What are Personal Learning Plans?
- PLPs are a genuine 3-way conversation between a student, their parent/caregiver and their teacher/mentor which culminates in a specific plan being developed to support their learning through strong, shared partnerships
- PLPs are about developing relationships to understand what the parent’s goals and aspirations are for their child, for the child to express their interests, challenges, dreams/aspirations and for the teacher/mentor to listen
- It is the process of the PLP and the communication which occurs which is important, not the written document/format
- The focus of PLPs is on the students learning, underpinned by a deeper understanding of the individual
- PLPs identify what a student can do, positive achievement and how to build on these achievements
- PLPs are for all students even gifted and talented students and those achieving excellent outcomes
- The PLP process is not lead or dominated by the teacher/mentor. It is a genuine three-way conversation
- The PLP is a framework/mechanism for achieving change and informing teaching practice to better meet student learning needs and to develop and support quality teaching
- The PLP is something which ‘takes as long as it takes’. It is a developing process and can be altered as required. The important thing is to enable relationships to develop and to be able to adjust quickly to changed needs/ circumstances
- The PLP is a student, teacher/mentor and a parent responsibility which becomes more of a student responsibility in their secondary years
- The PLP is something which can be ‘built in’ to existing structures – not something which is completely new
- A deficit model
- Solely a paperwork exercise
- Behaviour tool
- A process dominated by the teacher/mentor
- Something that should be done once and then ticked off
- An IEP/ILP