Differentiated Learning - An Instructional Strategy for ALL Students

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One of my goals as a future educator is to target all of my students fairly and effectively so that they will all have the same chance to achieve their goals. As seen in this common comic regarding the education system above, we can see that students have different needs and that having one specific way of teaching and assessing our students is unrealistic and sets some students up for failure.

Differentiated Learning (also known as different instruction) is defined as a way of instructing that strives to adapt teaching to target the varying needs, learning styles, and readiness of each student in a classroom (Drake, Reid & Kolohon, 2014). In simpler terms, differentiated learning ensures that all students, regardless of their learning ability/level, their interest or their way of learning, can take part in and understand the content that is being taught in the classroom.

As a future educator, and from being a student myself, I understand that everyone learns differently. There are visual learners (who learn by seeing information), there are auditory learners (who learn best when hearing information), and there are kinaesthetic learners (who learn by doing), to name a few. I have learned over the years that I am a visual learner, and that I learn by best when I can physically see information. Many students may be like this, but it is important to remember that not all students learn this one way. Teachers have to be aware and sensitive to the varying ways in which their students learn. Through differentiated instruction, a teacher must be aware of these differences and gear his/her curriculum and instructional methods to meet those varying needs.  

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According to Drake et al. (2014), there are four broad categories for educators to consider when they are designing lesson plans in a differentiated learning classroom. These four include cognitive, intellectual, group orientation, and environmental categories. They state that it is important to consider how each student thinks and learns and to use research-based instructional strategies, for example project based learning that I discussed in my previous blog. Teachers must remember that students have a preferred learning style, that students thrive in certain environments, and how a student works independently or with others (Drake et al., 2014). I believe that this is a solid way of remembering that your students are individuals who have individual needs. In a classroom of 25+ children, it is impossible to teach them all individually, and so we as educators need to incorporate multiple forms of conveying and teaching information into our lesson plans.

The following video is a quirky and informative piece that helps describe what differentiated instruction is in simple terms that we can all understand. I found this video to be quite engaging and therefore I wanted to share it with you. J

From this clip we learn that there are 3 important pieces of the puzzle to consider: content (what you are teaching), process (how you teach it), and product (what students do/make with the information). Teachers must remember that even though there is a curriculum to follow, we can always change it up in the way that we deliver the information to our students.

Studies have shown that by using differentiated instruction we can increase student success (Morgan, 2014). This article highlights the many benefits of incorporating this strategy in a classroom. For example, it discusses the role of technology in student’s lives and how we need to be aware that it has opened up many other ways of learning for our students. Technology and related programs have the ability to target student interest and special needs.

As I come across educational resources I try and save them so that I will be able to access them in the future. Here is a great site for lesson plans and other resources in regards to teaching through differentiated instruction.  I hope that you enjoyed this post and that you learned a thing or two about differentiated learning. Happy teaching!

~Morgan Parker~

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References

Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom

Assessment: Engaging the 21^st Century Learner. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University

Press.

Morgan, H. (2014). Maximizing Student Success with Differentiated Learning. Clearing House, 87(1), 34-

38.