A Discussion on Differentiated Learning and Assessment 

A teacher tending to her classroom of students is very similar to a gardener tending to her flowers. Each flower is developing and growing at its own rate, blooming into its own unique flower. The gardener understands that perhaps one flower needs more sun while the other needs more water. She provides to her flowers, takes care of the flowers and ensures there is enough room in the garden for the flowers to grow.

Teaching is a complex form of gardening where each student is learning in his or her own unique way. Varsavsky and Rayner (2013) discuss how learning is individual because students acquire information very uniquely; therefore having a standardize one-size-fits-all method of teaching and assessing should not be used in education. There is so much diversity in the classroom, especially in all-inclusive classrooms, that it only seems fair to teach and assess students based on their specific learning goals and needs.

In elementary school, one of my peers had a learning disability where if the teacher wrote the lesson on the chalkboard, the student would not understand the lesson. This student could be sitting in the very front row, and yet there would still be an interruption between my peer and the lesson on the board four feet in front of him. However, once he was able to use a laptop in class, he began to succeed. Without the laptop the student would have failed because he would have never learned the material. My peer from elementary school is a perfect example of how a one-size-fits-all method does not work in the classroom. Just because each student can see the board, does not mean they are comprehending what is being presented to them. Minor adjustments will always occur in the classroom to fit the students’ learning needs.

Differentiated instruction and assessment is explained by Varsavsky and Rayner (2013) as an educational structure that aims to address the differences among students. These differences are the various ways in how children comprehend concepts and theories learned in class. Differentiated instruction and assessment also provides flexibility in knowledge acquisition, skills development and types of assessment (Varsavsky & Rayner, 2013). This type of approach respect the students’ individual needs and diverse talents (Varsavsky & Rayner, 2013). Differentiated instruction and assessment helps students reach personal goals and milestones in the classroom.

Looking back on my own learning, I wish my teachers had of used this approach more often in the classroom. There are certain areas I wish my teachers had of worked with me to better develop specific skills. For example, I had the same two teachers for four years in a row because of my French Immersion program. Half of the day was dedicated to French instruction and the other half to English instruction. It was a grade three/four split class and a grade five/six split class and at noon the teachers would switch classrooms. Often on my report card, my teachers believed that I did not show initiative in the classroom. However, neither my French teach nor my English teacher helped me to better develop my initiative skill that they believed needed improvement.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid” – Albert Einstein

I believe that differentiated instruction and assessment will help educators build better relationships with students as well as with parents. In the youtube video, there was a lot of positivity between students and educators and with the parents as well. Students are engaged and interested and educators are able to get to know their students’ interests.  Morgan (2014) discusses how students will often become disengaged in a lesson when teachers fail to meet the students’ learning needs. When doing observation hours in different classroom environments, I will see students fidget in their seats, playing with items in their desks because they have lost focus from the lesson. The teacher then has to stop the lesson to address the disengaged student before continuing on. When students are disengaged they tend to interrupt the rest of the class as well, leaving less instructional time and therefore less time to do work in class. This usually occurs when teachers are using the traditional method of teaching instead of differentiated teaching.

Like a gardener tending to a variety of plants, the teacher must tend to a variety of learners. The overall goal is the same: to encourage growth to its ultimate bloom. However, each individual requires an individual focus, a specific recipe of nutrients to aid them in reaching their fullest potential. How do you use differentiated learning and assessment in the classroom while abiding by the curriculum?

References

Morgan, H. (2014). Maximizing Student Success with Differentiated Learning. Clearing House, 87(1), 34-38. doi:10.1080/00098655.2013.832130

Varsavsky, C., & Rayner, G. (2013). Strategies that challenge: exploring the use of differentiated assessment to challenge high-achieving students in large enrolment undergraduate cohorts. Assessment & Evaluation In Higher Education, 38(7), 789-802. doi:10.1080/02602938.2012.714739