DIFFERENTIATIONPocketbook

By Peter Anstee

Cartoons:Phil Hailstone

3D i f f e r e n t i a t i o n P o c k e t b o o k

C o n t e n t sWhyDifferentiate?

Page

Ability,Potential andDifference

StructuringLearning

RefiningLearning

Groups andGrouping

Challenge and Support

Assessmentand Feedback

What is differentiation?, why does it matter?, what arethe benefits?, individual learners, creating ‘flow’

Where to begin, understanding ability, developing ability andpotential, stretch and support, Vygotsky and the ZPD, differentiatingfor different kinds of student, catering for individual interests

Differentiating via curriculum, outcome, task and resource,starting points and objectives, starters, plenaries and thinking skills

Differentiating through pace, choice and negotiation, developingquestioning techniques and modelling, dialogue and language

The role of setting, differentiating through diverse groups andgroup work strategies, from rainbows and triads to hats andguided learning

Achieving the right balance, types of support and how to usethem, differentiating via extension, enrichment and display

Differentiating by assessment mode, effective feedback andtarget-setting, developing self-assessment, success and failure

Developing differentiation, labels, individuals, climbingmountains, further information

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And Finally

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9W h y D i f f e r e n t i a t e ?

A definition – or two

The dictionary reveals two relevant definitions of the word differentiate:

• To distinguish or show the difference between

• To make different by alteration or modification

The second sense will have more resonance with teachers – differentiation is, inessence: modifying a lesson or parts of it for one, some or all of the learners.

The first sense is also pertinent to education. Much as the markings on animals helpus to tell them apart, we can differentiate between students on the basis of theirprior attainment, learning preferences, target grade, skills, special needs, etc.Modern teachers and schools have a great deal of knowledge about their chargesand are highly adept at differentiating between students (identifying the differencesbetween them). However, it is so much more significant when we differentiate forstudents (modify classroom provision to accommodate them).

The ‘distinguishing’ information is useful, but true differentiation should enable,not label.

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W h y D i f f e r e n t i a t e ? 10

Why does differentiation matter?

Differentiation matters because children and their learning matter. Few teacherswould disagree with this; yet (according to inspection reports and academic research)well planned and effective differentiation remains remarkably elusive.

Why might this be?

Because there is such a focus on standards,accountability and following schemes ofwork that teachers are being less creative?

Because of the dearth ofpractical guidance ondifferentiation strategiesand how to use them?

Why might this be?

Because very few teachers were ever trained to use a rangeof different strategies?

Because the workload of teachers means thatthey simply do not have time to pause toreflect on the strategies that they use?

Because setting and streaming lead teachersinto the trap of thinking of their classes ashomogeneous groups?

Because teachers are so conscious of covering thecurriculum with all students that they providethem all with the same learning experiences?

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11W h y D i f f e r e n t i a t e ?

But don’t believe everything you read …

...There are many, many classrooms where differentiation is commonplace.

These students are not squeezed into a ‘one size fits all’ mould. They are activeparticipants in their learning with the teacher as leader, not instructor.

Enter many primaryclassrooms to find a highly

sophisticated form of organisedchaos. Students with a wide range of

skills, often from different yeargroups, are undertaking varied tasks.They work individually, in pairs or ingroups; they access help when theyneed it; once finished they begin the

next task.

Enter many secondary classrooms to find exemplary practicewhere students negotiate individual

tasks, where diverse group workstrategies involve all learners in waysthat suit their aptitudes and needs;

where resources are adapted tosupport and challenge differentlearners and where assessment

informs individual target setting.

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W h y D i f f e r e n t i a t e ? 12

The benefits

Smooth-running lessons that accommodate a wide range of individual needsrequire planning, the kind of creative, student-focused planning that reminds you whyyou became a teacher in the first place. Just as motivated, inspired students completework more quickly and to a higher standard, teachers who liberate themselves to plancreatively experience the buzz that only teaching can bring.

The reward lies in focusing on students and their learning, the best ways in which toengage them and get the best from them, ...and then seeing their response. Theteacher ceases to be a deliverer of content and behaviour manager and becomes afacilitator and guide in students’ learning.

And with that come:

Qualitylearning

Better student motivation

Better student behaviour

Greater progress

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13W h y D i f f e r e n t i a t e ?

Each child is different; each learner is different

Learners come to us with different:

Thus, students have different starting pointsand different skills in relation to a task and willlearn in varied styles and at varied paces.

Differentiation aims to take account of thesedifferences and provide the best way forwardfor each child.

• Life experiences

• Language skills

• Talents

• Attitudes

• Learning skills

• Confidence levels

• Prior knowledge

• Commitment

• Ways of learning

• Degrees of home support

• Social skills

• Likes and dislikes

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W h y D i f f e r e n t i a t e ? 14

Progress

Thus, to engage, motivate

and get the bestfrom each student,differentiation is

at the core ofgood teaching.

Effective provisionmust build fromthe point whereeach studentcurrently is andhelp them tomove towardswhere they could be.

Providing thesame forevery studentcannotachieve this.

Any judgement ofthe quality ofteaching is basedon individualstudents makingappropriateprogress, ie onlearners learning.

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15W h y D i f f e r e n t i a t e ?

Flow

Psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi used the term ‘flow’ to indicatethe state we can reach, in any aspect of life, where we become absorbed in achallenging task and our progress brings personal fulfilment and the motivation tocontinue to a new challenge and further progress.

In education, this occurs where the level of challenge for anindividual student is balanced with them possessing the rightskills and receiving appropriate support to meet that challengesuccessfully. This maximises learning, or creates ‘flow’, since asCsikszentmihalyi writes:

When goals are clear, feedback relevant, andchallenges and skills are in balance, attentionbecomes ordered and fully invested.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Finding Flow (1997)

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127F u r t h e r I n f o r m a t i o n

About the author

Peter Anstee Peter has taught in comprehensive schools in Essex for over 15years. Having led a highly successful English Faculty in his currentschool for 7 years, he was then given whole school responsibilityfor improving the achievement of the more able and for leadingon the development of teaching and learning.

Peter has run training courses on fast-tracking and on ICT inEnglish. He has led whole-school INSET sessions in every school he

has worked in, on subjects including underachievement in Year 8, independentlearning, student motivation and differentiation.

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