William Lewis 661 Church Rd, Yardley, Birmingham
Dennis Hayes, you cannot be serious when you say, “The truth is that the more learning is personalised the less it is educational”
(FE Focus, March 2)!
Is this really the view of the head of a centre for professional learning? All learning is personalised. It is the only way we are able to do it, because we are all people. We are not computers to have memory sticks slotted into our USB ports and, glory be, we are educated.
However old we are, we all bring our ideas and experiences, our confidences and insecurities, our preferences and aversions to build that unique view of the world which makes us individuals.
The art of teaching, surely, is to take these learners, these precious individuals, and connect the new knowledge and skills with them in ways they will find most accessible and will retain most securely.
At the beginning, these might be quite small steps but, as learners grow in confidence, they will take bigger ones and make more informed choices about the route they are taking.
Isn’t that your experience too, Mr Hayes? Personalised learning isn’t just about content and it isn’t just about process - it’s about both. It’s no blown egg, rather, it is the source of all life.