Differentiated Education

Differentiated Education

Introduction

Differentiated education is an approach teachers use to evaluate the level of readiness and preparedness in students before they design a lesson plan. Differentiated education benefits so many students including those with learning disabilities. In the differentiated approach, teachers may engage students using the same material for teaching but different instructional strategies. Moreover, a teacher may deliver various lessons at varying difficulty level based on the student’s ability. On this regard, the various approaches to differentiated education could be explicitly demonstrated in the interview with the teachers. In these interviews, multiple questions were objectively designed to help arrive at shedding light on the differentiated education.

The respondents in this interview were two teachers both male and female (Mr Brooks and Mrs Leila) who handle students at various levels. The interviewees where the right resource persons who could give a good account of this type of education. The ideas and thoughts from the interviewees were well represented in the interview reports, which were later utilized in group and class discussions. The core of the interview was concerned with the various ways and strategies to execute differentiated education given multiple types of students in a class set up. Some of the significant interview questions sought answers for the definition of differentiated education, examples of how to differentiate instructions in a lesson, the accommodation of the gifted students, and the aspect of an inclusive classroom.       

Analysis

The definition of differentiated education according to the responses from the interview did not vary that much. Mrs. Leila defined differentiated instruction as a method through which teachers tailor their teaching approaches to match the different learning styles of students (Reis & Renzulli, 2010). According to Mr. Brooks, differentiated education is an approach in teaching, which involves giving students choices about how they want to learn. The students should be able to demonstrate this learning even in the outside classroom environment. All the response from the two teachers elucidated on giving priority to the student when it comes to the learning styles and strategies. When asked about how each of them would differentiate instruction in a lesson, Mr. Brooks suggested that differentiated instruction in class is based on four significant ways. These ways include differentiating education in terms of content, product, process, and considering the learning environment (Tulbure, 2011). Similarly, Mrs. Leila mentioned that differentiating instruction would be done by designing suitable lesson plans based on the learning styles of the students. Additionally, she would practice differentiated education by grouping students based on their interests then performing a formative assessment on the students.

The effective differentiated strategy calls for effective accommodation of all the students in that class. Students have different talents, abilities, and gifts, which need to be natured all together by an experienced teacher (Reis & Renzulli, 2010). Mr. Brooks mentioned that challenging the gifted learners using effective strategies is key to their personal development. Mr Brooks suggested offering the most challenging task first then offering a pre-test for the volunteers. He would enable the gifted students to work together and plan for their tiered learning. Mrs. Leila also mentioned giving the most challenging task first to the students. The gifted students may not need fifty sums when they can handle only five most difficult of them all to demonstrate their mastery of the subject. Mrs Leila mentions that if the gifted students work together, they would be able to sharpen the other members of the class through inductive learning.

Students learn at different pace, which can be challenging for any teacher (Tulbure, 2011). To manage students with varying abilities of reading, Mr Brooks said that it is essential to empower the culture of reading in every child. Managing a class with mixed reading ability calls for the teacher to engage even those students who may be deemed unfit for reading tasks through effective empowerment. The empowerment will invoke the reading culture in students, and consequently, they will develop the interest to read several stories and scripts. A reading clinic is a strategy which was suggested by Mrs Leila. In this strategy, the teacher will learn to know what each student knows concerning useful reading, which helps in the development of their reading skills and abilities. Both teachers mentioned that inclusive classrooms are critical to the child’s overall improvement. In this setup, the general education, and special education teachers work towards meeting the needs of the students (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2010). Therefore, such classes give individual education students the support they need and consequently removes unnecessary restrictions. According to Mrs Leila, students in such types of classrooms benefit from the supportive techniques used in the class.

The students in a classroom set-up need the same attention from their teachers regardless of their culture, or race (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2010). One of the questions in the interview was the definition of a culturally relevant pedagogy, which teachers can emulate in their daily practice in cases of handling students from diverse cultures. Mrs Leila asserted that a culturally appropriate pedagogy is a teaching pedagogy focused on the success of the students, and their cultural competence. On the other hand, Mr Brooks said that it’s a form of teaching, which integrates the background knowledge of the student concerning classroom work. Students from across all cultures including the non-English speaking require teachers who have competent skills in handling a mixed ability classroom (Reis & Renzulli, 2010). Mr Brooks recognizes the use of visual aids, avoiding long lessons, and avoiding the use of complex English to assist the non-English speaking students in their learning process.

Reflection and Conclusion

This interview was one of the most educative interviews to teachers on how best they can handle a class with a mixed ability. Classrooms just like in our society consist of individuals with different skills, and gifts which must be harnessed for a better teaching and learning outcome. Teachers need to understand their students’ abilities as well as their cultural backgrounds to design effective lesson plans, which will help the students in handling such classes. The interview provides a blueprint for any aspiring teacher, or those who are already teachers but have difficulties in managing classes with mixed abilities. Through their answers, Mr Brooks and Mrs Leila demonstrated their various abilities, and ways through which they handle their students from different backgrounds and cultures. The interview presented various differentiated education approaches which help in the learning processes in and out of the classroom. Teachers who consider practicing differentiation in the classroom may have to design lessons based on the learning styles of the students. They may also group students based on their shared interests and their ability on various subjects. Continuous assessment for such students is essential in determining the various steps and adjustments they have made towards academic excellence.