“The concept of differentiation is itself differentiated and refracted through a host of different lenses – intrapersonal, interpersonal, cognitive, affective, behavioural, cultural, and so on” (Cohen et al. 2004, p. 137). This vast range of factors inherent of how teachers plan to support their pupils’ individual needs was also observed in the school where this writer works. However, with it being an educational institution where all pupils are Chinese nationals and English is their second language, it is not always easy to identify each pupil’s individual education needs. This can be explained by the stereotype of “Chinese learners being passive, lacking independence, and accepting, largely unquestioningly, the knowledge and authority of …show more content…
130-131) mentions several approaches to differentiation: by task, by outcome, by resource, by support, by response, by teacher language, by rotation, by multiple access and by choice. An English teacher was observed differentiating by outcome, “where the same relatively open-ended task is set with the expectation that children of differing abilities will produce differentially successful outcomes”(Cohen et al., 2004, p. 137), when he gave the same essay topic to all students. The teacher then differentiated by response when he marked and wrote comments on the pupils’ work. Wright (2007, p. 130) argues that differentiation by outcome is “a passive and inadequate approach”. Instead, Wright (2007, p. 130) suggests that “a range of tasks where pupils choose or are directed to appropriate levels is more robust”. That is what an observed Physics teacher does. When setting up the lab activities, different learners (selected based on the teachers’ assessment of the pupils strengths, preferences and capabilities) are given the choice of different tasks to perform in student centered labs. By catering individualized needs, the teacher maximizes the number of learners who are highly engaged in performing the tasks, making sure that learning is taking …show more content…
This is supported by Cohen et al who state that “the characteristics of children go beyond simply their preferences for learning and include, for example, their interests, self-concept, motivation, degree of autonomy” (2004, p. 137). Additionally, O’Brien and Guiney (2001 p. 11) argue that the diagnostic of learners’ performance come from very complex interactions and defines differentiation (p. 10) as concept that has to be seen in an inclusive way and applied to everyone. With this in mind, a Math teacher, who was observed teaching the top and the bottom groups (best English and weakest English), designed her lessons. Despite the fact that each group was relatively homogeneous in terms of English language ability, both were mixed ability groups in the characteristics described by Cohen et al (2004, p. 136). In both classes, the teacher was observed using a variety of differentiation strategies such as pair work, group work and peer evaluation. After setting tasks, the teacher was also observed to give more individualized attention to the weaker learners and more independency to the stronger ones. Additionally, when a student needed help at time that the teacher was busy helping another student, the teacher often assigned a stronger learner to help his/her peer. By having a stronger to help a
Effective teachers in a differentiated classroom have always considered their students’ uniqueness (i.e, academic needs, talents, interests, learning styles) in planning, teaching, and evaluating lessons. Tomlinson (1999) describes other features of this approach, among them the engagement of students through different learning modalities; each student’s competition with self; flexibility in various aspects of the school day; teacher as diagnostician; multiple ...
...hildren 's independent awareness, rather than the outcome of a grade. While the American students are increasingly more adaptive in social context, they are deprived the capability to function in a mostly intellectual environment. In China, however, the lack of individualism allegedly encourages a nation that supports the government and does not fight against the original social norms and values. Instead of trying to create a well-rounded student, the Chinese education system focused more on the intellectual ability of the student. With an overwhelming focus on the academic skills, the Chinese students may be lacking in the ability to speak and think for themselves. These two education systems are polar opposites, yet it is hard to decide whether one is better than the other. The verdict on which education system works more successfully, depends on the student alone.
The first question that I asked my host teacher during the interview was “What does it mean to you to differentiate your mathematics instruction?” She stated that she will begin by teaching the lesson as a whole group and when she is finished make sure the students understand before they leave to do anything independently. She will pull groups of students who she knows are not going to understand the material and gives students options. She will give them them the option to either stick around and work with her on the lesson being presented or go work independently. But, she will pull the students that she knows has trouble and forces them to stay with her to work on the lesson that is being taught. She says that often when having the students work independently she can see who understands the material and who does not. The last thing that she said about this topic is that she would rather get to the students before they wor...
Contemplating on the idea of differentiated classroom, it can be seen that it involves the collaborative attempt of both the teacher and students to create a classroom environment that embraces diversity and differences. With these differences, it helps create the realization towards finding new ways to improve the level of appreciation and learning of content. With these, it helps the educator determine the patterns or methods of instruction that can best apply and supplement the needs of students in the classroom. From this perspective, I do believe that this serves as an important foundation for shaping a differentiated classroom.
...rthermore, their verbal and comprehensive skills may be well-developed from either natural abilities and/or early exposure to a multitude of resources. In this same classroom are students who have little or no vocabulary - written or spoken - and lack the typical 5-year-old skill set. Between these extremes lies a realm of differing abilities. It is here where the educational structure needs to intervene: by providing pull out differentiation in small groups with specialist teachers who can challenge the accelerated students and with others who can address the lacking skills of the students in need. This separation of students with differing abilities would be for only part of the day, with all students coming together for large group instruction in other subjects, therefore blending ability tracking and whole group instruction to best meet the needs of all students.
Educational Theory is, according to Editor Chris Higgins, "an important forum for scholarship and debate in the foundations of education." First published in May of 1951, the journal is a bimonthly publication that seeks to promote and encourage the continuing development of educational theory, as well as a broad and effective discussion of theoretical problems within the educational profession. It also seeks to advance the development of educational theory within itself, and to address the wider issues of schools, politics, and society. As a future educator, the theories associated with my discipline, and the issues inherent in them, as they have changed over time and as they stand now, are of great interest and importance to me.
Differentiated Assessment is a process where teachers combine data and valuable information together before, during and after instruction takes place to create a strategic learning plan. “One of the major principles of differentiated instruction is that of making instructional choices in response to differences in student learning. It therefore stands to reason that teachers must be aware of what students are learning and how they are applying it in order to vary that in instruction. Even though teachers evaluate student learning with great regularity, most of these activities are conducted in order to produce grades, to place or sort students, or to document students’ progress on high-stakes exams, while these assessments have their place,
Education is a concept that is synonymous with anyone one that is living a good life. It is believed that in order to live a prosperous life that members of this society must first obtain a good college education. But how can education be considered a founding block of success when only the privileged enjoy the benefit of a proper education? A large percentage of undocumented immigrants arrive to this country because they want their kids to be able to attend a good school and receive a proper education but that is not always the case. Undocumented people arrive to this country with no money; therefore they are forced to live in low-income communities. As we have discussed in class, the schools in neighborhoods with low economic status are not as good
What is differentiated instruction? According to the book How to Teach Now: Five Keys to Personalized Learning in the Global Classroom, differentiated instruction is simply the customization, or personalization of instruction practiced by the teacher in order to captivate students that are at different levels in their learning process due to cultural, emotional, academic, gifts, gender, or social differences, but are all found in the same classroom (Powell & Powell, 2011).
IEP stands for Individualized Education Program. An IEP is a written document required for each child who is eligible to receive special education services. It is provided to a student who has been determined first to have a disability, and second, to need special education services because of that disability. An IEP is very important and should never be overlooked by anyone. The purpose of an IEP is to make sure that only students whose educational performance is affected by a disability receive special services. An individual program plan is designed to make sure that students get the kind of educational experience that they deserve; an experience that results in success. The end goals for students who are on an IEP are to be involved in
In today’s educational environment, all students expect to receive the same level of instruction from schools and all students must meet the same set of standards. Expectations for students with learning disabilities are the same as students without any learning difficulties. It is now unacceptable for schools or teachers to expect less from one segment of students because they have physical disabilities, learning disabilities, discipline problems, or come from poor backgrounds. Standardize testing has resulted in making every student count as much as their peers and the most positive impact has been seen with the lowest ability students. Schools have developed new approaches to reach these previously underserved students while maintaining passing scores for the whole student body. To ensure academic success, teachers employ a multi-strategy approach to develop students of differing abilities and backgrounds. Every student is different in what skills and experiences they bring to the classroom; their personality, background, and interests are as varied as the ways in which teachers can choose to instruct them. Differentiated instruction has been an effective method in which teachers can engage students of various backgrounds and achieve whole-class success. When using differentiated instruction, teachers develop lesson strategies for each student or groups of students that provide different avenues of learning but all avenues arrive at the same learning goal.
Therefore the teacher proactively plans a variety of ways to ‘get at’ and express learning” (Tomlinson, 2001, p. 3). Planning for a variety of teaching strategies does not mean giving more work to the smart children. Instead the teacher must assess who understands the material, who is struggling, who needs to be challenged and decide what or how to teach the students from there (Tomlinson, 2001). Differentiation should occur naturally and involve individual, class and group work to allow for the differences in all students and all subjects of study (Tomlinson, 2001). Probably the most important aspect of differentiation is the idea of challenging all learners at their level instead of giving extra work to those students whom learn the concepts quickly.
Furthermore it is important for teachers to differentiate instruction in the classroom; this facilitates student achievement and preparation for international competiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access (Conklin, 2010 ). Differentiated instruction is demonstrated in...
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
What I mean by this is, if you give a child curriculum that is at a level he or she has not yet reached, it will be very difficult for them to succeed even if they are assisted. An example of this with physical development is if you want a child to paint a picture with a paint brush of "what they see in the sky." However, if this child has yet to master his fine motor skills with holding and pinching things, this would be very difficult for them to accomplish. Rather, if you ask this same child to please paint a picture of "what you see in the sky" but via finger painting then this child will have a better chance at succeeded then building on his skills to eventually reach using a paint brush. On the social development spectrum, you may see this with the group and solo activities. If a child is only on the solitary play level, then requiring them to work on a project or in a big group may bring about challenges. Since this child has yet to really develop socially in a large group, he or she may be too shy and timid to really show his full potential in the group setting. Since all development builds on prior skills and levels of development, it is essential that when selecting curricula to make sure that it is at the right level and either accomplishable by the child alone or with the use of