In a classroom, differentiated instruction occurs when a teacher alters their curriculum and teaching style so that their lessons have maximum impact on students with different abilities and interests. To do this, students will be working on different tasks that vary by content or complexity, but which achieve the same syllabus outcomes. In a mainstream classroom you will have students of a mixed-ability grouping whose skills may range from having special needs through to being gifted and talented. As a teacher, it is very important that your lessons are inclusive of children of all abilities so that everyone has a fair chance at getting an education [1].

 

     Differentiation is based on the idea that what works for some children, will not work for others. This is due to the complexity of the task given, as well as content and structure. To effectively modify the curriculum, the teacher needs to have a good understanding of their students including:

 

• Background/prior knowledge

• Readiness for new content/skills

• Learning styles

• Interests

 

     Differentiation is not a single teaching strategy but rather a broader, student-centred philosophy to pedagogy. It focuses on keeping schoolwork at an appropriately challenging level for all students so that they can reach their potential [2].  A differentiated curriculum can be adapted to students who understand a concept at different levels of Bloom’s revised taxonomy- whether it be remembering/understanding, applying/analysing or evaluating/creating. An effective teacher will adjust content, tasks and assessments to suit the capabilities of all students [3].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Teachers may be hesitant in implementing a differentiated classroom because they see the process as too much of a challenge. The following are commonly identified difficulties that teachers believe they will face if they try to modify the curriculum:

 

• Lessons will take more time to prepare and teachers are already short of time

• Their classes are so diverse that it’s too hard to meet the needs of ALL students ALL the time

• They have not been properly trained to know how to differentiate

• With many activities going on at once, the classroom will be hard to manage [4]

 

     Research into the relationship between teacher efficacy and the implementation of differentiation found that teachers who lacked confidence in their skills were less likely to modify the curriculum [2]. Self-efficacy is therefore an important part of being a teacher, as lacking confidence in your abilities has a negative impact on classroom lessons. The best way to overcome self-doubt is to become more educated and practiced in the art of differentiation until you are assured that you can effectively modify the curriculum to suit your students’ needs.

Teachers who are new to modifying the curriculum will take time to adjust their methods to suit this teaching style. You are not expected to change overnight! This website has been designed to give you some ideas about the changes that can be made in your classroom. Start by having one differentiated activity per week and gradually work your way up until you are comfortable and confident enough to have a fully differentiated curriculum [5].

 

     Oftentimes, when teachers decide that they will differentiate the curriculum, they consult their co-workers or literature written by experts. This is perfectly acceptable (and quite necessary) so that they can become informed about different methods of classroom differentiation. However, the opinion of their students is also critical when designing their lessons, and students should be involved in the process [6]. Deferential differentiation is modifying the curriculum based on student preference, rather than solely at the discretion of the teacher. A study into gifted and talented students surveyed both gifted and non-gifted pupils about their preferred method of learning [7]. The survey found that whilst the gifted students wanted more complex and fast-paced lessons, the majority of students in both categories identified similar preferences for other classroom factors; these will be listed below. Using a learning preference survey with your students will actually make your job a lot easier! Instead of having to consider all the possible ways to teach a class, you can narrow down the options to the preferences listed by your students. The study found the most popular and least popular forms of classroom activities:

 

Most popular:

• Learning at their own pace

• Doing classwork or assignments when they get to choose their own partner/groups

• Learning about topics that they have chosen

• Being able to choose the way they learn (eg. From books, teachers, in groups, alone, worksheets, projects)

• Choosing how to present their projects

• Learning with someone who learns at a similar pace

• Using technology to find information

• Having clear marking criteria before starting a project

 

Least Popular:

• Working with people who learn much slower or much quicker than they do

• Always learning from textbooks

• Being assigned partners/groups

• Teacher setting one question for project, with only one way to present the information

 

To get these findings, Kanevsky surveyed more than 600 students to get a large sample size. She does conclude, however, that teachers need to administer surveys to their own students so that their individual responses can be recorded and used for modifying the curriculum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Heading image of children was provided by Wix.com template

**Word cloud made by Chelsea Fraumeni using Wordle