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Differentiating Instruction: Why Bother?

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Title: Differentiating Instruction: Why Bother?
Language: English
Authors: Tomlinson, Carol Ann
Source: National Middle School Association (NJ1). Aug 2005 9(1):12-14.
Availability: National Middle School Association. 4151 Executive Parkway Suite 300, Westerville, OH 43081. Tel: 800-528-6672; Tel: 614-895-4730; Fax: 614-895-4750; e-mail: info@nmsa.org; Web site: http://www.nmsa.org/Publications/tabid/95/Default.aspx
Peer Reviewed: N
Physical Description: PDF
Page Count: 3
Publication Date: 2005
Document Type: Journal Articles
Opinion Papers
Education Level: Middle Schools
Descriptors: Teaching Methods, Grade 7, Self Efficacy, English Teachers, Individualized Instruction, Middle School Students, Middle School Teachers, Adolescents, Personal Narratives, Mathematics Instruction, English Instruction
ISSN: 1094-6675
Abstract: In her more than 30 years of teaching, the author has practiced differentiation in her own classroom at all educational levels. Although she is well familiar with the vocabulary, research and reasoning behind it, the most compelling answer she can give for why differentiation matters in the middle grades comes from her personal experience as an adolescent with a typically fragile sense of self. She describes the teaching techniques of two teachers she experienced in middle school. The first was a math teacher who taught with a one-size-fits-all approach to math, who seemed to prove to her daily as an insecure adolescent that she was a loser. Her uncertainty about her own abilities grew in direct proportion to the math fog that collected around her day by day as this teacher explained the lesson one time, one way. Her English teacher on the other hand, worked hard to know the class as individual students, and to make the class work for each student. Although this much more student focused approach which personalized English class and planted the seed for a possible future was not called "differentiation" in those days, it could have been. Differentiation simply suggests that teachers provide clear learning goals that are rich in meaning and provide various avenues and support systems to maximize the chance of each student succeeding. The author draws upon her own teaching experience and offers simple strategies that can be used to help students develop a sense of competence, and encounter self-efficacy, as they learn to experience and surmount personal challenges. She challenges teachers to approach subject matter in a way that makes students feel valued and supported and points out that the alternative is not only lower achievement, but alienation of students from learning altogether. The article concludes by saying that there is no single formula for differentiation. It begins with a teacher who takes an honest look at a class and accepts responsibility for the success of each student. If they're all going to learn, the teacher needs to find more than one route to success.
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2007
Accession Number: ED497093
Database: ERIC
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22National+Middle+School+Association+%28NJ1%29%22"><i>National Middle School Association (NJ1)</i></searchLink>. Aug 2005 9(1):12-14.
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  Data: National Middle School Association. 4151 Executive Parkway Suite 300, Westerville, OH 43081. Tel: 800-528-6672; Tel: 614-895-4730; Fax: 614-895-4750; e-mail: info@nmsa.org; Web site: http://www.nmsa.org/Publications/tabid/95/Default.aspx
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  Data: In her more than 30 years of teaching, the author has practiced differentiation in her own classroom at all educational levels. Although she is well familiar with the vocabulary, research and reasoning behind it, the most compelling answer she can give for why differentiation matters in the middle grades comes from her personal experience as an adolescent with a typically fragile sense of self. She describes the teaching techniques of two teachers she experienced in middle school. The first was a math teacher who taught with a one-size-fits-all approach to math, who seemed to prove to her daily as an insecure adolescent that she was a loser. Her uncertainty about her own abilities grew in direct proportion to the math fog that collected around her day by day as this teacher explained the lesson one time, one way. Her English teacher on the other hand, worked hard to know the class as individual students, and to make the class work for each student. Although this much more student focused approach which personalized English class and planted the seed for a possible future was not called "differentiation" in those days, it could have been. Differentiation simply suggests that teachers provide clear learning goals that are rich in meaning and provide various avenues and support systems to maximize the chance of each student succeeding. The author draws upon her own teaching experience and offers simple strategies that can be used to help students develop a sense of competence, and encounter self-efficacy, as they learn to experience and surmount personal challenges. She challenges teachers to approach subject matter in a way that makes students feel valued and supported and points out that the alternative is not only lower achievement, but alienation of students from learning altogether. The article concludes by saying that there is no single formula for differentiation. It begins with a teacher who takes an honest look at a class and accepts responsibility for the success of each student. If they're all going to learn, the teacher needs to find more than one route to success.
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      – Text: English
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      Pagination:
        PageCount: 3
        StartPage: 12
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Teaching Methods
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Grade 7
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Self Efficacy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: English Teachers
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Individualized Instruction
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Middle School Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Middle School Teachers
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Adolescents
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Personal Narratives
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mathematics Instruction
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: English Instruction
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Differentiating Instruction: Why Bother?
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