Personalised learning

Personalised learning explained (taken from Children and Young People Now, 31 October 2007):
Personalised learning (PL) considers how school life can best fit an individual child's needs, rather than how the child can fit into a rigid curriculum. Many children's professionals still misinterpret the initiative as something far more radical, seeing it as replacing the traditional timetable with one to one tuition. It's supporters see it as better tailoring of education to children.

A crucial element of implementing PL is to ensure those in greatest need, pften those with poor attainment or attendance, are targeted and then offered support such as personal timetables, additional lessons and extended school activities. Although disadvantaged pupils are a priority, personalised learning is designed to help all pupils. Extended school sessions, for example, offer all children and their families activities and services that are personal to them. Gifted children also benefit through extra support to fulfil their potential.

Over £1.3 billion of personalisation money has been allocated to schools between 2006 and 2008, it is available to schools through the Dedicated Schools Grant and School Standards Grant and is weighted.

According to the 2020 Vision review group, which was commissioned by the Government to look at the issue, effective monitoring of pupils' progress is crucial to successfully implementing personalised learning. Among the review methods recommended are peer assessment and self-assessment. The Government is implementing PL through the Assessment for Learning programme. This is a feedback and assessment style of teaching that focuses on improving individual attainment and includes strategies to train and support teachers.

The Government sees extended services and PL as complementary and expects personalisation money to be spent both in and outside of normal school hours.

Test and test again

The personalised approach to assessment being piloted from September 2007 will include tougher targets and financial rewards for those schools that achieve them. It could mean a seven-fold rise in the number of times national English and maths tests are sat in some schools.

The reform, likely to end existing tests for 11 and 14 year-olds, builds on recommendations in the Gilbert review produced by Christine Gilbert, now chief inspector of Ofsted, designed to set the education agenda until 2020. The plan announced will allow detailed monitoring of individual pupil's progress, with shorter externally marked tests for each level.

Teachers can enter pupils for the exams, twice yearly, when they are ready. Cambridge Assessment, which runs the OCR exam board, says the tests will be too narrow to judge whether pupils are being taught the full national curriculum. League tables will remain. Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, has said they are "non-negotiable".

(TES, 12 January 2007)

Now it's down to pupils

TES discusses how pupils should have greater involvement in the way they are taught under proposals for 'personalised learning'. To read this article in full visit www.tes.co.uk/search/story/?story_id=2326917

(TES, 5 January 2007)

Crystal-ball gazing or the right way forward?

Teachers will be replaced by "leaders of learning", according to a government commissioned report. A confidential briefing on the 2020 personalisation review says schools have reached "a plateau on improvement" and traditional solutions are no longer working.

The review is led by Christine Gilbert, the new head of Ofsted, whose 2006 annual report criticised continuing failure in many schools. Personalised learning is a government priority in addressing the needs of talented students and those who are falling behind. The report briefing emphasises the need for: children to take ownership of their learning; the formation of national and international networks of schools; and teachers to be replaced with leaders of learning.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers policy says: "The language of the debate on personalisation is a dangerous assertion of the primacy of the individual, whereas schools, above all, are places committed to the understanding and development of the social."

(TES, 1 December 2006)

Less confusion needed over personalised learning

This TES article discusses individual learning, what it means and how it will work. To read this article in full visit: www.tes.co.uk/search/story/?story_id=2259424

(TES, 7 July 2006)

Government pledges investment in personalised learning

Good schools have always tailored teaching to suit individual pupils. Now the Chancellor is backing the concept with cash. By 2007, schools in England will have nearly £1 billion a year to spend on personalised learning.

Tony Blair and his education ministers see this move as part of new Labour's idea to revitalise public services by making them more responsive to individual needs.

Think-tanks, academics and unions have tried to fill in the gaps and decide how it might work in practice. Now Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, has handed the initiative to heads with an unexpected windfall due to land in school bank accounts in September 2006. For schools unsure how to spend the money, the Department for Education and Skill's website suggests: "Some children need extra help, support and encouragement to get the basics right; others need greater stretch and challenge to make the most of their potential. Personalisation is about recognising that - so that schools can and do tailor their teaching and the wider support they offer to their pupils so that they can meet all their different needs."

Ruth Kelly said: "It is about leading-edge practice, it's about learning from international evidence about what works. Ultimately it's about mixing large group teaching with catch-up support for pupils falling behind, stretch for the more able and using technology more so that children and their parents can have links direct to schools." For heads who wonder how this differs from what any good teacher would do, the department gives examples. The extra money could go on catch-up literacy and numeracy classes to visits from professional writers or theatre groups, and extending school hours. But it also stresses that it is for individual schools to decide what best suits its pupils.

John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, welcomes this lack of prescription. He said: "It is right for the Government to be able to define the concept but leave it to the profession to determine what it means in practice."

In fact, because the new money is not ring-fenced, schools do not actually have to spend it on personalised learning. But Mr Dunford says that as schools can define the concept in so many ways, most of their existing spending could fit under the personalised learning banner anyway.

More detailed guidance may emerge from a new review, headed by Christine Gilbert, chief executive of Tower Hamlets, London. Unlike other standards grants, which are allocated according to pupil numbers, a "significant proportion" of the new money is to be targeted at schools where pupils are struggling or come from deprived homes.

(TES, 31 March 2006)

Schools to provide personal learning

Schools will have to provide trained "leaders of personalisation" to oversee individual learning for every 14 to 19-year-old, according to schools minister Jacqui Smith.

Smith said personalised learning is central to the new national entitlement for 14 to 19-year-olds, which will be included in an education bill to be introduced to Parliament in 2006. She added that she wanted to double the 90,000 14 to 16-year-olds currently in vocational learning outside school.

The specialised diplomas in the 14 to 19 education white paper will include non-formal learning awards in a wider personal social development offer.

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is currently working with the Learning and Skills Council to incorporate non-formal awards into pre-Level 2 provision (GCSE level).

(Young People Now, 30 November 2005)

Summary of learning styles research
Becta has published Learning styles - an introduction to the research literature, which provides a summary of research findings. For more information visit www.becta.org.uk/industry/advice/advice.cfm?section=2&id=4649

A spanner has been thrown in the works of one of the Scottish Education Minister's cherished policies as primary heads urge members to boycott Personal Learning Planning (PLP) unless more resources are provided. The approach, which Peter Peacock regards as fundamental to modernising schools and raising attainment, has been piloted in 32 schools. Evidence from the evaluation has shown major benefits in recording and assessment. But the Association of Headteachers in Scotland (AHTS) insists this glosses over the significant issues of manageability and workload.

Falkirk is one authority which believes it has got the recipe right, and has reached the stage where every pupil now has a personal learning plan. Lynne Grant, a teacher at Deanburn primary in Falkirk who has been seconded to help introduce PLP, sayd there has been "very positive feedback from staff who appreciate the phased approach we are taking".

PLP is operating in all Falkirk primaries at present and, with primary 7 pupils moving on to secondary with their plans in August, it will start in S1 from the start of the new session.

(TES Scotland, 13 May 2005)

If a week is a long time in politics, then three months is an age for their jargon. In 2004, before the departures of Charles Clarke and David Miliband from the Department for Education and Skills, "personalised learning" was the cream on the top of New Labour's educational alphabet soup. The Government's five-year strategy, published alongside "independent specialist schools" and "foundation partnerships", was at the heart of the drive to raise standards.

But the DfES's latest document setting out its "new relationship with schools" does not mention the term. Rather than the blue-skies vision of personalised learning, it keeps its feet on the ground with a single mention of "tailored curriculum and learning methods". So have we witnessed the end of personalised learning? When David Miliband left in December 2004 the idea was deprived of its main backer. But its demise may also be down to the confusion it caused. Is it one-to-one tuition? Computer-based distance learning? Greater curriculum choice? And how does it related to individualised learning? Even those close to Mr Miliband were unsure.

It seems Education Secretary Ruth Kelly agrees. In her first major speech, she said the phrase was "jargon", and has limited its use to comments about new technology. The National Union of Teachers, however, would be sorry to see this initiative go. It fears that despite Tony Blair's promise earlier this month of small-group tuition for state-school pupils, the Government is shying away from the cost.

(TES, 1 April 2005)

Children in state schools will get extra lessons in small groups to stretch the brightest and help struggling pupils to catch up. The move forms part of an education "mini-manifesto" unveiled by Tony Blair and Ruth Kelly, the Secretary of State for Education.

Ministers want to extend one of the strengths of private schools - pupils being taught in small groups - to the state sector. Most of the extra lessons will be after traditional school hours and will dovetail with Labour's goal for schools to open from 8am to 6pm to help working parents.

The switch to more "personalised tuition" reflects Mr Blair's desire to turn a "monolithic" state sector into services tailored to individual needs. It is designed to raise standards overall by giving extra help to pupils having difficulties in specific subjects while ensuring that the most talented children are not held back.
Parents will be promised more dialogue with schools, including talks on whether their children need top-up lessons.

(Independent, 3 March 2005)

So how will schools provide every pupils with small-group tuition and the personal attention their parents want? It is a question that has been baffling teachers and parents since the Prime Minister pledged in March 2005 that Labour would give all pupils a tailored education. Schools have grown used to rhetoric about "personalised learning" from ministers. But Tony Blair's announcement was more detailed. It suggested pupils could expect small-group tuition, either one-to-one or in classes of three and four, possibly during the school day or after it. Labour policy advisers said the party did not want to dictate to schools precisely how they should provide the support and that it would be up to headteachers to work it out with parents. Pressed about where the funding would come from, the Prime Minister and Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, said schools already had it their budgets. The answer failed to convince heads' and parents' groups.

Margaret Morrissey, spokeswoman for the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations, said, "The parent-power proposals seem to have been created on the back of an envelope and then posted before anyone checked the spelling." Families clearly like the idea of one-to-one tuition, making it a potential vote-winner. Research published last year suggested that one in four parents employs private tutors for their children.

(TES, 11 March 2005)

The end of 5-14 testing in Scotland was finally signalled in November 2004 with backing from ministers for the key options in the consultation on a revamped 3-14 assessment regime. The tests will be replaced by a more extensive national assessment bank from which schools will eventually able to download items; a move supported by 82% of those who took part in the consultation. And the 5-14 survey, widely criticised for its unreliability, will be ditched in favour of a new Scottish Survey of Achievement, which was backed by 68% of respondents.

The most contentious aspect of the policy, however, will be the determination of Peter Peacock, Education Minister, to press ahead with personal learning planning and new forms of annual progress reports to parents - despite the continuing reservations from the main teaching union that this will add an extra burden to teacher workload. The minister's view is that personal learning planning will improve pupil involvement and motivation and lead to a higher quality of report to parents. "We want these to be a natural part of classroom life, and to focus on the process, not the paperwork," the Executive's response states. "There will therefore be no prescriptive national format for reports or for plans - schools and education authorities should have flexibility in the way that reports are used to record pupil progress and needs."

Guidance will be issued to schools on annual reporting as personal learning planning becomes more established. The plans for a new national assessment bank will be based on the same principles as the national tests, with items drawn down to confirm teacher judgements. The hope is that more reliable standards can be established through the use of moderation to check on the consistency of teachers' assessments. Support for local moderation projects will become a priority of the "assessment is for learning" programme next year. The new regime will be based on formative assessment, which aims to make testing a natural part of teaching and which has been welcomed by teachers who have been piloting it in the assessment programme.

(TESS, 5 November 2004)

Personlised learning welcomed, but changes needed

Personalised learning has been "capturing the imagination of teachers, children and young people across the country", according to the Government. David Miliband, school standards minister, urged teachers to discuss the concept in their staffrooms and contribute to a "national conversation" on a new website.

The definitions produced by the Government remain vague and include many techniques already used in schools. A DfES pamphlet suggests schools should provide personalised learning through five "components": assessment for learning; effective teaching and learning strategies; curriculum entitlement and choice; school organisation; and strong partnership beyond the school.

The Specialist Schools Trust has commissioned Professor David Hargreaves, the former chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, to produce its own pamphlet. He proposes nine "gateways" covering broadly the same areas as the DfES but including student voice and new technologies. Professor Hargreaves said the word "personalising" rather than "personalised" should be used because it would be a never-ending process for schools. Both he and the Government agree, however, that personalised learning will not mean one-on-one tuition for all pupils

www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/personalisedlearning
www.sst-inet.net

(TES, 15 October 2004)

Personal learning plans (PLPs) should not try to cover too much ground, according to an independent evaluation of the programme. The ambitious initiative is at the heart of the Scottish Education Minister's key policy of individualised learning. But unions have warned Peter Peacock about increased workload and administrative burdens. The evaluation of the two-year pilot phase, based on the experiences of 32 schools, acknowledges that unless the planning is well-managed there will be problems. It found that "concerns about workload were prevalent". Staff development was therefore essential. Schools told of their apprehension once the project moved on to include larger numbers of pupils, in particular, "how the crucial and time-consuming process of dialogue with pupils could be sustained beyond the pilot exercise". The frequently "laborious" collation of information, particularly in secondary schools, could be alleviated through greater use of classroom assistants and IT, the report suggests.

Nonetheless, the study concluded that the "enriched dialogue" teachers had with pupils about their achievements and learning needs was welcomed. Teachers also liked the "learning-focused discussion" with pupils, particularly because it led to more accurate targets and teaching.

The report warns, however, that learning plans must be "less ambitious in coverage" if there is to be sufficient time to review pupils' progress and plan next steps. Schools found it difficult to link PLPs to the formal curriculum while at the same time putting the emphasis on personal development. The researchers suggest there may be fundamental implications for schools if focusing on the individual learner is to be a success. This may require "a significant shift in emphasis from the traditional curriculum to all aspects of the developing young person. In turn, such a shift may necessitate change in school organisation and learning approaches."

Personal Learning Plan Programme 2002-04: evaluation. By Pamela Robertson and John Dakers. Read a summary from the Scottish Executive website.

(TESS, 8 October 2004)

Beware fashion for learning styles

Research by the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA) cast doubt on the validity of work on different learning styles that forms one of the main planks of the Government's drive towards "personalised learning". The study found that many of the methods, or instruments, used to identify pupils' individual learning styles were unreliable and had a negligible impact on teaching and learning.

The LSDA study revealed a "proliferation of concepts, instruments and strategies" and a "bedlam of contradictory claims". This variation is significant as the Government made a point of not imposing personalised learning from above. It says the idea must be developed school by school and that there is no prescribed system for identifying learning styles. In this case, schools and local authorities should be free to develop personalised learning in their own way.

(TES, 21 May 2004)

In search of singularity - interesting TES article on the confusion surrounding the term personalised learning (TES, 21 May 2004)