What is Differentiation?
Differentiated instruction was originally designed as a strategy for working with gifted students and has increasingly been used as a strategy for addressing the individual needs of all students. According to Santrock, Woloshyn, Gallagher, Di Petta, and Marini (2010) differentiated instruction is an "individualized process of teaching and learning that is based on the developmental readiness, interests, and learning style of all students within a classroom" (p.198). In differentiation, all students focus on the same key concepts, principles and overall objectives. It is the instructional path or process towards student understanding that varies. It is the practice that allows for all students to be instructed to suit their individual needs.
|
What do the Experts Say?
Differentiated instruction, according to Carol Ann Tomlinson (as cited by Ellis, Gable, Greg, & Rock, 2008, p. 32), is the process of “ensuring that what a student learns, how he/she learns it, and how the student demonstrates what he/she has learned is a match for that student’s readiness level, interests, and preferred mode of learning”. Differentiation stems from beliefs about differences among learners, how they learn, learning preferences and individual interests (Anderson, 2007). In regards to differentiation strategies, content, process, and product can be differentiated. Further, differentiation can involve multiple learning styles, such as tactile, visual, and auditory.
Tomlinson
- Todays classrooms are diverse: 3-5/100 students have ADD, 1/59 have a learning disability (Code 54), 3-4/30 are on IPP's, and 1/150 students are autistic.
- It is important to teach to readiness, interests, and learning profiles
- It is important to recognize that males and female brains DO develop differently
> Most boys don't begin to develop the same skill until late 6
Vygotsky
Byrnes
If material is presented at or below mastery level, no learning occurs, if presented too high above, the child will be frustrated
"Differentiated instruction has the potential to create learning environments that maximize learning and the potential for success of ALL students-regardless of skill level or background."-McQuarrie, McRae and Stack-Cutler, in Differentiated Instruction: Provincial Research Review (2005).
"Differentiated instruction has the potential to create learning environments that maximize learning and the potential for success of ALL students-regardless of skill level or background."-McQuarrie, McRae and Stack-Cutler, in Differentiated Instruction: Provincial Research Review (2005).
- What does this Mean?
Differentiated instruction requires teachers to accomodate their teaching across four dimensions:
This means that teachers can change the following:
- Content or Curriculum
- Process
- Product
- Environment
This means that teachers can change the following:
- What we teach-but still need to meet the same learner outcomes
- How we teach it
- How the students demonstrate their knowledge and understanding
What does it Look Like?
Differentiating content or curriculum requires pre-assessment of students' learning to determine appropriate starting points for each learner. Students demonstrating understanding can impact their lessons by moving ahead to another concept or exploring the one at hand more fully through the completion of application or problem-solving activities. Students who struggle with the curriculum, or who are deemed to be at-risk for falling behind grade level, can be provided with modified curricular outcomes as well as a number of other pedagogical outcomes. Further, teachers can modify students timeframe for completing assignments and/ or the assignment requirements. Differentiated process refers to differentiating activities and teaching strategies to help students work with, manipulate and explore the ideas within a lesson or concept. Differentiation of product requires that students be provided with options for demonstrating their understanding of content and acquisition of skills. Accommodating for students; different learning styles is the final principle of differentiated instruction.
In each lesson we teach, we need to have a definite aim for all of our students. Also required for each lesson we teach is the following:
In each lesson we teach, we need to have a definite aim for all of our students. Also required for each lesson we teach is the following:
- Provide a variety of teacher techniques aimed at reaching students at all levels
- Consideration for student learning styles in the presentation of the lesson
- Involvement of all student in the lesson through the use of questioning aimed at different levels of thinking (Bloom's Taxonomy)
- Allow for flexibility as some students will require adjusted expectations
- Provide students with choice to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of curriculum
- Accept that different methods are of equal value
- Evaluate students based on their individual differences
Rationale
Differentiation provides students with the following:
|