Differentiated instruction is an instructional design model focusing on who, where, and how one teaches, as opposed to what one teaches
The goal of differentiating instruction is to ensure that educators focus on the processes and procedures that can lead to effective learning for all students through approaches that can be adapted to the diverse needs of students within a classroom
Readiness level – students arrive with different prior knowledge, skills, experiences, understandings etc…
- differentiating for readiness levels contributes to academic growth
Interests – students arrive with different interests
- differentiating for interest levels contributes to motivation
Learning Profile – how students process info, interact with info, how we take it in, how we think about info
- differentiating for learning profile contributes to efficiency of learning (want to provide different ways for students to learn)
Not just for students with learning challenges or for gifted students
Evidence suggests that by instructing through multiple learning pathways, more dendritic pathways of access” will be created.[6] This can be achieved by using several senses (i.e. sight, sound, smell) or by creating cross-curricular connections. When more regions of the brain store data about a subject, there is more interconnection and cross-referencing of data from multiple storage areas in response to a single cue, meaning one has learned rather than memorized
If students are performing various tasks that engage multiple senses, that are done in a variety of ways, and are meaningful, more connections made between neurons on brain resulting in a more interconnected nervous system
The more of these stimuli that are activated, the more impact the data has on the brain
It is important that students are exposed to a wide-variety of stimuli so that their brain can build the necessary neuro-pathways to utilize that information successfully in the future
Students must construct meaningful connections in order to make meaning.
Students must make meaning for themselves. It cannot be imposed on them. The UbD emphasis on ‘uncoverage’ of meaning (vs. coverage of content) arises from our awareness that understanding must be constructed by the individual. Differentiation reminds us that different individuals will construct meaning from their differing experiences, abilities, and interests, and along different timetables and with different support systems.
With these five factors, one can see the overlap with the ideas behind DI, which ultimately helps students construct meaning to learn concepts and information.
As Tomlinson indicated in the video clip, more capable students have it easy when work in below their zone of learning / under challenging. All students need support when the work is moderately challenging, and this is likely one of the more challenging aspects of DI – the meet the needs of your more capable students.
Brain only learns when the task is moderately challenging.
Motivation to learn increases when we feel a kinship with, interest in, or passion for what we are attempting to learn (Piaget, 1978)
While the image of a one size fits all curriculum is comfortable, it denies most of what we know about the wide variance that exists in our classroom; no substitute for high-quality curriculum and instruction; need to build bridges between the learner and learning
We cannot reach the mind we do not engage ought to be a daily compass for educational planning – offering multiple and varied avenues to learning is critical to student engagement