Teaching to Diversity in Modern Classrooms

An Inquiry Project
By: Stephanie Winters
Please take a moment to fill out the front side of your hand-out.
Why Differentiated Instruction as an Inquiry topic??
Todays classrooms are filled with diverse learners who differ not only culturally and
linguistically but also in their cognitive abilities, background knowledge, and learning
preferences. Differentiated instruction could help improve the teaching culture by allowing
instructors to better adapt to heterogenous student groups.

I make my permanent residence in a rural, coastal community called Port Renfrew. It is a
town with a population of under 300 year round residents, and a K-5 elementary school with
less that 40 students. I volunteer at Port Renfrew Elementary and my goal is to eventually
teach there.

Also, I have been placed in a 2/3 split at a semi-rural school for my 2013 practicum.




Port
Renfrew

At Port Renfrew Elementary, sometimes the entire student body is taught
together, and sometimes they are divided into K-1-2 and a 3-4-5 classes

My sponsor class is comprised of grade twos and grade threes
&
Educators face a wide spectrum of abilities in any classroom today.

considerations like these led me to identify my central inquiry question:



In an article entitled Differentiated Instruction,
Tracy Huebner gives a widely accepted definition
for differentiated instruction from the National
Center on Accessing the General Curriculum:

a process to approach teaching and learning for
students of differing abilities in the same class.
The intent is to maximize each students growth
and individual success by meeting each student
where he or she israther than expecting students
to modify themselves for the curriculum.


Huebner also found that differentiated instruction constantly yielded positive
results, enabling students from gifted in ability to those with mild and severe
disabilities.
She explains that teachers usually differentiate instruction by adjusting one of the
following: the content (what students are learning,) the process (how
students learn,) or the product (how students demonstrate their knowledge.)
Huebner classifies guiding principles to support differentiated classroom practices:
- Focus on essential ideas and skills of the content area.
- Respond to individual student differences: teach to their zone of proximal
development (Vygotsky,) learning style, prior knowledge and interests.
- Group students flexibly (according to interest, topic, or ability.)
- Integrate ongoing and meaningful assessments with instruction.
- Continually assess; reflect; and adjust content, process, and product.


They define DI as an approach that enables teachers to plan
strategically to meet the needs of every student essentially the same
as previously mentioned.

Looking specifically at rural schools in areas with dwindling
populations- where classes include an increasing number of grades and
levels of ability. They describe many of the same characteristics for
differentiation of instruction as in the previous article, with a specific
emphasis on formative assessment.

Smit and Humpert have created a model for teachers which illustrates
two main tasks: planning differentiated lessons and assisting groups of
students while they work on individual or group tasks. Both
components rely on formative assessment strategies- allowing teachers
to modify instruction in an ongoing manner.

Description of the components:
Attitude: The teacher has a more constructivist view of learning
Content: The proximal educational goals must be aligned with the prior knowledge and learning profiles of the
individual students or groups of students being taught
Process/products: Tasks must be aligned with these individual goals and student interests, and they must be
structured to allow students to work at their own pace.
Communication/collaboration/coaching: The teacher supports the students learning processes by monitoring the
students and providing descriptive feedback
Formative assessment: DI is intertwined with formative assessment described as the process used by teachers
and students to recognize and respond to student learning in order to enhance that learning, during the learning




Increasingly in Canada, elementary teachers are expected to take the primary role
in accelerating the literacy skills of struggling students, a shift from the previous
reliance upon special education teachers

Through differentiating instruction, teachers can create different levels of
expectation for environment and task completion leading to feelings of success for
all learners.

Examples of differentiating in language arts include:
- using reading materials at varying levels;
-using literacy centers with varied tasks designed to match students readiness,
interests and/or preferred modes of learning; and
-meeting in small groups to re-teach an idea or skill












They discuss the importance of using a variety of organizational formats and
flexible grouping such as reading partners, teacher-led one-to-one, small group
or independent instruction and arrangements vs. entire-group, teacher led
instruction.



This study focuses on the role of teacher education in preparing student
teachers for differentiated instruction in particular, through congruent teaching.


Teacher education is blamed for insufficiently preparing teachers for the harsh
and complex realities of daily teaching practice : an answer to the problem of
differentiated instruction in education may be found in the principle of
congruent teaching in which a teacher educator seeks to align his own
pedagogical behaviour to the behaviour he wants to encourage in student
teachers.

Congruent teaching is almost synonymous with familiar slogans like teach as you
preach and walk your talk.



Ways to Differentiate:
1) Presentation How is it taught? Teacher or student centered?
-whole class instruction
-small group instruction
-stations
-co-operative groups
2) Process- How is it done?
-traditional pencil/ paper
-co-operative groups
-stations
-compacting (pre-assess for prior knowledge, skip ahead if possible)
-independent contracts
-choice opportunities
3) Product: How to demonstrate knowledge?
-traditional assessments (with varying individual expectations)
-written reports/ papers
-art/ video projects/ oral reports/ presentations
-power point presentations
-skits/ songs/ dances

How to Manage Differentiation:
1) Preparation: Decide WHAT to teachcontent, standards, outcomes & pre-
assess to determine individual existing knowledge, needs
-materials
-directions
-noise levels
-room arrangement & student monitoring
-student movement
2) Expectations: Establish and MAINTAIN
-behaviour norms
-accountability at the individual and group levels
-assess and reflect
Remember to START SMALL, and
DO IT WELL!!!