Kevin McLaughlin works as a Senior Lecturer in Primary Education at Bishop Grosseteste University Lincoln. Before that, he taught in Primary Schools for twenty years and also worked as a Deputy Headteacher in England and Spain. Kevin is also a Google Certified Innovator, Google Certified Trainer, and Apple Distinguished Educator.

 
Kevin wrote about personal journeys and learning zones for my books so I decided to reach out to him to discuss the state of education. We actually did the recording in January 2018 so this is a little late to put up but still “brilliant” according to Kevin. I added some excerpts from the podcast and his posts below.
 
About you and always wanting to be an artist – being a musician
In my spare time, I play guitar and have performed in many pubs in the places I have lived. I am also a drummer and I have played in 4 bands over the years – Down to Victoria, EQ, The Wedding Band and Lepanto Sessions. I started drumming when sitting in a pub one night, I was tapping along to ‘Double Trouble’, a blues band. My mate asked if I could drum, I nodded yes even though I had never ever played on a drum kit before and next thing I knew, I was in my first band, Down to Victoria.

 
Your journey as a teacher in Primary Schools for 20 years
I got into teaching quite by accident. I only ever wanted to paint and draw and had even got my own art studio in Derry. After another year ‘on the dole’ (unemployed) and making not much selling my paintings, I started voluntary work at my old primary school teaching kids art. I was supposed to stay 1 week and ended up there for 4 months, not just giving Art lessons but then ‘teaching’ other subjects. I graduated with a BA in Primary Education in 1996 and the rest is history.
I taught in an international school in Gran Canaria, Spain for 8 years. Almost every child was Spanish and they received a curriculum based on the National Curriculum in England. Apart from their daily Spanish class, they learned everything in English.
 
Personalised Learning and Personal Journeys (PJs)
I got into PJs by accident. I was very interested in how younger children learn by observing them so I took lots of notes. We used individual plans to keep them on track, and I decided to call them PJs.
Personalizing Learning is not something you can pick up and start in your own class tomorrow. You need to take into account most if not all of the following:

It takes a lot of thought and effort.
It takes time to build up a clear picture of every learner in your class and where they are in their own learning.
It takes courage to stand back as a teacher and let the learning happen
of its own accord.
It requires a vision and belief that it will work.
It needs careful planning but still allows for change at a moments notice.
It needs the voice of the learner to be listened to, to steer the direction
of the learning.
It needs you to rethink your classroom layout.
It needs you to rethink your approach to teaching and learning.

Angry Birds animation created by a child in my class from 2016
 
Let’s talk about the learning zones
Learning zones were based on the early years’ approach where children walk around the room to choose the best way to learn with the teacher as a facilitator. I needed to rethink the areas in the room for specific learning approaches.

In the corner of my graphic is my desk but I rarely sat there. The first area was #1 Discussion and Thinking zone which was where I modeled new concepts. Every morning they would be given their PJ and what is expected for the week and what they wrote that they expected of themselves. When they understood what they needed to do, they chose the zone they wanted to work at.