Lecture 4

The Teacher in a
Differentiated Classroom
• The teacher’s role in a differentiated classroom
• Learning to lead a differentiated classroom
• Guidelines for differentiated instruction
The teacher’s role in a differentiated
classroom
• When teachers differentiate instruction, they
move away from seeing themselves as keepers
and dispensers of knowledge and move toward
seeing themselves as collaborators with students
and organisers of learning opportunities.
• While content knowledge remains important,
they focus less on knowing all the answers and
more on “reading” and guiding their students.
• They work persistently to understand their
students’ cultures, backgrounds, interests,
strengths, and needs.
• Equipped with this insight, they can partner with
students to create learning paths that both
capture students’ attention and lead to enhanced
comprehension.
Teachers who differentiate
instruction focus on their
role as coach or mentor,
give students as much
responsibility for learning
as they can handle, and
FULFIL YOUR
consistently teach them to POTENTIAL
handle a little more.
These teachers grow in their ability to

assess student readiness through a variety

of means
elicit and interpret student clues about
interests and learning preferences
create a variety of ways students can
interact with information and ideas
These teachers grow in their ability to

develop varied ways students can explore

and “own” ideas

present varied channels through which

students can express and expand
understandings
Differentiation calls on a teacher to
realise that classrooms must be
places where teachers pursue
understandings of compelling
teaching and learning every day
and to remember that no practice
is truly best practice unless it works
for a particular learner.
The teacher maintains high expectations
• Sets clearly articulated high expectations for self and students.
• Stresses student responsibility and accountability.
• Sets challenging goals.
The teacher creates a positive, invitational learning
environment
• Demonstrates a high level of respect and caring for all students.
• Displays keen interest in and concern about the students’ lives
outside school.
• Shows concern for students’ emotional and physical well-being.
• Exhibits active listening.
• Prevents situations in which a student loses peer respect.
• Knows students’ interests both in and out of school.
The teacher creates a positive, invitational learning
environment
• Values what students say.
• Interacts in fun, playful manner; jokes when appropriate.
• Maintains a low-anxiety classroom.
• Stresses peer collaboration and cooperation rather than
competition.
• Encourages high classroom cohesion.
• Does not label students.
The teacher engages students in learning
• Shows joy for the content material.
• Takes pleasure in teaching.
• Links instruction to real-life contexts of the students.
The teacher teaches for success
• Orients the classroom experience toward improvement and
growth.
• Focuses on ensuring students have appropriate skills to feel in
charge of their learning.
• Creates situations for all students to succeed.
• Incorporates small-group learning with materials and tasks
appropriate for the group.
• Uses varied teaching strategies.
• Balances variety and challenge in student activities.
The teacher engages in reflective practice
• Possesses a positive attitude about life and teaching.
• Sets high expectations for personal classroom performance.
• Knows areas of personal strengths and weaknesses.
• Uses reflection to improve teaching.
• Demonstrates high efficacy.
Learning to lead a differentiated classroom
There are three simple metaphors
for the role of the teacher in a
differentiated classroom:
• director of the orchestra
• coach
• jazz musician
Guidelines for differentiated instruction
Know that highly • Students have to know that their teachers see them,
effective value them, and are active supporters of their
success. Most students need to feel cared about
teachers teach before they will care about academics.
students first,
then content • Learning takes place only when fundamental safety,
physical, and social needs are met.

• Caring teachers know that their success and that of

their students is dependent on understanding and
working to meet those needs, both before and during
instruction.
Be clear on the • All learners would likely fare better if lessons focused
key concepts, on key ideas, meanings, and “stories” that connect
with students’ experiences.
generalisations,
principles, or big
ideas that give • Big ideas act as springboards to help all learners make
meaning and connections between the topic under consideration
and expanded studies, and to understand what they
structure to the learn rather than simply trying to retain facts.
topic, curriculum,
unit, lesson, or • Learners are more likely to find their school
inquiry you are experiences relatable, memorable, useful, and
engaging.
planning
Think of • Assessment that comes at the outset of the unit, or at
assessment as a various points along the way in a unit, will reveal new
routes to student success.
road map for
your thinking and
planning • Assessment invites us to adjust our teaching based on
current information and should invite students to
examine their current strengths and needs, and to
plan for next steps in growth.

• Fruitful assessment often asks, “What is an array of

ways I can offer students to demonstrate their
knowledge, understanding, and skills?”
Create lessons • All tasks should require that all students, at the
that engage all very least, understand and be able to apply the
students in meaning of the ideas at hand.
critical and
creative thinking
• Much of the time, all students should be called on
to use what they learn to solve knotty problems
that defy a recipe-like answer, even though some
will need to go about the task in a different way.
Design lessons to • Although drill and practice are sometimes
be engaging for necessary, it is not acceptable for struggling
all students learners to spend most of their time trying to
master basic information while other students get
to use it.

• Many learners who struggle would find learning

more natural and sensible if they were
consistently presented with problems, issues,
dilemmas, and unknowns that require them to use
more of what they have learned and are trying to
learn.
Balance student- • Based on the student’s maturity, the nature of the
selected and task, classroom conditions, and so on, all students
teacher-assigned should regularly have choices to make, and all
tasks and students should regularly be matched with tasks
compatible with their needs and interests.
working
arrangements • The goal holds steady: to help all students
increase their capacity to make choices that
benefit their learning and development as people.
Tomlinson, C. A. (2017). How to differentiate
instruction in academically diverse classrooms
(3rd ed.). Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development.