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'Learning guide' for every child Call for radical change in school
(about 3 hours later)
Every child in England should have a "learning guide" to see that they benefit from new, personalised education, an expert group has said. England's schools minister has called for radical change in classrooms to "personalise" every child's learning.
Pupils should learn how to be better learners, aided by their teachers and parents and perhaps "active retired" people, the Gilbert Review urged. Jim Knight told a conference in Preston he wanted a system in which no child was stuck in a rut or fell behind.
The role of the national curriculum and of exams should be reviewed, it proposed - a move welcomed by unions. He was speaking after the publication of a government-commissioned review of the issue, which has recommended a "learning guide" for every child.
Education Secretary Alan Johnson said he wanted no child to be "left behind". The Gilbert Review also proposed a review of the national curriculum and of exams - a move welcomed by unions.
The review team was led by Christine Gilbert, former chief executive of Tower Hamlets and now head of the education inspectorate Ofsted. Mr Knight said: "'Waiting and seeing' while our reforms bed down isn't good enough.
'Moral purpose' "So I want to see radical, meaningful, and sustainable change that benefits all pupils and parents.
Ms Gilbert said personalised teaching and learning was "what every parent wants, what every child deserves and what the country needs" to meet the 21st century's global challenges. "I want to see a system where a child's profile and past doesn't continue to dictate their progress and prospects.
Personalising education was "a matter of moral purpose and social justice", the report said, as "pupils from the most disadvantaged groups are the least likely to achieve well". "Where standards continue to rise and the gulfs in achievement can be narrowed and overcome."
Its aim is to make sure good progress is made by "all children, in all schools, all of the time". The review was led by Christine Gilbert, former chief executive of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and now head of the education inspectorate Ofsted.
It recommends, among other things:
  • all schools should set out how they are making personalised learning a reality
  • a group should be set up to review urgently how the national curriculum and assessment should develop, with more "testing when ready"
  • feedback from pupils should be used to design lessons
  • secondary schools should have "learning guides" to monitor progress and advise pupils and parents
  • parents should get more information, such as lesson plans on the internet
  • teacher training should be revised, outstanding teachers might have sabbaticals to enhance their skills
  • a group should be set up to distinguish effective innovation in teaching from "fads and fashions"
  • government should set targets for there to be no "stuck" pupils, to increase the progress all pupils make
  • those not progressing as expected should be entitled to extra support, such as one-to-one tuition, in or out of school
Alan Johnson said: "We need to make sure that no-one is left behind at any point - from the most gifted and talented children at the top of the class, to the uninterested child at the back." 		WHAT IS IT? Put simply, personalised learning and teaching means taking a highly structured and responsive approach to each child's and young person's learning, in order that all are able to progress achieve and participate Gilbert Review
Many teachers and schools were doing all of this already, but he wanted to make sure the good work was repeated in every school. Ms Gilbert said personalised teaching and learning is "what every parent wants, what every child deserves and what the country needs" to meet the 21st century's global challenges.
It was "a matter of moral purpose and social justice", the report said, as "pupils from the most disadvantaged groups are the least likely to achieve well".
The report recommends, among other things:
  • all schools should set out how they are making personalised learning a reality
  • a group should be set up to review urgently how the national curriculum and assessment should develop, with more "testing when ready"
  • feedback from pupils should be used to design lessons
  • secondary schools should have "learning guides" to monitor progress and advise pupils and parents
  • parents should get more information, such as lesson plans on the internet
  • teacher training should be revised, outstanding teachers might have sabbaticals to enhance their skills
  • a group should be set up to distinguish effective innovation in teaching from "fads and fashions"
  • government should set targets for there to be no "stuck" pupils, to increase the progress all pupils make
  • those not progressing as expected should be entitled to extra support, such as one-to-one tuition, in or out of school
Mr Knight said personalisation had for months been "a distant dream - offering the promise of a warm, fuzzy, comfortable future".
Now was the time to put the ideas to the test - which in practice meant a change in the way education was considered and delivered.
"It has implications for the curriculum, for assessment, for the ways that we judge success."
Progress reviewProgress review
Derek Wise is headteacher at Cramlington Community High School in Northumberland and one of the report's authors. Derek Wise, head teacher at Cramlington Community High School in Northumberland, was part of the review team.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The really important thing is that one person in the school knows the student, the work they're doing, their learning, in the round and has the time to spend with them, let's say, half an hour per half term, reviewing their progress and setting targets." "The really important thing is that one person in the school knows the student, the work they're doing, their learning, in the round and has the time to spend with them, let's say, half an hour per half term, reviewing their progress and setting targets," he said.
Anthony Seldon, master of the Wellington College in Berkshire also told Today: "The idea of having mentors for pupils is something that has happened for many years in the independent sector and I think it is one way in which the state sector is learning from the independent sector." Many struggling pupils and those deemed gifted and talented are already given extra help.
Personalised learning would ensure that the majority that fell in the middle would get teaching suited to them too, he suggested.
The leader of the National Union of Teachers, Steve Sinnott, said: "If at long last the government is going to evaluate the detrimental impact of high stakes testing on pupils and schools, this is a big shift in thinking."The leader of the National Union of Teachers, Steve Sinnott, said: "If at long last the government is going to evaluate the detrimental impact of high stakes testing on pupils and schools, this is a big shift in thinking."
Mary Bousted of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers said the review should have gone further.Mary Bousted of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers said the review should have gone further.
We need to make sure that no-one is left behind at any point Education Secretary Alan Johnson
"It misses a golden opportunity by remaining too firmly entrenched in the same narrowly defined standards and accountability agenda to be really visionary," she said."It misses a golden opportunity by remaining too firmly entrenched in the same narrowly defined standards and accountability agenda to be really visionary," she said.
"We definitely don't see any need to set an extra target for pupil progression.""We definitely don't see any need to set an extra target for pupil progression."
General Secretary of teaching union the NASUWT Chris Keates said good teaching had always been about personalised learning.
'Buzzwords'
She said teachers would look to the report for a clear definition of personalised learning but that it was not "sufficiently specific".
"There is a real danger that the report could have unintended consequences that spawn overly bureaucratic processes and workload intensive responses from some schools."
Shadow schools minister Nick Gibb called for more schools to use setting to teach pupils in ability groups.Shadow schools minister Nick Gibb called for more schools to use setting to teach pupils in ability groups.
"Tailoring the curriculum to each child's ability must surely lead to higher levels of attainment across all ability levels," he said."Tailoring the curriculum to each child's ability must surely lead to higher levels of attainment across all ability levels," he said.
The Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman, Sarah Teather, said: "More of the same with some new buzzwords thrown in is not going to bring about the change we need."The Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman, Sarah Teather, said: "More of the same with some new buzzwords thrown in is not going to bring about the change we need."