Personalize Learning (#plearnchat)

Here is the Personalized Learning Guide for Parents in British Columbia as they embark in transforming their educational system.  Under the British Columbia Education Plan, teachers, students and parents will work together to make sure every student’s needs are met, passions are explored and goals are achieved. This means student-centered learning that’s focused on the needs, strengths and aspirations of each individual young person. Students will play an active role in designing their own education and will be increasingly accountable for their own learning success. It’s all about putting students at the centre of education. That means giving teachers and schools the flexibility to make sure each student is well served by their educational program. Each student is unique and our education system will support each student’s interests and ways of learning.

Steve Rauh reflects on  his school's Rock Band at West Vancouver Secondary School and wonders if what he was observing was the results of personalizing learning.  He created this list of instructional practices associated with personalized learning and compared them to the Rock Band.  Here is what he discovered!

Steve also shares his thoughts as he watched the student performances:

"At the performance, I watched student after student perform at levels and with passion that can only be achieved with a strong measure of personal engagement and commitment. I watched one particular student seamlessly move between the guitar, bass guitar, and keyboards all within the same set. Each student proudly showed us their best piece of work or examplar."

Thanks Steve for sharing this story!

"B.C. schools should group students by ability rather than age, promote personalized learning but not at the expense of basic skills, eliminate standardized tests and provide more frequent reports to parents about student progress.

Those are among the ideas submitted to the Education Ministry after it made a public appeal for suggestions about how to remodel schools for the 21st century. The ministry is continuing to seek comment in what it has described as its “first grand experiment in citizen engagement.”

The “experiment” began in late October when Education Minister George Abbott announced a government plan for education renewal that would include an emphasis on personalized learning, critical thinking and quality teaching."

Read more about the B.C. public response to questions proposed by the Ministry of Education as they begin to transform the British Columbia school system.