Developing Learner Agency: Guest Post by the Team Teaching Sisters, Michaela Loo & Tricia Pettis

Moving from Theory to Practice through Proficiencies, Pathways, and Profiles<br />Four years ago, we attended the Edina Summer Institute where Barbara Bray was sharing her expertise in personalized learning as the keynote speaker. She struck a chord with us on many levels that day but when she said, “Teachers are doing all the work…" our trajectory as teachers immediately changed. After her keynote, we set a goal. We planned to personalize our class one unit at a time, and that is exactly what we did.   <br />As we embarked on our personalized learning journey, we would never have imagined that a pandemic would have us all teaching and learning from home with very little lead time to prepare for this drastic and urgent shift. What quickly became clear was the optimal position our learners were in from the onset. Our gains in establishing systems and supports around personalized learning as instructional coaches and classroom teachers became levers we accessed to design an immediate response to teaching during a pandemic. Because our learners experienced opportunities to control, engage, and reflect in the learning process, they were able to capitalize on their established agency.   <br />There are countless definitions of personalized learning. We define personalized learning as three interrelated layers that involve:  <br /><br />Placing learners at the center where multiple pathways are possible to develop essential skills, and competencies.<br />Guiding individuals to become agents of their learning through goal setting and reflecting on the learning processes. <br />An active method where educators recognize the need for flexibility around pace, content, style, skill, background knowledge, location or some other learning dimension.  <br /><br />Currently, we are personalized learning coaches and classroom teachers at South View Middle School in Edina, MN. South View Middle School, hosts multiple site visits and professional development training for personalized learning. When we reflect on the momentous growt