Personalised Learning for Young People With Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties

Colley, who teaches students with complex needs in the UK, offers a personalized learning model for teaching young people ages 14 and over with profound and multiple learning difficulties. He argues that teachers should see these students as they are and not as they expect them to be, describing how to get to know them, including various conditions they might have, how to communicate with them and their parents, and how to observe and interact with them; how to deal with challenging, extreme, or sexualized behaviors; how to create personalized curriculum, learning, teaching, and lessons; how the environment, staffing, and timetable can be matched to the personalized process; how to set targets and assess progress; and how to help students transition out of school. He ends by detailing the personalization process for one student. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Andrew Colley, B.A., (Hons), Cert Ed., QTS., is a teacher of young people with complex needs at Granta School in Cambridgeshire, UK. In February 2013, Ofsted reported that pupils at the school who have profound and multiple learning difficulties make outstanding progress. Previously Andrew was co-lead at The T House, a centre for students with profound and multiple learning difficulties at The Edith Borthwick School in Essex, UK. In September 2011 Ofsted described the teaching at The T House as 'outstanding' and the curriculum as 'excellent'. Andrew lives in Essex. Visit his website at www.andrewcolley.com.