3 Educators Discuss Personalized Learning – Part 2

Recently we posted part one of our interview with Chris Wejr (CW), David Wees (DW) and Chris Kennedy (CK), on the topic of Personalized Learning. We hope you enjoy the second part of our interview.

4Moms1Dream:   Will you share with us an example of personalized learning taking place in your classroom, school or district?

DW:  I taught a unit last year on cell biology with my 8th grade class. I wanted them to remember the parts of the cell and their function, so I asked them to "do something creative to help yourself remember these cell parts." Some students created haikus, some students did raps, some students created PowerPoint presentations, some students created videos, and some students took detailed notes on the parts of the cell. Some students even created flash cards. I didn't grade these assignments; they were formative work to help the students prepare for a summative task. 

Several months later, one of the students found her rap video. She looked at it and decided she could do a better job. She pulled together her friends again, and they worked on their rap video again and improved it. I can't imagine a student ever redoing a teacher driven assignment because their found it in their notebook. 

CW:  We are doing a few things at Kent that align well (please click on the links for more info).  

Our CHOICES program provides teacher with the autonomy to choose to teach anything in which they are passionate and then students get the autonomy to choose the activity in which they are interested.  Students, parents, and teachers enjoy this as everyone is so engaged and excited about learning!  The long term plan for this was to have students have more even more input into the activities that we have during CHOICES.

We are focusing on Assessment For Learning which works to include more student voices/ownership in their learning and make the shift from standardized grading to more personalized descriptive feedback.  This is a powerful shift in mindset that puts students at the centre of their learning.

We have added a great event to our school called "Identity Day" (from the work of @gcouros) that encourages our students do complete a project based on themselves.  It was one of the most powerful days I have ever had as an educator as kids were so excited to teach others about a talent, or interest (and were not “motivated” by grades or criteria).

We also have ended the tradition of awarding a select few students at the end of the year/month for things they have done to a philosophy and practice that honours each student for who they are. In addition, in my final years as a high school PE teacher I realized the power of including students in the design of a curriculum.  We will continue to build upon these practices to make learning more personalized for our students.

CK:  In several of our primary classrooms they have changed their approach to home reading.  Instead of having students read books and have parents sign a log the students read their books (either paper or digital) then go online and list the name of the book, how they liked it and some other comments.  This is the start of building community and rather than having students try to read the most books – it is about their reflections.  Teachers can then help guide them and other students can recommend other books they may like.  For parents, they help with the typing for the youngest students  - and it changes the conversation – it is not about did you read your books or how many books did you read – it is about what did you think of the book – what books that others read do you think you might like.  It becomes a much more reflective process.

4Moms1Dream:   What is the role of parents/families in personalized learning and how can they support their child?

DW:  Parents need to give their students more ownership over their learning, but at the same time become learners with their children. Instead of thinking that learning is something that finishes when you graduate from high school or college; we should all become life-long learners. It's not to late for parents of any age to decide to become continuous learners. This role-modeling of the types of learning we want our students to do will go a long way to supporting your children's learning.

CW:  Families play a major role in their child’s learning.  With the movement to more personalization, I hope that families can be more included in curriculum and assessment.  Learning activities can be designed with the family in mind (and with their input).  Families can be involved in the design of learning goals for students so they are more relevant for the student.  Many teachers are already doing this (but you can see the challenge when you have 30+ students) but personalized learning makes the relationship with the family that much more important as we move away from trying to fit the student into the box and toward altering the learning environment so it fits the child. Having said all this, before we can get there, we must work to create trusting relationships between the school and family.

CK:  I think the changing role of parents is perhaps the most challenging aspect of the personalized learning approach.  They need to become partners in learning.  They need to have more skills and abilities to guide, support and engage with their child.  This is particularly challenging – as issues of equity, language and skill come into play.  If we are truly created a new system for a new time we need to think big about what could be.

4Moms1Dream:   There are individuals out there that are happy with the status quo and do not believe that the education system needs to change – If it is not broken then don’t fix it.   How do you respond to that type of mindset?

DW:  It is so painfully obvious to me in many ways that the education system needs to change. 

Take math education for example. We have an adult population who have almost to a person spent 11 years in school learning about math, but who never use anything more advanced than arithmetic and possibly proportional reasoning in their lives. If our math education is so successful, why don't more people use mathematics, the elegant language of the universe, in their day to day lives? Why do we have so many people who "hated mathematics in school?" I'd argue that the reason is obvious, the way we teach mathematics leads people to believe that it is all about memorizing a bunch of algorithms, and not about problem solving. 

CW:  We need to start using, as Carol Dweck describes, a “growth mindset” rather than a “fixed mindset”.  We continue to celebrate our successes but understand that we have to challenge our current system and grow together as la community of learners. We need to ask powerful questions around student learning and how we can make “schooling” more about education.  

A key challenge to change is that we rarely hear the voices of those that have been marginalized and disengaged by the system.  We often hear input from those who know how to "do school" well.  We need to start engaging people who do (did) not fit into our system in conversations on the problems with school as we know it.  

As educators, we need to model the importance of learning; if we believe that our current system does not need to learn and adapt to the needs of our current students, we are teaching our students to be prepared for the past.  Strong leaders (students, parents, staff) need to work together to challenge the status quo.  

The change needs to be systemic and societal and is going to take time but Patrick Larkin (@bhsprincipal) introduced me to a phrase by Steven Pressfield that says “Don’t prepare. Begin.”.  Although the dialogue is powerful, it means nothing without action.  Let’s begin.

CK:  I get it.  British Columbia has an outstanding system – we are the envy of jurisdictions across Canada and around the world.  There is also something reassuring that our kids’ schooling looks a lot like our own schooling.  Of course, the world our kids are entering is very different than the world we graduated into.  We need to give our students an education that prepares for the world of today and not the world of 1990.  In order for public education to stay relevant we need to continue to evolve our system.

4Moms1Dream would like to thank Chris, David and Chris for answering our questions. We hope this will clear up some of the confusion out there about personalized learning as well as further the discussions with those involved in your schools – students, staff, parents/family and community. We would also like to hear from our readers how they are bringing the discussions around personalized learning to the table.

3 Educators Discuss Personalized Learning – Part 1

There has been a lot of conversation taking place throughout the province on Personalized Learning and it is great to see conversation centered on students happening. In conversations we are having with individuals, we have found that there is still some confusion about personalized learning. With that in mind 4Moms1Dream set out to interview 3 of BC’s education leaders, on the topic of personalized learning:

·     David Wees (DW), author of the 21^st Century Educator blog is an educator at Stratford Hall in Vancouver.

·     Chris Wejr (CW), Principal of Kent Elementary School in Agassiz, through his blog The Wejr Board shares his experience and thoughts on educational topics with readers.

·    Chris Kennedy (CK) is the Superintendent in SD 45, West Vancouver. You can follow him on his blog – Culture of Yes.

4Moms1Dream: As an educator, what does personalized learning look like for your students?

DW:  I see it meaning that first and foremost, students are the directors of their learning. It’s not about choice per say, but about responsibility. Students should be able to leave school able to learn about whatever it is they want to know, and they need to develop the appropriate habits of mind before this stage. This can’t happen if the person running the learning show is always the teacher; it must come from the students.

However, the consequence of students being in charge of their learning is that we have to let them explore and attempt a much wider variety of activities than we currently do in schools. We must break down the one size fits all model, and recognize that really, one size fits none.

CW:  Five years ago, at Kent School, the members of the School Planning Council significantly changed our school goal to: “for each student to master basic skills, recognize his/her unique talents and interests, and to become a confident learner”.  Inherent in this goal is the idea of “personalized learning” - bringing in the strengths and interests of our students so that the learning becomes more relevant to him/her.  Relevancy and ownership are the keys for me with the idea of “personalized learning’; the pedagogy must include student voice so that the learning is meaningful to the student and builds upon their current interests.  A thought that was presented to me by a teacher is: taking a unit of the curriculum and facilitating learning of the basic concepts and then encouraging students to complete projects that dive deeper into an area of their interest and presenting in a way that includes their input.

CK:  I try to define it really simply – kids own it.  It is more than just having some of the choices we have often given students (like electives in high school).  It is a choice, at times, about content, about how they display their learning and also, as they get older about when and where they learn.

4Moms1Dream:  How has (or will) personalized learning change your role as an educator?

DW:  Personalized learning means that I need to set aside my agenda for what the kids should know, and look at what each kid needs. In some sense, you could consider it an individualized learning plan for each student. Since it is too difficult to create this plan by myself for each of my students, I have to make my students take ownership of their learning, and with my help, construct their own learning plan.

It means using assessments which are open-ended. It means that not every student does the same assessments. In fact, it could mean that every kid comes up with their own assessment to demonstrate their learning, and my role is to provide feedback on how successfully they’ve been in that description.

I see personalized learning as meaning, not treating all of my students as interchangeable widgets in my grade book, and seeing them as each being unique and capable.

CW:  I am hoping that students, teachers and schools will be provided with more autonomy regarding curriculum and assessment.  We need to move away from the standardized grading and assessment practices to one that becomes more individualized.  Many teachers do this already but then must fit their practices into the current system of report cards and narrow BC curriculum (with too many Prescribed Learning Outcomes).  My role as an educator will continue to shift our school culture toward one that has staff as facilitators/guides and away from being the holders of knowledge.

CK:  Personalized learning is a real change in the relationship with students – there is much less control and it is messier.  Instead of the teacher being the keeper and sharer of information – he / she helps guide students as they pursue their learning.    I have found it feels different – I am used to being on-stage as a teacher – and this is very much putting the students on stage.

4Moms1Dream:  Many people believe that personalized learning is all about using technology and children spending all their time in front of a computer. How do you explain to these people that personalized learning is much more than using technology to learn?

DW:  There have been schools which have been using personalized education for decades. Montessori schools, democratic schools, and other school models have been around for a long time, a lot longer than computers have been around. These models of education are fairly popular, and are practiced in countries all over the world.

The technology is not necessary for personalized education, it’s just another tool in the toolbox to help kids diversify their learning of the world.

CW:  We don’t have a huge technology movement at our school and we have already observed the power of giving students and staff more autonomy for their teaching and learning.  Yes, I do see technology helping in the process but the shift in mindset from standardized to personalized is where we need to focus our efforts.  There is so much standardized learning that can occur with technology so we need to be careful if we think that computers are the answer (i.e. the belief that Khan Academy - online lecturing/ worksheets - is a movement toward 21st Century Learning).

CK:  There are absolutely some promises we are making around personalized learning that are easier, and in some cases only possible, because of technology – but the story is not a technology story.  Technology supports the learning but doesn’t drive the learning.  The role of different technologies will also be very different at different ages.  Schools who embrace personalized learning with a technology plan will be disappointed.  I suspect they will see some short-term “wow” gain and then a levelling off – personalized learning is about the changing roles of students, teachers and parents – it is not a tech plan.

Please join us next week as our guests share examples of personalized learning currently taking place, discuss the role of parents and families and why the education system needs to move forward with change.