Curriculum, learning and teaching
Different strokes Researchers at the University of Melbourne are developing a model for teachers wanting to improve their differentiation techniques, writes Nicky Dulfer In a classroom filled with students who all learn in different ways, it can be hard for teachers to make sure everyone is keeping up. Differentiated instruction, an approach that encourages teachers to cater to individual student needs and preferences, can help overcome this challenge. However, differentiation can be a tricky term for teachers to understand. It requires a particular ‘mind-set’ and encompasses a broad range of strategies. These can include: having clearly defined ‘learning goals’ to keep each student on track, allowing different access points into material, varying task sophistication, encouraging student choice, varying pacing and establishing flexible learning environments. A great example involves an English teacher who wanted to introduce her Year 2 Literature class to the Shakespearean tragedy Macbeth. To ensure the information was accessible she developed varied activities, which included: putting together the lines of a speech in order, guessing the order of a storyboard of the play, and a ‘32-second version’ of the play in which students read out key lines and acted out the deaths. These activities gave students multiple points of Winter
Summer |
| 2019
access to the narrative; by the time they came to read the opening scene, they had a sense of where the action would lead and were excited to learn more. When working in a programme such as the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) there can be added pressure for teachers – they must adhere to strict curriculum needs and meet local and global expectations. The University of Melbourne, which offers online courses for teachers seeking to specialise in IB teaching across Primary, Middle or Diploma Years, also undertakes leading research in the area. A study undertaken by the University in 2017 examined IBDP classrooms in two countries to enhance our understanding of how teachers are implementing differentiation strategies within the IBDP. We found that while many teachers are enacting a variety of differentiated approaches to learning, there is some confusion as to what might be considered differentiation and how these strategies could be applied within the programme. This suggested the need for further research and professional development opportunities in this space, which we have been developing.
51
