How do we create real learners?
For many decades children have attended public school and have figured out what it takes to be a good student. An accomplished student has been identified as someone who sits quietly in their seat, listens to the teacher lecture, raises his/her hand to respond and then completes an activity to demonstrate how much they remember from the lecture. In today's economic and educational culture this is no longer enough. Our children require different skills in order to be successful in the 21st Century. They need skills such as: creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem-solving, communication, collaboration, global awareness, civic literacy, productivity and responsibility, etc. When we begin to personalize learning we teach, model, and expect these behaviors so our children are better prepared for the future.
Personalized learning is happening all over the United States and the world. Here is a 4 minute video explaining why we must implement personalized learning in today's classrooms. The speaker makes 2 main points:
- It is important to nurture individual potential
- We should design schools for the edges not for the average because all learners have both strengths and weaknesses