14 +0100

‘Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it is the only one you have.’ Emile Chartier
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Practical personalised learning

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:14 +0100

Schools can rightly claim that they are often buried in new initiatives, parachuted from on high by a government which sometimes seems out of touch with just how busy schools already are. Yet those of us who feel passionate about the need to get the best for our more able youngsters have welcomed the recent emphasis on gifted and talented students.
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Personalisation as a core principle

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:14 +0100

Down on the southernmost tip of Buckinghamshire, near Windsor, teachers and pupils at Dorney, a primary school with a 207 pupil intake, have been working hard to build an approach to personalisation which is both imaginative and coherent. The headteacher, Paula Allen, is in her third year at the school and is beginning to see the school reap the benefits of personalising education with the whole school community in mind.
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Report shows way forward for curriculum development

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:13 +0100

Key findings:
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Personalisation: what does it really mean?

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:09 +0100

Personalisation can be said to have sprung onto the educational scene with David Miliband’s speech in 2004 to the North of England Education Conference. Two years later people are still debating what it means.

But it was not a new idea in 2004. Ten years ago John West-Burnham was asking in as many words: ‘If I can have a mass production car built to my specification, why can my child not have a mass production education built to his?’
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Telling tales and smart thinking

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:19:54 +0100

Choosing what you read
When it comes to reading, people seem to fall into three distinct groups:
1.Those who read one book at a time: the serial readers.
2.Those who have eight books on the go at once: the parallel readers.
3.Those who reserve their reading for the beach: the Binchy-Clancy readers.
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