Differentiated Instruction: Teaching Learners with Varying Abilities - Assignment Example

Differentiated Instruction: Teaching Learners with Varying Abilities Introduction The interviewee is an English teacher at a middle school. She has also worked with elementary schools in various parts of South Carolina. Rebecca O’Connor has been in a range of conferences on differentiated instruction and has also written articles on the practice in her district editorials. She has even spoken in some of the educational conferences. This person was ideal for the interview because she has applied differentiated instruction in three different schools at various grade levels. Rebecca O’Connor is a full time teacher and mother of two children. She has been married for fifteen years and has dealt with students with divergent needs. Her experience in this line started after graduation when she got her first job in elementary school. She now has a master’s in education and is working on her doctoral program. 1. What is your understanding of differentiated instruction? 2. Why do you think teachers need to use such an approach? 3. How have teachers utilized strategies for application of this method of teaching? 4. In what ways do you prepare for the use of this educational strategy? 5. What are some common myths surrounding differentiated instruction? 6. How can educators make challenges attainable in class? 7. Have you found challenges in pre-service training, and if so, what kind? 8. Please clarify ways in which learning styles have influenced the way you apply differentiated instruction. 9. Kindly elaborate on some problems encountered with categorizing students and explain how you solved them. 10. How much differentiation is practically possible in a classroom? Transcript Interviewer: What is your understanding of differentiated instruction? Interviewee: Differentiated instruction is a teaching approach in which educators structure the classroom environment to meet divergent needs and abilities of students. This may sometimes be based on their language mastery or their social and family background. Alternatively it could be on the basis of the knowledge they have about the subject matter or their attitude towards learning. Some students may have greater experiences in education than others. Interviewer: Why do you think teachers need to use such an approach? Interviewee: Educators need this approach because they are supposed to inculcate the same skills and concepts to their students yet each of them has different interests and abilities. Therefore, instead of using the least common denominator for each class, one can structure one’s instructions to match every student’s needs (Little et. al., 2009). I believe that learning only occurs when a match exists between the curriculum and the divergent needs of its students; differentiated instruction is the best way to achieve this difference. Interviewer: How have teachers utilized strategies for application of this method of teaching? Interviewee: Three key strategies are available in the literature: differentiation based on process, content and product. Product strategies often involve assessments, assignments and projects. Here, an educator uses various assessments and performances depending on the needs of their students. Projects need to be based on the students’ capabilities and assessments should be interactive. Process strategies involve tailoring activities and materials in the class on the basis of learners’ abilities. Flexible groupings are just some of the methods used to interact with them. Finally, I would say that content strategies involve using divergent delivery methods in order to enhance learning. Interviewer: In what ways do you prepare for the use of this educational strategy? Interviewee: First, understand your students. Know exactly where they lie through informal and informal methods like their performance in tests and interest in class. Then determine their learning preferences as well as interests especially on topical issues. After understanding one’s students, pick parts of the curriculum that can be differentiated. By identifying skills and principles in the curriculum one should establish different activities that can be done in class at different levels of difficulty. One needs different plans for space and time at work (Tomlinson, 2003). Interviewer: What are some common myths surrounding differentiated instruction? Interviewee: It is interesting that you asked that question. I have found that most educators think that differentiated instruction means creating different lesson plans for every student, yet this is simply not true. Some believe that the approach actually neutralizes the curriculum and fails to challenge others. Others even think that this is a way of extracting too much from teachers. I have heard others say that it pushes teachers to use misguided instructions or methods that do not work. Interviewer: How can educators make challenges attainable in class? Interviewee: They need to tell students what standards they will use to assess achievement such as accuracy, cooperation, or skills integration. This way, learners will know what to work towards. Further, task difficulty should match individuals’ readiness levels. Teachers should create a culture of analysis by getting many responses from students and asking them to assess the effectiveness of each answer (Willoughby, 2000). Interviewer: Have you found challenges in training, and if so, what kind? Interviewee: Indeed; when I started differentiated instruction, I did not get as much support as I had expected. I also struggled to find materials needed for planning and implementation of the strategy. Some of the things they taught us in university were not related to my classroom experiences and do need some revisions. I found it so difficult to adapt my teaching methods to learners’ abilities because we did not practice enough of these approaches in university. Interviewer: Please clarify ways in which learning styles have influenced the way you apply differentiated instruction. Interviewee: I know my answer will surprise you but I actually do not abide by learning styles. I do believe that every child has their preferred learning method, but literature is conflicted on whether learning styles should be meshed with how they process information. Even experts on the subject cannot agree on a valid definition of learning styles, so this only forms a small portion of my teaching practice (Kingore, 2004). Interviewer: Kindly elaborate on some problems encountered with categorizing students and explain how you solved them. Interviewee: I struggled with methods for assessing a child’s strengths. Sometimes formal methods would tell the whole story. Furthermore, I was conflicted on whether to focus on their weaknesses or strengths. I solved this problem by focusing on knowing my students. Students will excel in situations that suit them, so by varying assignments and tasks, it was possible to know where to place them. I focused on strengths and weaknesses only when they related to the task at hand. Interviewer: How much differentiation is practically possible in a classroom? Interviewee: That is a difficult question to answer because different classes will demand different levels of differentiation. As long as an educator gives learning options and different ways to take in skills and concepts, then they are fine. I often think of my students as advanced, at the middle and slow in each topic area. Then, I structure instruction on this basis; sometimes it may not be practical to deal with all the individuals in a class. Conclusion The interview played a significant role in dispelling myths about differentiated instruction. It indicated that learning styles and education strategies may not always mesh. Additionally, one need not try to make lesson plans for each individual. Focus should be on general categories like advanced or slow and how to challenge each of these students. The key thing is first to know learners before one can tailor teaching towards them. References Kingore, B. (2004). Differentiation: Simplified, realistic and effective. Austin: Professional Associates Publishing. Little, C., Hauser, S. and Corbishley, J. (2009). Constructing complexity for differentiated learning. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 15(1), 34-42. Tomlinson, C. (2003). Fulfilling the promise of the differentiated classroom: Strategies and tools for responsive teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Willoughby, J. (2000). Differentiated Instruction: Meeting students where they are, teaching today. NY: McGraw-Hill. Read More