Alternative Methodology — the path to a differentiated education

If we look into a classroom today, we will see a mirror of our country. Students with different cultures, behaviors, goals, levels, and ways of learning. Students with very advanced learning skills alongside students struggling to learn and fix subjects. And everyone with the right to expect enthusiastic teachers to be ready to serve them and, above all, prepared and willing to walk the learning path with them.

Does teaching 30 students in a classroom requires teachers to develop 30 different methodologies, tailored to each student? Or should teachers choose only one methodology and wait for the majority to reach a certain average? The answer is not simple. While most agree that trying to individualize each lesson is impractical, research shows that traditional teaching can be ineffective. He ignores the needs of advanced students, often leaving them without activities for a certain period and bored, while intimidating and confusing students who need more attention and guidance. Best practice suggests an alternative: differentiated instruction.

Differentiated teaching is an approach that assumes a diversity of students in the classroom and that all these students can learn with a wide variety of methods and activities. Carol Tomlinson, a specialist in the field of Education, started research in differentiated teaching. Until then, the research points out that students are more successful when they are guided based on their levels, interests, and learning profiles. The most recent newsletter examined the differentiating characteristics and even offered suggestions on how teachers can use them to improve student performance.

What is differentiated teaching?

Simply put, differentiated teaching is the modification of traditional instruction helping students learn from their different academic needs and learning styles. Although at first, it may seem like a difficult task to conceive and execute a variety of strategies within a classroom, this methodology can be applied in different ways. Teachers can differentiate teaching with an individual student, within a small group, or with an entire class. Differentiation does not mean providing separate, separate activities for each student, but providing interrelated activities, based on students’ needs with the aim of ensuring that everyone has a similar understanding of skills and ideas (Good, 2006).

Some ideas and practices of differentiated education

There are fundamental techniques for the success of differentiated teaching in the classroom. Educators interested in following this methodology need to have the necessary elements and know-how to explore different ways of integrating them into their classes so that they can ‘win’ all the students they teach.

:: Plan your classes meticulously
Planning each study unit allows you to understand what students will learn in advance, creating a timely time for their preparation (Tomlinson, 1999) and ensuring that you can research and obtain appropriate materials, tools, and exercises that meet the needs of each student of your room.

:: Read texts aloud
Reading aloud makes your text common, setting the stage for differentiation. Use them to build background knowledge and to show students how you apply strategies (Beck & McKeown, 2006; Robb, 2008; Wilhelm, 2001, 2005). Reading texts aloud, by the student or teacher, is one of the best linguistic tools to help with memorization and, consequently, effective learning.

:: Teach with different materials
Avoid using only one material. Instead, use multiple texts at different reading levels, for example. Also, allow students to collect information from books and magazines themselves, so they can truly read and bring different and relevant information to the classroom (Robb, 2003)

:: Encourage classroom debate
The discussion/debate between students and teachers is extremely important, as it provides a powerful way of building understanding and knowledge of the facts. It also offers opportunities to clarify the meaning of words and an in-depth understanding of the text.

:: Make daily assessments for each student
Doing a thorough analysis of each student allows you to discover their strengths and weaknesses. The main objective of daily monitoring is to achieve individual development, to plan activities, respecting the pace of each one.

:: Writing to explore, think, learn and improve understanding
Students write only what they know and understand (Alvermann & Phelps, 1998; Vaughan & Estes, 1986). If they have not absorbed the material, they will have little to write. Teachers must know that everyone in a class may not absorb the same information or absorb it from different points of view (Clay, 1993). The summary production technique aims to faithfully present essential ideas and facts contained in a text. Its elaboration involves skills such as competent reading, detailed analysis of ideas, presenting the student’s understanding.