Personalized Learning
Guiding Question: How might we redesign our schools and organization to resource each student's unique growth into adulthood?
Students at the Center
Personalized learning addresses opportunity and achievement gaps by placing student agency, interests, cultural histories, needs, passions, and ambitions at the center of educational systems.
This is a one size fits one approach to shaping the learning environment based on various learner needs. Personalized learning is the practice of understanding how individual learners learn best, actively engage, are motivated, and inspired with the right resources, at the right time, in the right medium, and at the right pace.
Because learning is non-linear, we understand that true personalization can’t be either. The way people learn is 'messy' and deeply personal, so what does personalized learning look like?
Let's ensure that we're speaking a common language.
This chart (right) explains three ways classrooms are organized. There is often confusion about the differences and comparisons of personalization, differentiation, and individualization. Personalized learning focuses on the learner, not instruction, and puts learner agency at the center of design with assessment AS and FOR learning rather than OF learning.
Use the three playlists below to explore student voices, educator practice, and how to get started with personalized learning.
Personalized learning, blended learning, and competency education are often used interchangeably. The resources below help clarify how they relate. Is your classroom, school, or department trying out any of these approaches?
Personalized Equitable Innovation
Research shows us that there is no such thing as a learner growing in lock-step with other learners. Redesigning our system for innovation and equity entails redesigning for each and every child. We call this personalizing learning.
BPS educators share their thoughts.
"What would school look like if it was a place where most students came every day and felt they spent most of their day getting something they wanted or needed? Let's put everything on the table, what would need to change? "
"How can I be a teacher that can look at every student I have at any moment and know: (1) something about their personal and family life, (2) their passions, purpose and goals (or at least what they are considering), (3) what their strengths are, and (4) what they are working on and have suggestions for how they might improve?"
"Our curriculum and instructional supports are geared toward the average student and does a poor job of meeting the needs of our highest and lowest achieving students. How can we leverage technology to address these instructional challenges to better meet the needs of our students?"
"I think I know what I would do and could manage personalized learning if I had 2 classes of 15 students (HS Science classes). I'm not sure how to practically manage personalization for 4 classes of 29 students. Either the structures need to change or I need a better system."
School, as-is, is working for some students, not all.
Writing from Incarcerated BPS Student