Is there a progression that makes sense in instruction, especially dependent upon the age of students? In our own experiences, we find that students need the skills development, exposure and practice in personalized (teacher guided settings) before all students can find success in a personal approach. We specifically reflected upon the Independent Research Projects recently completed by our 5th/6th grade students. We felt that most of our students needed the experiences of the year that led up to that assignment to successfully navigate through that assignment. Further, we found that some students needed much support/scaffolding to successfully pursue this personal learning task -- does that move it away from being personal?
In our group dialogue, we reflected upon the goal of functioning as an independent learner (the promise of personal learning) as a long range outcome, noting that perhaps there is a learning progression that leads us to that outcome. Along that learning progression, students will need guidance and support, which will likely come through direct or personalized instruction. As with the reader’s or writer’s workshop approach, there needs to be explicit, direct instruction (mini-lessons) followed by scaffolded opportunities to practice and implement. We also wondered how the developmental needs of children interplays with personal learning . . . what does this look like for a ten or eleven year old, vs. a sixteen year old?
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