WHY DIFFERENTIATE?
The world’s leading expert on differentiation Carol Ann Tomlinson (2000), has proven that differentiation maximizes the potential of all students when it is the fundamental belief and core teaching practise. According to Tomlinson (2000), evidence shows that students are more successful and engaged when they are taught according to their readiness levels, interests and learning profiles.
WHAT IS DIFFERENTIATION?
Differentiation means tailoring instruction and learning to meet the needs of all students. At least four classroom elements based on student readiness, interest and learning profiles can be differentiated (Tomlinson 2000, p. 2): content- what students need to learn; process-activities that students complete to master the content; products-projects for students to complete by applying their knowledge and understanding of a unit; learning environment-the way a classroom works and feels.
HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE TEACHING
With the high demands and constant daily pressures that teachers face, differentiating instruction seems a dream of the ideal world! How can you differentiate teaching and learning 30 ways, in order to individualize a program for 30 students? You can’t! This would be impossible! However, you can differentiate learning for all your students by customizing your teaching into 3 main groups. This is how I differentiate and meet the needs of all my learners.
At the basic level, I differentiate learning through tiered questioning, small group instruction, learning styles, routines and classroom accessibility.
At an advanced level, I organize students into three flexible groups, lower abled, middle abled and higher abled. Every lesson I plan consists of activities for each group that achieve the lesson outcome, whilst differing in terms of learning strategies and complexity. Students with an Individualized Learning Program may have further scaffolding to meet their learning needs. My groupings are flexible and may change on a daily or weekly basis, depending on students’ understanding of learning concepts.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As with any new way of working, differentiating instruction and learning can seem overwhelming. Whether you’re new to incorporating differentiation or a well-practised professional, it is clear that you have your students’ best interests at heart.
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References
Tomlinson, C, A. (2000) Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades. Available at https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED443572 [Accessed 22 December 2021].
