In the modern classroom, one will find a mixture of varied levels of learners and their learning abilities. This diverse classroom setting has become the norm in the music education world as the varied learners mix together into one assorted learning environment. Music educators must then increasingly investigate methods of creating differentiated learning lessons to meet the needs of each of their individual learners. Differentiation describes the instructional planning techniques designed to incorporate all the assorted learning styles of a particular classroom into one larger lesson plan. Through the investigation of a mixture of psychological developmental theories, a music educator can determine which learning theories include successful applications for creating differentiated learning in the music classroom in regards with not only all learners. (I don't understand this part)
Differentiated Instruction Background and Planning
By first examining the makings of differentiated instruction, one can then decipher what elements of each developmental psychology theories work best in aiding differentiation in the classroom. Tomlinson describes differentiation as a method for educators to address the different learning styles of each individual learner in the classroom and to guarantee positive learning results are met by these learners by creating distinct instruction catered to the particular student (Tomlinson, 2004). Educators must first acknowledge that the students in their classroom have different learning approaches and adapt to new material or new methods differently.
Recognizing the diversity of learning styles found in the classroom can be achieved through pre-assessing the students in the classroom or th...
... middle of paper ...
...nce/eric/eric-1.htm
Kohn, A. (1994). The risk of rewards. ERIC Digest (December 1994). ERIC Identifier: ED376990
Miller, P. (2002). Theories of developmental psychology. New York: Worth Publishers.
Nunley, K. (2008). Facilitator’s guide to differentiating in the high school classroom: solution strategies for 18 common obstacles. California: Corwin Press.
Orzgen, K., & Rustu, Y. (2010). Reliability and validity analysis of the multiple intelligence perception scale. Education, 131(1), 8-32.
Sink, P. E. (2002). Behavioral research on direct music instruction. In R. Colwell & C. P. Richardson (Eds.), The new handbook of research on music teaching and learning (pp. 315-326). New York: Oxford University Press.
Tomlinson, C. (2004). How to differentiate Instruction in mixed ability classrooms. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
1. Differentiated instruction- Is personalized and customized learning, and it is one of the concepts in education that many people hear about, but do not understand clearly.
Sheftel, B. (2002). Music Education Curriculum in Public Schools. PageWise, Inc, Retrieved August 6, 2003
Is differentiated instruction necessary to meet the needs of all levels of learners within the environment based on learning styles, interests, and readiness levels? Differentiated instruction involves daily assessment, either formal or informal, lots of planning, and a classroom of learners working together as a community (Tilton, 2001). Differentiated instruction is a learner-centered instructional design model that acknowledges that students have individual learning styles, motivations, abilities, and, therefore, readiness to learn.
“Recent studies show that being involved in music classes makes it easier to learn other subjects and improve skills in other classrooms” (Brown, “The Benefits of Music Education”). A lot of people tend to overlook how much music education has an impact on the success of a student. Because of this, schools should be required to offer fine arts and music classes as electives for the students. Not only will this improve the students test scores, but it will also give the students a broader imagination and more creativity in and out of the classroom. In a lot of schools, fine arts and musical classes are the first to go when there are budget cuts. “Seventy-one percent of the nation’s fifteen thousand school districts have cut instructional hours spent on music and other subjects” (“State of the arts: should music and art classes be brushed aside”). Not only is it affecting the teachers who have specialized in the study of fine arts, it is affecting all of the students and parents who are actively involved in these programs. “Johnson, professor of music education and music therapy and associate dean of the School of Fine Arts at KU, found jumps of twenty-two percent in English test scores and twenty percent in math scores at elementary schools with superior music education” (Lynch “Music Boosts Test Scores”). With that being said, schools should be required to offer music and fine arts classes as an elective for their students.
Southgate, Darby E. and Vincent J. Roscigno. “The Impact of Music on Childhood and Adolescent Achievement”. Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 90, March 2009. Ohio State University. Web. 22 May 2013.
By providing students with the opportunities to pursue their musical interests, schools are creating environments that foster twenty-first century skills. These skills i...
In most recent years, schools have been fighting to keep music programs alive in school systems across the nation. Some schools believe that due to budget factors, music should be cut out of the academic program, to save some money. But what is widely unknown is that schools that have good music programs do better in areas of math and sometimes reading. A high tech music program called Kodaly, was instituted into the schools of Hungary. If a person were to look at the school today, there are “…no third graders who cannot sing on pitch and sing beautifully” (Dickinson, 1993, p.1). Also, the students of the Hungarian schools academic achievement in math and science “ continues to be outstanding” (Dickinson, 1993, p.1). Another report shows that schools that spend 20% to 30% of their day on music (or the arts), have the highest academic achievement (Dickinson, 1993). One study was conducted involving first and second graders at two Rhode Island public elementary schools to show the effects of musical training on academic achievement. In this study, 96 children were used between the ages of 5-7 in eight first grade classrooms. Four of the classrooms were used as control classrooms, which received the standard amount of musical training; forty-five minutes of music that alternates weeks. The other four classrooms were called “test arts“ classrooms. These classrooms received an hour of music per week. After seven months of this training, the students were all given a standardized test. It was then concluded from the tests, that 77% of the “test arts” classes “…were now at grade level or above in mathematics, as compared to 55% of those in the control groups” (MENC, #1). This clearly shows that if ...
Yoon, Jenny Nam. “ Music in the classroom: It’s Influence on Children’s Brain Development, Academic Performance, and Practical life skills.” Diss. Biola University, 2000.
As a teacher it is your responsibility to vary your instruction so that you can reach each different type of learner. Something that may be useful is giving students an assessment that makes the teacher aware of how each student learns, and base your instruction off of the results. Also, you can give them an assessment of Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences to get an even better understanding of their learning styles, their strengths, and their weaknesses. Providing students various opportunities and teaching techniques enables them to learn in way that suits them
Levy, H. M. (2008). Meeting the needs of all students through differentiated instruction: helping every child reach and exceed standards. The Clearing House , 161-164.
Learning styles is one of the ways schools have changed over the past couple of years in regards to diversity. The varieties of learning styles of students have become more aware to educators. There are three main learning styles; visual learning, kinesthetic learning, and auditory learning. Visual learners take up about half of student learners using textbooks, charts, course outlines, and graphs are useful instructional aides (Sadker, p. 47). Kinesthetic learning is also known as tactile learning. These students learn by hands on learning. Planning for student to have movement in class will help these learners. Our last learning style is the less of the three called auditory learning. These students learn best by hearing; they can remember the details of conversations and lectures and many have strong language skills (Sadker, p. 47). By providing a time for these students to recite the lesson themselves can support this form of learning. To be an effective teacher for all the learning style diversities means being able to be flexible and incorporate a variety of teaching techniques.
This article is written by a teacher and describes ways in which differentiated instruction can be implemented.
"A nation that allows music to be expendable is in danger of becoming expendable itself," said Richard Dreyfuss during the Grammy Awards broadcast on the 28th of February (National Coalition for music Education 14). This is a very interesting statement because it involves something that is related to everyone -- school curriculum. When school budgets have to be cut, the music classes are usually the first ones to be removed. Ironically, music is one of the most important areas of study because of its positive effects on students' creativity, learning and growth, and everyday life. Since music education has such an important impact on students' academic and personal growth, it should not be removed from students' learning curriculum.
When teachers differentiate their lesson, the students are more engaged to learn. Students have some choice in their learning activities, which motivates students to want to learn and also puts more learning responsibility on the students. Some students may prefer to work alone or in groups and some students like to be hands-on. By differentiating the lesson, all students’ needs are being met. “Differentiated Instruction gives students a range of ways to access curriculum, instruction and assessment. DI engages students to interact and participate in the classroom in a richer way. It is based on the assumption that all students differ in their learning styles, strengths, needs and abilities and that classroom activities should be adapted to meet these differences
This standard requires a teacher to really understand his/her students especially through the ways they grow and develop. It is important for them to understand that every student is different and therefore, will learn in their own ways. The teacher then learns to meet the needs of all students specifically by creating learning experiences for all to comprehend. Differentiated instruction would be helpful in a classroom in order for the teacher to meet the needs of students who have differences when it comes to interests, readiness and learning needs.