Who needs a plan?
Does every learner need an individual learning plan?
The answer to this question is: it depends. It depends on how much your learners have in common in terms of:
- interest; and
- level of understanding.
Look at the possibilities below. Which description fits your group best? Which description fits your learners best?
| Group interests and levels | Type of learning plan |
|---|---|
| Different interests and differing levels. | Individual learning plans. |
| Different interests and similar levels. | Individual learning plans based on interests with some common goals related to skills development. A group learning plan based on skills development with some differentiated goals related to interests. |
| Shared interest and differing levels. | A group learning plan based on interest with some differentiated goals based on skills. Individual learning plans based on skills development with some common goals related to interest. |
| Shared interest and similar levels. | Group learning plan. |
Below is a short case study to illustrate what type of learning plan might be appropriate. There are further examples in the link on this page. Subject Learning Coaches can adapt these to create a handout and exercise to use with colleagues.
Different interests and differing levels
Jill teaches drawing in a Fenland village. There are never enough learners to organise them by level. There are about twelve learners in this group: some are newcomers, some have been attending for over two years. Learners have a wide variety of interests and varying degrees of skill.
Suggestion: In this situation, it seems likely that each learner will each need an individual learning plan. These can be incorporated into the artists' journals that Jill encourages her learners to keep.