Understanding differentiation
1
Quote - Henry David Thoreau
If a man does not keep pace with his
companions, perhaps it is because
he hears a different drummer.
2
Brain research confirms what experienced
teachers have always known:
No two children are alike.
No two children learn in the identical way.
An enriched environment for one student is
not necessarily enriched for another.
In the classroom we should teach children
to think for themselves.
3
What is Differentiation?
Differentiated instruction, also called differentiation,
is a process through which teachers enhance
learning by matching student characteristics to
instruction and assessment.
Differentiated instruction allows all students to
access the same classroom curriculum by
providing entry points, learning tasks, and
outcomes that are tailored to students' needs
(Hall, Strangman, & Meyer, 2003).
Differentiated instruction is not a single strategy, but
rather an approach to instruction that incorporates a
variety of strategies.
4
Access Centre, 2004
What is Differentiation?
Differentiated instruction is responsive instruction.
It occurs as teachers become:
increasingly proficient in understanding their
students as individuals,
increasingly comfortable with the meaning and
structure of the disciplines they teach, and
increasingly expert at teaching flexibility in order to
match instruction to student need with the goal of
maximizing the potential of each learner in a given
area.
Carol Ann Tomlinson, 2003
5
Key principles that support differentiation …
1. A differentiated classroom is flexible.
2. Differentiation of instruction stems from effective
and ongoing assessment of learner needs.
3. Flexible grouping helps ensure student access to
a wide variety of learning opportunities and
working arrangements.
4. All students consistently work with “respectful”
activities and learning arrangements.
5. Students and teachers are collaborators in
learning.
Tomlinson & Allan (2000)
6
Differentiation of Instruction
Is a teacher’s response to a
learner’s needs
Guided by general principles of differentiation,
such as
Respectful
tasks
7
Flexible
grouping
Ongoing
assessment &
adjustment
Flexible grouping: A definition
Flexible grouping is an instructional strategy
where students are grouped together to
receive appropriately challenging instruction.
True flexible grouping permits students to
move in and out of various grouping patterns,
depending on the course content.
Grouping can be determined by ability, size,
and/or interest.
www.nagc.org/index.aspx
8
When I think of flexible grouping, I picture
working with sand castles
that the tide will wash away.
I think of ability-grouping as working
with concrete to build permanent foundations
meant to withstand change.
Opitz, Michael (2005)
Empowering the reader in every child:
The case for flexible grouping when teaching reading
9
Flexible Grouping
What is it?
• Grouping based on
formative assessment
• Short periods of time
• Targeted instructional
strategy
• Formative assessment
used to determine
effectiveness
• Groups will vary
•
Fluid.
10
What is it not?
• Permanent
• Same instruction as
large group
• Tracking
• Extra work
• Repetitive worksheets
• Round Robin reading
• Drill, drill, drill.
Flexible grouping
is the heart of
differentiated
instruction.
Heacox, Diane (2001) Differentiating
instruction in the regular classroom
11
Teachers can differentiate:
Content
Process
Product
Learning
environment
according to students’
readiness
interests
learning profile
through a range of instructional and management
strategies…
12
Examples of differentiating CONTENT
Using manipulatives with some, but not all, learners to help
students understand a new idea.
Using texts or novels at more than one reading level.
Presenting information through both whole-to-part and
part-to-whole approaches.
Using a variety of reading-buddy arrangements to support
and challenge students working with text materials.
Re-teaching students who need another demonstration, or
exempting students who already demonstrate mastery from
reading a chapter or from sitting through a re-teaching
session.
Using texts, computer programs, tape recorders, and
videos as a way of conveying key concepts to varied
learners.
13
Tomlinson, 2002
Ways to differentiate PROCESS
Using tiered activities - different levels of support, challenge,
or complexity;
Providing interest centers;
Providing choice when responding to a task;
Developing personal agendas (task list that addresses
individual needs of learners) ;
Offering manipulatives or other hands-on supports; and
Varying the length of time a student may take to complete a
task in order to provide additional support for a struggling
learner or to encourage an advanced learner to pursue a
topic in greater depth.
Tomlinson, 2000
14
Ways to differentiate PRODUCT
Allow students to help design products around essential
learning goals.
Encourage students to express what they have learned in
varied ways.
Allow for varied working arrangements (for example,
working alone or as part of a team to complete the product).
Provide or encourage use of varied types of resources in
preparing products.
Provide product assignments at varying degrees of
difficulty to match student readiness.
Use a wide variety of kinds of assessments.
Work with students to develop rubrics of quality that allow
for demonstration of both whole-class and individual goals
Tomlinson, 2000
15
Ways to differentiate the LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Making sure there are places in the room to work
quietly and without distraction, as well as places that
invite student collaboration;
Providing materials that reflect a variety of cultures
and home settings;
Setting out clear guidelines for independent work that
matches individual needs;
Developing routines that allow students to get help
when teachers are busy with other students and cannot
help them immediately; and
Helping students understand that some learners need
to move around to learn, while others do better sitting
quietly.
16
Tomlinson, 20
Ways to adjust for student readiness
Adjusting the degree of difficulty of a task to provide an
appropriate level of challenge.
Adding or removing teacher or peer coaching, use of
manipulatives, or presence or absence of models for a
task. Teacher and peer coaching are known as
scaffolding because they provide a framework or a
structure that supports student thought and work.
Making the task more or less familiar based on the
proficiency of the learner's experiences or skills for the
task.
Varying direct instruction by small-group need.
Tomlinson, 2002
17
Scaffolding
Definition:
Support that teachers provide
temporarily to assist learners
to develop new understandings,
new concepts, and
new abilities.
As the learners develop control
of these, teachers withdraw
their support.
Hammond, J., & Gibbons. P. (2001).
18
Ways to differentiate in response to student interest
Using adults or peers with prior knowledge to serve
as mentors in an area of shared interest.
Providing a variety of avenues for student
exploration of a topic or expression of learning.
Providing broad access to a wide range of materials
and technologies.
Giving students a choice of tasks and products,
including student-designed options.
Encouraging investigation or application of key
concepts and principles in student interest areas.
Tomlinson, 2002
19
Ways to differentiate in response to student
learning profile
Creating a learning environment with flexible spaces
and learning options.
Presenting information through auditory, visual, and
kinesthetic modes.
Encouraging students to explore information and
ideas through auditory, visual, and kinesthetic modes.
Allowing students to work alone or with peers.
Ensuring a choice of competitive, cooperative, and
independent learning experiences.
Balancing varied perspectives on an issue or topic.
Providing authentic learning opportunities in various
intelligence or talent areas.
20
Tomlinson, 2002
It’s not new
Each time you
provide a student with extra help,
more time, or a modified
assignment, you’re differentiating
instruction.
All good teachers, whether they
realise it or not, differentiate to
some degree.
Diane Heacox, 2001
21
G
You cannot discover
new oceans unless
you have the courage
You
cannotsight
discover new
oceans
to
lose
of
the
unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.
shore.
Bibliography
Access Center. (2004). Differentiated Instruction for Reading.
Washington D.C.: Author
Hammond, J. & Gibbons, P. (2001) What is scaffolding?
Scaffolding: teaching and learning in language and literacy
education, Primary English Teaching Association (PETA),
Sydney.
Heacox, Diane (2001) Differentiating instruction in the regular
classroom
Opitz, M. (2005) Empowering the reader in every child: The
case for flexible grouping when teaching reading.
Tomlinson, C. (1999). The differentiated classroom:
Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
23
Bibliography (2)
Tomlinson, C. A. (2001) How to differentiate instruction in mixed
ability classrooms, Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development, Alexandria, Virginia, USA.
Tomlinson, C. A.& Allan, S.D. (2002) Leadership for Differentiating
Schools & Classrooms
Tomlinson, C. A. (2003). Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated
Classroom. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development.
24