PERSONALISED LEARNING: TAKING CHOICE SERIOUSLY
Monday 25th June 2007
This is a date for everyone! A joint one-day open conference at Staffordshire University, Stoke-On-Trent, which will explore choice in a personalised learning system
Personalised learning has the potential to transform our systems of learning. It challenges the shallow version of learning promoted within the present education system and proposes a new approach where learners themselves make both rational and intuitive choices about their learning. ‘Taking choice seriously’ is the key driver in this task. The prize is a cohesive, sustainable and productive society with active and democratically competent citizens.
The conference will be introduced by Peter Humphreys from the Centre for Personalised Education Trust and facilitated by Mark Webster, from Staffordshire University’s Creative Communities Unit.
Keynote speakers will be Tony Jeffs of Durham University, co-author of the influential book, Informal Education, Terri Dowty, from Action on Rights for Children, Professor Ian Cunningham from the Centre for Self-Managed Learning and Dr Tim Rudd from Futurelab.
Keynote speakers will be followed by a break out session where conference delegates will be given the opportunity to have their say about the challenges. Key issues will be fed back to the conference.
In the afternoon, delegates will have a chance to choose from workshops such as: - 'The Otherwise Club - An invitational learning community', -‘Personalised Education: A Framework for Evaluation & Educational Reconstruction’, -‘Democratic Learning Co-operatives’, -‘The Bridge International Youth Project’, - ‘Democratic & Individualised Learning’ - or an ‘Open Forum’ to discuss further the issues raised at the conference.
Lunch will be provided and there will be plenty of opportunity for networking.
The Conference is aimed at educators, learners, parents from any mainstream sector or stage, free / democratic / alternative institutions and groups, home-based educators, flexi-schoolers, community and youth workers any informal groupings or autonomous learners, policy makers, thought leaders, academics and researchers.
Cost of conference day will be £75 + Vat (£88.13). Includes refreshments & lunch. A limited number of reduced price places are available for unfunded delegates.
For further information or to book a place please visit our website http://www.staffs.ac.uk/schools/humanities_and_soc_sciences/ccu/conf.htm or contact: Sarah Bonam Telephone 01782 714776 or email: lettinginthelight@ds1.pipex.com
2005 National Conference at Toddington October 2005 – Play and Devising a Personalised Learning Programme
The 2005 National Conference took the form of an overnight, residential on 15th/16th October at the Planned Environment Therapy Trust Conference Centre, Toddington, Gloucestershire. The main themes for the conference were: * Saturday 15th -The Importance of Play in Personalised Learning * Sunday 16th – Devising a Personalised Learning Programme from ‘Learning Episodes’. Josh Gifford facilitated a stimulus to stimulate discussion on the theme of Play which encompassed ‘play as exploration, play as research, play as work, play as relaxation’. Professor Roland Meighan developed the ideas of his article on Devising a Personalised Learning Programme (see the Journal of Personalised Education Now No.2). We were indebted to the Potential Trust who again supported this event with a grant.
2004 National Conference at Toddington October 2004 – Assessment of Personalised Learning
Participants were engaged in a thoroughly enjoyable learning experience facilitated by Linda Fryer and Carl Wilson from The Stables Project in York. The conference took the topic of assessment well beyond the current narrow conceptions. Linda and Carl followed up with an article in Journal 2.