Editorial

Personalized Learning – Ways to Promote Student Autonomy – 11 of 11

Bryan

11. Let them learn what they want, when they want, where they want, and how they want.

The most radical form of student autonomy has to be the personalized learning model of teaching.  This model asks teachers to truly become facilitators rather than dispensers of knowledge, administrators of assessments, or authors of structured lesson plans.  But what is personalized learning really?  To some, it is just one more term in education that will come and go in the next few years with so many different interpretations that its true meaning is nebulous at best or indecipherable at worst.

Personally, I think that personalized learning is still evolving in its various forms, but it does fit the disposition of the modern day student.  Students have more information, entertainment outlets, and choices in general than any other generation before them, in my opinion.  They grew up with everything on-demand and suited to their interests at that moment in time.  Teachers have more access to technology, free resources, and research-based pedagogical practices than ever before.  Therefore, it is both the best time to be a student or a teacher but the most challenging time as well.  Students often don’t get a chance to follow their passions or learn what most interests them due to the strict, prescribed state curricula that their teachers must follow and the deep-seated traditions of public schooling in this country.  Teachers often don’t get a chance to use technology on a regular basis in their classes due to a paucity of access which necessitates sharing it among a large faculty.  Another pitfall is the lack of training on how to most effectively use the technology.  Add to those problems a pervasive culture of high-stakes, standardized testing used to rank teachers, administrators, schools, and entire school districts, and you get an environment that is setup against the implementation of personalized learning.

Standardization does not foster personalization.

The Nashville Big Picture High School in Tennessee has been experimenting with their own brand of personalized learning that balances the mandates of curriculum and standards with empowering students through giving them voice and choice in how they meet these obligations.  Though I think personalized learning in its purest form gives students more say in the curriculum itself, Big Picture offers students a lot of flexibility in when they learn, how they learn, how they demonstrate their knowledge, and with whom.  Watch the video below to get a better idea of this student-centered school at work.

As you can see from the video, students are encouraged to choose topics within the curriculum that speak to them and they can present their work in a variety of ways.  The following posts from this series about student autonomy have touched on many aspects of personalized learning. I hope they give you ideas on how you can integrate personalized learning concepts into your classroom no matter which of the aforementioned obstacles that you encounter.

If you want to implement personalized learning strategies into your classroom, definitely read these posts and give it try.  Just remember, anytime we stretch outside of our comfort zone (teachers and students) to try something new, there are bound to be some speed bumps on the journey to success.  Here are some for which you may want to plan a response in advance.

  1. Students won’t know what to do. Although I do believe that students want to learn in a more personalized way, they typically have no experience learning in this environment.  They will make poor choices regarding where to learn, what to learn, who to learn with, and what their final product may be.  They won’t know what they are passionate about, so their choices will often be ill-advised.  This is the messy process of innovation that you just have to get through before the magic happens. These are the teachable moments that can help empower students to make better decisions in the future. Help students make better choices by asking them to reflect on the poor ones they may make initially.  Once they are honest with themselves about their poor choices, they will hopefully make better ones on the next go around.
  2. Students’ mindset will reflect a traditional school environment.  Some students have gotten inured to a system that rewards compliance and following the path of least resistance.  For this reason, they may not all embrace the choice and freedom that underpins the personalized learning model.  They may want you, the teacher, to give them more structure, more guidance, more answers to what they should do next.  Students will have to be reassured that making mistakes is inevitable and, in the long run, beneficial to their growth as self-reflecting, self-aware learners.  Also, they will have to learn how to make choices that fit their passions rather than which choice requires the least amount of work or the easiest path to an A in the grade book.  Students who are traditionally motivated by grades or teacher approval will have to learn how to find motivation in pursuing their own interests in ways that are compatible with their own learning styles.
  3. Parents and administrators won’t get it. Once again, the traditional school environment is what most parents and administrators are looking for so they won’t know what to make of your new methods on Back-to-School Night or during observations. Your best ammunition is showing the students’ results, their artifacts of deep learning, and their joy throughout the process.  Show them how students must prepare for the opportunities of tomorrow by developing skills like communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking.  They must discover how they learn best by making choices rather than being dictated to by teachers.
  4. Colleagues won’t back you up. I sat down at lunch with some colleagues as they literally took turns talking about another teacher’s wacky classroom setup.  “Did you see those crazy chairs she has in there?”  “She has a couch, gaming seats, yoga balls, and bean bags.  Those kids are going to be off the wall in that environment.” As it eventually became my turn to speak, I praised the teacher’s innovative and student-centered learning environment.  She was offering flexible seating that would help her students be more comfortable and happy in her classroom.  Everyone rolled their eyes at my response.  Again, you simply have to be aware that this may happen and that your best justification is showing how happy, engaged, empowered, and successful your students are in your modified classroom setup.  Encourage your colleagues to come in and observe your class to educate them on how these seats can effectively improve student outcomes.  Some colleagues will be naysayers forever or they’ll secretly be jealous of your success.  Others will be converts to your cause and embrace these new techniques.

Personalized learning is certainly not something to implement all at once.  Master the components first so you can build up experience and solutions to common problems.  Educate your students on why you are trying these new methods and why it’s important for their futures to learn how to make positive, thoughtful choices that match their passions and learning styles rather than following the path of least resistance to get an easy A in the grade book.  Invite your administrators and colleagues to observe your innovative ideas and ask for feedback.  Seek like minded colleagues in your school or online through Twitter, for example, so that you have a platform air your problems, celebrate your successes, or simply get inspiration from others who are trying the same things.  Once again, I think personalized learning is the model that gives students and teachers the best chance to be successful in this digital, hyper-connected era.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

11 Ways to Promote Student Autonomy Series