Thinking on personalisation has developed considerably since David Miliband first mooted the concept when he was Schools Minister in 2004. This is largely thanks to those school leaders who have taken the concept and explored and shaped it in practice.

The Gilbert Review published earlier this year brought much of this thinking together and provided welcome clarity – outlined on page 8 of this issue – about what we mean by personalised learning. This consensus is important as it has given real impetus to move personalised learning forwards so that every learner in every school benefits. The review made recommendations focussed on helping schools to continue to innovate and shape personalised learning within a coherent national framework that puts the learner, and learner progress, at the centre.

Toby Greany insists that there can be no prescriptive approach to making personalised learning a reality in schools. Rather – just as the College is working with local authorities and schools to develop a flexible ‘local solutions’ approach on succession planning – its aim is to help school leaders develop a vision for personalised learning that fits their context.

“At its simplest, personalised learning is about
what is taught, how it’s taught, how it’s assessed, and how learning is organised,” says Toby Greany. “That’s not to imply that it’s simple of course, especially since those areas need to link through seamlessly to the Every Child Matters agenda so that every child gets the wider support they need to succeed. Nor is it to suggest that personalisation is simply ‘more of the same’. Rather, every school leader should be constantly exploring ways in which their school can go further to excite, challenge and support all learners to progress and achieve their potential.”

There are several different frameworks for thinking about personalising learning in your school. David Miliband’s original five strands – outlined below – are perhaps most easily recognisable to schools in all phases.

Assessment for learning
The Assessment Reform Group has defined assessment for learning (AfL) as: ‘The process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there.’ There is now a wealth of evidence that AfL makes a real difference to student ownership and motivation, as well as outcomes.

But what is the role of leadership in making AfL
a reality in schools? Research in eight secondary schools completed last year found that distributed leadership is critical. Key messages from the research included:

• To establish AfL whole school changes – from
  the ‘top down’ and the ‘bottom up’ – are needed

• AfL is most successful when teachers share their practice and learn from what they and their peers do well within and across department

• Everyone, especially senior and middle leaders, must continue to develop a more insightful understanding of AfL

• Monitoring and evaluation should be distributed and involve all teachers and subject teams. DCSF’s Making Good Progress pilots are now exploring how national tests can be made more flexible, so that learners are assessed ‘when ready’ and all learners can be supported to progress.

Effective teaching and learning
A major review of evidence on school leadership published by NCSL last year found that school leadership is second only to classroom teaching
as an influence on pupil learning. This is not just because leaders establish the overall ethos and conditions of the school, but also because good leaders focus relentlessly on learning and teaching and on improving teachers’ practice through coherent, enquiry based CPD for all staff.

Critically this is about high quality teaching in every classroom, but it’s also about leaders seeing themselves as accountable to all their learners and asking how each learner’s needs are being met. Schools can build on their Gifted and Talented work here to consider how every learner – whatever his or her abilities – is appropriately stretched, supported and developed. NCSL’s Learning Centred Leadership research has shown that effective leaders achieve high standards through leading by example, monitoring progress and engaging in dialogue with staff and learners about effective practice and how it can be improved.

Other approaches used by schools in NCSL’s Within School Variation development and research project – aimed at reducing the differences in how pupils perform in different subjects within schools – included using standardised processes such as the use of a widely owned model of learning for lesson planning; and student voice.

Curriculum entitlement and choice
“The recently announced secondary curriculum reforms are great news for personalisation,” says Toby. “Both at Key Stage 3 and at 14-19 there is now real flexibility so that teachers and leaders can explore new ways of giving learners choice over what and how they learn. NCSL’s recent work with QCA and a range of school leaders on Leading Curriculum Innovation has shown in very practical ways how school leaders stimulate innovation and then develop, implement and evaluate a strategy.”

Creative approaches to school organisation
Perhaps the biggest challenge for school leaders
is finding the time and space to focus on personalising learning in a truly strategic way. The Independent Review of School Leadership by PriceWaterhouseCoopers for the then DfES, published earlier this year, showed that many leaders are too preoccupied with the business and operational aspects of running their schools to be able to really focus on personalising learning in a strategic way.

Distributing leadership and growing capacity within schools is key here. PWC highlighted that whilst most headteachers say they distribute leadership, most staff don’t seem to experience it! Too often it is a case of distributing tasks rather than real leadership and accountability.

There are some fascinating examples of schools that have restructured to create senior leadership posts for innovation and personalised learning, though of course it is harder to do this in small primaries. The College’s research with SSAT on ‘deep leadership’ is focussed on how leaders can redesign the organisation and workforce reform in this area. We also need to look at whether alternative models, such as co-headships, federations, all-through schools and human scale schools, increase leadership capacity and support personalisation, Toby Greany adds.

Strong partnerships beyond the classroom
“I don’t think it’s possible for schools to personalise learning on their own, they have to work in partnership,” argues Toby.

“Personalised learning is partly about what
happens at the small scale – in particular the relationship between teacher and learner in the classroom. But it’s also about what happens at the large scale to give real choice and breadth and to ensure no child falls through the institutional cracks: 14-19 collaboratives working together to give real, joined up choice in the diplomas; schools and other agencies working together to ensure that all children achieve the five ECM outcomes; collaboration between schools in an area to ensure permanent exclusions are kept to a minimum; or schools working to really engage parents and the community so that every child succeeds.

“This wider working is a whole new skill set for leaders, but I do think there’s a real recognition now that it’s part of the role and an integral part of personalising learning.”

Next steps
For more information and resources
on personalising learning see: www.ncsl.org.uk/personalisedlearning