Personalising learning
SCHOOLS and teachers have spent many years talking about how they can personalise classroom learning for all students. Young people are all different - they have distinct interests and personalities, ways of learning, past experiences and future goals.
Even when grouped according to standardised tests, they know different amounts and different aspects of each subject and topic. Personalising a school’s curriculum or classroom teaching is difficult because there are so many variables.
There is, however, widespread agreement that one of the key drivers of personalisation is ‘self-regulation’. Recently, researchers have become interested in the concept of ‘self-regulation’ or ‘self-regulated learning’.
A large number of studies have been undertaken in many countries that have attempted to define self-regulation and identify ways in which schools can use the concept to improve learning.
There are a variety of ways of defining self-regulation, although they all contain certain core aspects.
For example, one view is that self-regulation considers the three-way interaction between the person, his or her behaviour, and the environment.
The three important characteristics of self-regulated learning are through selfobservation, self-judgment and self-reactions.
This requires a child to accurately reflect on his or her progress towards a learning goal, and appropriately adjust his or her actions to maximise performance.
Should the tasks be completed, he or she has effectively self-regulated.
Nexus International School, Putrajaya teaches students skills they will need in order to self-regulate their learning. Some of these skills are: - Strategic action: the process of setting goals and success criteria, and learning how to plan, monitor and evaluate progress against a standard (rather than against other people),
- Motivation to learn: believing that one’s own actions can make a difference (self- efficacy) and that each individual is responsible for their own learning, rather than success being a result of things outside their control, such as their horoscope or luck (attribution theory).
Importantly, recent research has shown that a focus on effort, rather than ‘intelligence’ is critical in developing resilient and self-regulating learners,
They have also reviewed and modernised the curriculum to accommodate higher level skills such as synthesising and the creation of new knowledge.
Self-regulation has been shown to improve learners’ motivation and skills, leading to deeper learning and better results.
A focus on self-regulation requires schools to challenge many accepted ways of operating, including those related to relationships between teachers and learners, and the nature of the curriculum and assessment.