Differentiation

In moving deeper into my teacher’s education, differentiation is more on my mind than ever. I grew up with a brother who has an exceptionality. I was so much younger than him that I was not aware of the struggles that my parents and he had during his schooling. After my first summer working for a summer camp for children and youth with special needs, I saw more of the struggles that students with exceptionalities have during their education and in their lives after school ends. Differentiation in a school and in a classroom can make or break a student’s education and their confidence in a subject or learning all together. Tomlinson and Moon (2013) explain that differentiation is not to be singled out in the classroom as just creating multiple learning options for individuals with different needs. They call on five elements of the classroom, “learning environment, curriculum, assessment, instruction, and classroom leadership and management,” that flow into each other as well as enhances each other (p. 1). Taking all these into account when thinking about differentiation in the classroom,

Differentiation as a Learning Environment

Differentiation in a classroom takes more than making different learning options, it requires a shift in the environment of the classroom. One of my goals as a teacher is to create a positive classroom environment in both the physical sense and in the atmospheric sense. Part of creating this environment in my future classroom is the integration of differentiation without calling attention to it in a blunt fashion that calls out specific students. “In a differentiated classroom, the teacher’s aim is to make the classroom work for each student who is obliged to spend time there” (Tomlinson & Moon, 2013, p. 4). With this goal in mind teachers need to embody “hallmarks” like belief, invitation, investment, opportunity, persistence, and reflection (p. 4). The way a teacher conducts themselves with the students is a big part in the development of the environment and the atmosphere in a classroom.

Differentiation and Assessment

Assessment’s connection to differentiation have more to do with the understanding of the self for students rather than the marks they are worth. Tomlinson and Moon link the differentiation in a classroom and the assessment to the meaning of the grade received on an assessment. They explain that the goal of the teacher is to “increase reliability and validity and to reduce error and teacher bias” in the classroom (p. 124). The results of an assessment should not decrease the want to learn for the student. School is a place where the concept of where one fits in socially is beginning to be formed and grades can play a huge role in this definition for some students. this is where the interplay between assessment and differentiation is very important in the classroom. Tomlinson and Moon highlight nine principles of effective grading practice that take differentiation into account. Of these, one of the most important one in keeping students’ understanding of self in mind is “Use Grades That Are Criterion Based, Not Comparative or Norm Based” (p.129). This is not comparing students with one another and keeping competition out of the equation. The idea here is that students should eb competing with themselves rather than with other students who may have different levels of skills or learning abilities than them. Competition is healthy but in the right place; the classroom is a place for learning rather than competition.

The goal of differentiation in the classroom is an important one to keep in mind when moving through a teacher’s education because there are lots of lessons within thinking about this concept. How exactly does a beginning teacher move toward this goal without causing more harm than good? Tomlinson, Brimijoin, and Naraez (2008) raise ways to initiate deep change toward a differentiated classroom in their book Differentiated School. One of the most compelling points in the first section of this book is the idea that differentiation is for every student not just those with labels. While knowing these labels is important if teachers to be aware of but it is not only those students who would benefit from differentiation in the classroom.

In my preparation for teaching in my field placements and further into my career, one of my goals is to understand more about how differentiation fits into my classroom and how to create an atmosphere where students are able to learn without comparing themselves to others.

“Differentiation is simply a teacher attending to the learning needs of a particular student or small groups of students, rather than teaching a class as though all individuals in it were basically alike.”

Carol Ann Tomlinson

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References

Tomlinson, C. A., Brimijoin, K., & Narvaez, L. (2008). The differentiated school: Making revolutionary changes in teaching and learning. ASCD.

Tomlinson, C. A., & Moon, T. R. (2013). Assessment and student success in a differentiated classroom. ASCD.