Starting Point for Faculty Conversations about Personalized Learning

Brad Rathgeber

At the end of May, Independent School magazine published an article by my colleague Joanne Mamenta and me about our work at One Schoolhouse to transform our pedagogy to personalized learning. As you know, I've been writing about this topic in our newsletter and in my blog all year -- it is our commitment to honor the understanding that every student learns differently.

What is different about the Independent School article, it is the first time that we have publicly shared the journey that our faculty went on in order to move to personalized learning. Increasingly, there is a groundswell of support for personalized, competency based teaching and learning in independent schools (look at the quick success of the Mastery Transcript Consortium, of which One Schoolhouse is a part).  And yet, the "how" -- how do you move? -- is a key sticking point. It is our hope that the journey that One Schoolhouse faculty went on (themselves great teachers at independent schools)  can be instructive.

​In addition to the article, we've developed discussion questions for educators to consider after they read the article, as a starting point for thinking about personalized learning at the department, division, or whole school level.  We hope that these are helpful:

• Education is about students and what they learn—not what we teach.  Reflect on this statement, and consider how true this is in the context of your own classroom.
• Personalized learning is a pedagogical approach that is tailored around each student’s strengths, needs, and interests. This is familiar to independent school teachers who work to individualize learning for their students. The difference is that a personalized approach approaches teaching and learning from the perspective of the learner, enabling student voice and choice in what, how, when and where they learn. How is the approach different to the approach you take in your classroom? How is it similar? What opportunities might you have to increase student voice and choice in your classroom?
• One Schoolhouse undertook a three-year process to transform its culture and curriculum to a personalized learning pedagogy. What would a process look like at your school? Why type of professional development would you need to make this happen? 
• With a personalized learning pedagogy, teachers take all their best lessons, resources, and teaching practices and organize them into pathways for students to choose the most effective options for them to learn. Take five minutes to think about a lesson in a class that you teach.  How might you re-create that lesson to offer multiple pathways for your students to learn content, check their understanding, and apply their knowledge?

Let us know how we can help your school further in the journey.

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