I recently posted this comment on an online inet conference. Like you Natalie [Natalie Nelson KEW PS Assistant Principal] we have looked at this journey to personalise learning for students as multi dimensional : enriched curriculum, professional learning, schools structures, leadership and buildings. Again like you we have formed relationships with key educators like Kath Murdoch and Anne Hammond to support teachers in classrooms strengthen their instructional capacity and teams plan a deeper and more connected thinking orientated curriculum.
Perhaps we are fortunate in a building sense as we plan to open the first of our open and more flexible learning spaces [this one for the senior year 5/6 students] in June thanks to some capital works funding. I was interested in your major learning of letting crops flower before the harvest – read patience.
I must say I have been influenced by Douglas Reeves work recently when he said and I paraphrase that everything is just words unless our few goals are supervised constantly by leadership. I would add one further comment that unless teaching is de-privatised and becomes a public act capable of being improved and worked upon with the support of coaches, colleagues and data [as is the case in some of the leading Asian countries] then the personalisation of learning for students will just be random acts in some classrooms.
We have taken another step in this personalisational of learning and de-privatising of instructional practice and as a staff learning to use protocols to examine student work. Good hunting on your journey as your spot the practices that will help your students.
