Hannah Studemeyer, a Literacy Coordinator for the Office of Special Services in Berkeley County School District, discusses personalized learning from a district viewpoint through the empowerment of teachers and students.
Heroclitus once said that “Change is the only constant.” In our world today, this statement might be truer than ever. As we prepare students for jobs that do not yet exist, and as we put more emphasis on teaching “soft skills”, there is no doubt that it is paramount for our educational system to shift from teacher-led instruction to a system where students are empowered to own their learning and make informative decisions. As a part of Berkeley County School District’s (BCSD) Personalized Learning Team, I have realized that this shift in education is two-fold. If we are going to empower our students, we must first empower our educators to take risks and embrace a growth mindset. Just as our State Framework for Personalized Learning centers on Student Ownership, we strive to create educator ownership and empowerment in BCSD. The graphic below from John Spencer and A.J. Juliani’s book, Empower, depicts a progression from compliance to engagement to empowerment. As we shift our educational paradigm for students, we must also shift this paradigm for adult learners.
To empower our educators, Berkeley County encourages schools to dig deeper into all four areas from the State’s Framework to personalize instruction. However, each school’s journey, or pathway, may look different. Schools create their own flexible design and unique pathways that embrace Student Ownership, Learner Profiles, Learning Pathways, and Flexible Learning Environments. We like to call our State’s Framework for PL, the umbrella that covers all of our pathways. One school might focus on STEAM Instructional Practices and another may focus on Project-based Learning, but we are all reaching for the same goal: a personalized education that empowers students.
In addition to encouraging schools to embrace personalized pathways, it is important to remind educators to “Think Big. Start Small. Act Now.” With the support of South Carolina’s Department of Personalized Learning, BCSD has adopted a progression that mirrors the one the State Department for PL uses with their Professional Learning Cohorts. As a district, we are in the Exploration Stage during 2019-2020, The Launch Stage during 2020-2021, and Ongoing Support throughout 2021-2022. Within this continuum, schools may be in different places and exploring different parts of the framework, but as a district, we are all striving toward the same goal that aligns with the four areas in our state framework. Schools are provided continued support through locally embedded learning and through our state’s cohort opportunities.
Another way that we empower our educators is to model professional development after the Personalized Learning Framework. One example of this is how we have framed our Instructional Coaching Network in BCSD. We strive to give our coaches ownership through voice and choice in many professional development topics. Each coach has created a Learner Profile that identifies learner strengths, interests, needs, and a plan for monitoring progress with individual goals. Coaches choose various Learner Pathways based on their Learner Profiles. Additionally, Learner Profiles help educators at Central Services know the needs of each coach in order to provide personalized support. Finally, we have Flexible Learning Environments for coaches through blended learning opportunities, coach cohorts in the field, and whole-group professional learning opportunities as a coaching network. We have found that in order for adult learners to feel empowered and to embrace change, we need to model the model by providing learning opportunities that are personalized, just as we want for our students. Change may be uncomfortable at times, but as we know, powerful things happen out of our comfort zones.
About The Author:
Currently, Hannah is a Literacy Coordinator for the Office of Special Services in Berkeley County School District. She is part of Berkeley County’s Design Team, Personalized Learning Team, and part of the Lowcountry Education Consortium. Previously, she was a Reading Coordinator in Berkeley County School District, a Personalized Learning Coach in Charleston County School District, and an English teacher at the secondary level. She has earned a Specialist in Educational Leadership Degree at The Citadel, a Master of Arts Degree in Secondary Administration through Charleston Southern University, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Secondary Education through the College of Charleston.
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