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Definition
Personalisation is…about putting citizens at the heart of public services and enabling them to have a say in the design and improvement of the organisations that serve them. In education this can be understood as personalised learning – the drive to tailor education to individual need, interest and aptitude so as to fulfil every young person’s potential. DfES (2004)
Commentary
The term entered political discourse in Tony Blair’s speech at the 2003 Labour Party conference, and continues to be debated at all levels within the education system. It is being promoted by the DfES as an approach, or philosophy, rather than a new initiative, embodying elements of what are perceived as best practice in the current climate. In his speech at the North of England Education Conference in January 2004, Miliband, as Minister of State for School Standards, emphasised the point that the drive from Government is to make these practices universal.
The rationale for this could be seen to be based on a perceived need to move on from outmoded teaching and learning practices which view children as being empty vessels waiting to be filled, echoing the “Fordist principles of standardised mass production” (Leadbetter 2004). Changes in society, including the customising of services and knowledge empowerment through information technology, provide the imperative to move on from the deficit model of ‘accounting for individual needs’. There are also the stated aims of giving children and young people the motivation to become independent, e-literate, fulfilled, lifelong learners, and the shared goals of high quality and high equity: “To raise standards by focusing teaching and learning on the aptitudes and interests of pupils and by removing any barriers to learning” (DfES 2004). The DfES rebuts concerns about abandoning excellence for the sake of equity, maintaining that the two are mutually supportive.
Whilst there is limited common understanding of the concept, various underlying pre-conditions appear apparent. According to the range of documents available, it is fundamentally concerned with:
- Putting the learner at the centre of the system;
•having high expectations of every child;
•shaping teaching around the way young people learn;
•promoting learning beyond the classroom;
•focusing on developing learning skills and strategies (metacognition);
•providing clear pathways through the education system, whilst retaining a core entitlement;
•planning for a combination of independent and collaborative learning;
•using the learning needs and talents of young people to guide decision making;
•allowing for individual interpretations of the goals and value of education.
Choice is also paramount, but rather than providing choice between institutions, as promoted so strongly in the recent education white paper, personalisation promises more choice about what pupils learn and how they learn it. As Leadbetter (2004) points out in his influential paper for the Innovation Unit, personalisation can provide “a way for users to be treated with respect and consideration when they cannot exercise the sanction of taking their business elsewhere”. Ultimately, he foresees users becoming active participants and co-producers in the education system. At the same time, the role of the teacher, along with other professionals across all services, would adapt to become advisory and facilitatory.
According to the DfES, there are five key components of personalised learning, which need to be embedded in whole school policy and practice to enhance learning outcomes.
•Assessment for learning: teachers and learners identifying areas of strength and learning needs, and setting targets to drive up individual attainment. This feeds into planning and teaching and learning strategies.
•Effective teaching and learning strategies: developing a repertoire of skills to actively engage and stretch learners, building on their prior knowledge and experience, and incorporating individual and group activity. ICT has a central role to play, allowing students to work at their optimum pace, as well as providing greater opportunities for collaboration.
•Curriculum entitlement and choice: personal and flexible learning pathways through the education system, especially at 14-19, to include vocational options as well as academic specialisms.
•School organisation: models which empower pupils, supporting high quality teaching and learning, and pupil welfare. The structure of the day/lessons and workforce reform are key here, as is the role of the learning mentor.
•Strong partnership beyond the school: with parents and carers, local institutions and businesses, integration of children’s services, out-of-hours learning
Although this is presented as a “framework for implementation”, the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) expresses concern about the lack of an evidence base for the premise that these five factors will inevitably make the necessary difference, and offers another model, which is more abstract and open to change. This model demonstrates acceptance that external and contextual factors shape learning along with institutions, teachers and learners. Therefore, although curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment and learning remain at the core, other factors (such as political contexts) will impact upon the outcomes.
It could be said that personalised learning also presents us with the ‘big picture’ of education for the 21st century for the first time; various concepts and initiatives which have entered the education debate over the past decade can now be viewed as part of the whole, and therefore acquire new significance; assessment for learning, behaviour for learning, learning skills and strategy training, inclusion, citizenship, pupil voice, Every Child Matters, extended schools, 14-19 provision (even though the Tomlinson recommendations are not being fully implemented). If personalised learning is viewed as the ‘umbrella term’, the logic of the constituent parts becomes apparent as part of a broader philosophy. At the same time, personalisation might appear to challenge the current “accountability frameworks” and “assessment regimes” (Leadbetter 2004); Statutory Assessment Tests (SATs) and the National Curriculum could be seen as cutting across the principles of personalised learning.
Although it is difficult to argue with much of the sentiment underpinning personalised learning, it will be important for educationists from all spheres to maintain a critical distance to it. A number of challenges and risks are identified by the TLRP, as well as Leadbetter. These include the possibility of further accentuating class differences in attainment, as middle class homes tend to be more conducive to “self-provisioning”. Other identified areas of potential difficulty are authenticity (whether it is really about learning, or teaching) and realism (whether it is over-ambitious).
The biggest challenge to the success of this drive is likely to be the response of the profession. Although it is acknowledged within DfES documentation that many schools are already effectively tailoring their curriculum and teaching methods to meet the needs of learners (including, as we have come to expect, numerous examples of “best practice”), teachers may feel that this is one innovation too far. Undoubtedly, personalisation carries with it implications for workload, as well as teacher learning. However, perhaps more importantly, much of the documentation acknowledges a lack of clarity regarding the concept, and several common misconceptions which are likely to induce wariness. Personalised learning does not mean, for example, that pupils are left to their own devices to learn as individuals; collaborative and community learning is encouraged, although independent learning can complement this. Neither does it mean preparing individual lesson plans for 30 children, which is not realistic; although differentiation is linked, this is inevitably teacher-led, rather than pupil-centred. An awareness of multiple intelligences and learning styles is also linked, not as a tool to label pupils, but so that teachers can provide a range of learning experiences and opportunities to engage pupils emotionally, physically and intellectually.
This lack of clarity makes it more important for all those in the education system to contribute to the debate. Teachers are encouraged to become part of the Innovation Community, and to contribute to the “constructive process of refinement”. Indeed, the TLRP warn that, due to the unprecedented Government involvement in education over the last decade, there is a danger that the discussion of personalised learning may lose its focus on learning and slip back into “over-simplified consideration of teaching provision and associated systems”.
Keywords: Personalisation, learning strategies
•The Standards Site on Personalisation (htm ) A large website, providing links to a number of core texts on personalisation (including Miliband’s 2004 speeches, Leadbetter’s Learning about personalisation: How can we put the learner at the heart of the education system?, DfES’ A National Conversation about Personalised Learning, the DfES Innovation Unit and the NCSL booklet Personalised Learning)•Futurelab: Overview (htm ) This article provides a useful overview, written in December 2005, of the dominant concept of ‘personalised learning’, and an introduction to the debate around it.•Futurelab: Personalisation This report outlines challenges and opportunities regarding the role of digital resources in realising the goal of personalised learning. Included within the report is the ‘Learner’s Charter’, setting out what are seen as the entitlements inherent in personalised learning.•TLRP: Personalisation Commentary (pdf ) A commentary by the TLRP, including reports of research projects with particular relevance to personalised learning•British Education Communication Technology Agency (BECTA) Their role and personalisation The changing role of Becta with regard to personalised learning•Personalised Learning and You Article in the DfES Teachernet 'Teacher' magazine•DfES Teachernet 'You Ask Me' (htm ) DfES’ head of personalised learning responds to questions from readers•The Big Picture The website of the Big Picture schools in the United States of America, undoubtedly influential in the Government’s development of the philosophy of personalisation•Feedback (htm ) Use this link to a form to give the TTRB your general views on this article or use the survey above to provide more specific commentsRelated Articles
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