Hand in Hand: Individualization and Of, For, As Assessment

An important conceptualization that prospective teachers learn is the intertwine amongst curriculum, instruction and assessment:

                                                            Classroom:

                           Instruction  <--------------------------------> Assessment 

                                                           

                                   ^                                                                 ^  

                                   |--------------> Curriculum <-------------|

Teachers are responsible for teaching the curriculum and do so through varying instructional strategies. Teachers assess the effectiveness of their instructional strategies through assessments. Upon consulting these assessments teachers adjust their instructional strategies to their students in order to effectively relay the curriculum they are prescribed to teach. 

Through my personal experiences I have seen this model in work, more interestingly, I have seen how this model fits hand-in-hand with individualization. Throughout my university career I have tutored Mathematics and I have found it invaluable to constantly assess AoL and AfL in order to see if the activities I am doing are effective, and when they are proven not to be effective I change my instructional approach and then re-assess to ensure that the curriculum is being effectively learnt. I started off my tutoring approach with direct instruction , simultaneously giving examples and explanations of the Mathematical processes which ended with independent practice. Upon assessing the student's responses to several questions (AoL) I discovered that my instructional method was not effective. I then changed my instructional approach to hands on, manipulative based activities in which the student was a more active part of the learning process (such as grouping candies to model division) which made use of kinestetic-visual learning rather than verbal-visual learning. Upon another AoL, I found that the student understood the Mathematical processes we were going over much better. I then implemented a brief AfL, asking the student which method of instruction they preferred (which measured which method they were most engaged with), which one they found easiest to use to understand the concept and if there was anything that I could do to clarify things or make the learning process easier. This allowed me to tailor my instructional approach to my student--a process known as individualization--in order to ensure that the student was not only in the best position to learn, but was in a position in which they were most motivated to learn. This process of individualization was increasingly important for me as a mentor because I was dealing with a student with an exceptionality; therefore, I wanted to ensure that my instruction was tailored to their specific learning needs, learning needs that were not being met in the traditional classroom which doesn't have the resources to have the instructional flexibility that I have access to being one-on-one with the student. It is also important to note that through this process of individualization and AfL, teachers endorse AaL as well, as students become better able to identity what learning strategies work best for them. The student I tutor recognized that they preferred play-based exercises and would ask to engage in those activities--they were able to recognize which instructional strategies best facilitate their learning and engagement.

So, the diagram then transforms into:

                               Individual learner: 

     Instruction  <--------------------------------> Assessment 

                 
                 ^                                                          ^
                 |                                                            |
                 |------->                               <---------|                      
                                          Student 
                  ^                                                             ^ 
                  |                                                               |

                  |                                                               |  

                  |--------------> Curriculum <-----------|

The curriculum is instructed to the student who is then assessed to see how affective the teacher's instructional strategies are relaying the curriculum. Through this assessment the teacher is able to adapt their instructional methods to optimize the student's learning (individualization). In turn, the student becomes more aware of themselves as an individual learner as their A(f)L evokes a metacognitive process [A(a)L].

I have discussed the importance of individualization as it interweaves of, for and as assessment and specifically helps those with exceptionalities, but how can teachers in a traditional classroom practice individualization? It requires that teachers tailor their lessons to the individual learner, in which one class comprises of twenty students. This approach is demanding of the teacher, which calls for the ministry to downsize the number of students per class. Though this paradigm switch is costly, one must consider that educational literature recognizes that students possess a diversity of learning styles and multiple intelligences, which calls for an individualistic approach to classroom delivery. The world, too, is becoming more and more individualized, people now have life plans that differ from the collective of their family and societal expectations, and more and more people are forming entrepreneurial enterprises which focus on personal attributes, skills and capabilities. When the world and working paradigm are becoming individualized, why wouldn't the classroom become so too? Are teachers not facilitating the transition from school to society? Perhaps a solution could be a play on the flipped classroom, in which the teacher would create diverse instructional aids (tailored lessons with examples, tailored computer programs) that students consult individually at home and when at school the teacher will circulate the classroom, ensuring that each child receives individual help in conjunction with their individualized lesson. 

Here, Insight schools describe how they individualize education in conjunction with assessment, instruction and curriculum: 

Insight schools. Individualized Education at Insight Schools. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAHF7ly6cuw&list=UUn5BbP_SXfz2eXABkp2B7hg.