Learning More About the Implementation
I wanted to know more about the perspectives of experts on the definitions and rationale for implementing this approach. In the United States, I interviewed Dr. John Downs, a renowned scholar in the field of Personalised learning. He is the Director of the Tarrent Institute of innovations for Education; Listen to John, he is articulate in the video below:
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Personalised learning is complex, so it is easy for people to have misconceptions about it; Dr John Downs expanded on this (see the video about it)
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I also wanted to explore how people describe the difference between personalised learning and differentiation. I asked Dr. Carol Tomlinson about it. You may listen to my discussion with Carol here (apologies for the quality of video and it is the unedited version of my meeting with Carol via Teams) https://youtu.be/9tqlPlrr4wo.
People have a lot of questions about personalised learning. ABC radio asked me a lot of questions. You may listen to them through this link. Please also see my article for the Conversation here:
A narrative from a teacher group
One of the significant challenges faced by educators is the vague nature of the literacy progressions outlined in the Australian Curriculum. Teachers often find it difficult to clearly understand where students stand in their learning journey, and equally important, students themselves may struggle to recognize their own progress.
To address this challenge, a research initiative was carried out to simplify the curriculum's literacy progressions into clear, understandable “I Can” statements. These statements were designed so that students, particularly in primary school, could easily understand their own learning goals and track their progress over time.
| Australian Curriculum Literacy Learning Progression descriptor | Student friendly Literacy Learning Progression Decriptor "I Can" statement |
| intentionally creates letter-like shapes or strings, experimenting with forms and shapes (e.g. horizontal and vertical lines, and/or circular shapes) draws pictures and shapes to make meaning |
I can draw vertical lines. I can draw horizontal lines. I can draw circular shapes. I can draw shapes that look like letters. I can draw different shapes or forms |
| asks about words used in the environment (e.g. signs, labels, titles, names, captions) |
I can ask questions about shapes or things.
I can remember some signs in my environment. I can name them correctly. |
Student samples of literacy standards
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Some Useful Resources
Bishop, P. A., Downes, J. M., & Farber, K. (2019). Personalized learning in the middle grades: A guide for classroom teachers and school leaders. Harvard Education Press.
Bray, B., & McClaskey, K.
https://kathleenmcclaskey.com/stages-of-personalized-learning-enviroments/
Office for multicultural learning: https://www.scu.edu/oml/about-us/theoretical-framework/
Tomlinson, C. A. (2021). So each may soar: The principles and practices of learner-centered classrooms. ASCD.