Differentiation Disrupted: Part 1

Summer is in full swing! For a teacher, like myself, that can only mean one thing: there are only nine weeks left to prepare for the school year! When preparing for a new subject or class, one of the most important aspects of preparing is thinking about differentiation.

What is Differentiation?

Differentiation is the idea that all students were not created equally, therefore the curriculum should be tailored to the individual student’s need. James is not Fern and Olivia is not Liam, so how can they all learn the same material and be expected to achieve in the same way. The answer is simple: it’s not possible.

Differentiation allows students to be engaged at their learning level. It can look different in different classrooms. In a 1st grade Language Arts class, it could mean that the students are grouped by reading level. In a 6th grade math class, it could mean that students are grouped by their ability to solve the problems. It could mean that the project rubric is designed to accommodate the different abilities of the students. Differentiated classrooms may have different students working on different material, from each other. Teachers may have multiple lesson plans for the same unit. these are all solutions created in order to cater to the various needs of the classroom. The goal is to allow the child to learn at a level that is appropriate for them.

Problem?

There can be a few problems with the classical approach to differentiation.

1. Students know, they always know. No matter how hard we try, there is no way to spin breaking kids into groups. They know that they are being grouped by their level. This creates an intellectual inequality in the classroom, which inevitably translates into a social inequality. If Avery is in the group where kids read slower and the teacher helps a lot, during recess, he will joke, “I know, I am in the dumb group.” No matter how many laughs follow, it will hurt. If Emma is in the group where the teacher is letting kids work on algebraic equations, while the other kids are still trying to figure out how to multiply fractions, she knows she is in the “smart” group. Sometimes, prestige comes with these labels and sometimes teasing comes with them, but there is no escaping it. Students will not ignore the way you have differentiated, if you are grouping.
2. Where did all my time go? In classical differentiation, teachers will create multiple lesson plans for multiple groups of students, within one unit. One average, a classroom teacher may spend anywhere from 3–10 hours planning a single instructional hour. Variables include how many times they have taught the subject, comfort with the material, and how much differentiation needs to be done. Many teacher end up planning a unit that looks something like the diagram below.

If it took about 5 hours to plan one lesson, and 25 hours to plan the whole unit, then by creating multiple lessons for one topic, a teacher has just doubled, or even tripled their workload. That is valuable time.

3. Do the student meet the mark? If students are on different levels, all within one classroom, how do we bring students together? Differentiation usually meets that we won’t. Students stay on one path and work on that path throughout the school year. Moving up or down levels will depend on how much time the teacher has to reassess and reorganize the structure of the grouping system.

What does your classroom look like?

If you are a teacher, what does your classroom look like? How do you differentiate? Do you differentiate. If you are a parent, do you know how your teacher differentiates? How do they approach the needs of students at different levels? Do you feel their is a need for change? Do you think there is anything wrong with grouping?

Students need to be engaged at their learning level, this is understood. The question remains, how can we engage them in a way which creates equality in the classroom, lessens the demands on teachers’ time, and brings students together by the end of a unit.

So, what is the solution?

Click here for Part 2, on how I answer these questions in my own classroom.