The aims of personalized learning can be described as following.
At its centre is the individual advancement of every single pupil, who selects and then deals with tasks appropriate to his or her individual learning pace and ability from the material provided by the teachers of the school subjects participating in personalized learning. Pupils will work self dependently and, if possible, individually on the material identically provided for all parallel classes.
In the study phase immediately following the morning circle, the class teachers are confronted with several tasks. The teachers serve as learning coaches and are available for enquiries. They also support the pupils in planning their path of learning.
In personalized learning lessons, at least one of the class teachers is always present. Through this regular contact to their pupils, a close relationship is built. This start shared by the whole class in everyday’s morning circle leads to a strengthening of the Community. For the pupils, this constitutes an accommodating start for the day.
The school’s special architecture offers different learning environments inside and outside the classroom. Pupils use not only the classrooms’ galleries but also their vestibules, the special rooms for the subjects, and the library. The excellent media equipment of the classrooms with additional literature and a web-enabled laptop including beamer facilitate other, independent forms of study.
Every morning begins with a morning circle on the galleries, where the pupils sit in a circle. The „word into the week“, a religious reflection, serves the collective start into the week. On the following days, the pupils present their results and are given a Feedback, through which the pupils increasingly learn to systematically evaluate positively and to appreciatively criticize the presented results. Elementary democratic structures are experienced by alternating in chairing the meeting and by writing the log.
The pupils are given the opportunity of working and learning in a grade-free atmosphere, as a subject “personalized learning” does not appear on any report, though containing important elements taken from the individual subjects. The pupils’ work will be recognized in an individual assessment and in a portfolio at the end of a school year.
Yet a further development makes every cover lesson into a lesson of individual learning, so that a quiet and secure atmosphere of learning can be established for all those involved, enabling the pupils to continue their work on the given tasks for individual learning.
Seen from the perspective of the teacher, individual learning leads to a strengthening of the pedagogical teamwork amongst the colleagues, as numerous innovations have to be developed jointly, assuring a continual exchange in the teaching team of the respective year, in the teachers’ conference of the respective subject, and the teaching staff as a whole.
The consistency of the work is ensured by passing on the prepared material to the following year. Updating will be undertaken regularly, based on changes in the core curricula and new textbooks.