RATE Issues

RATE Issues, Summer 2015

ISSN 1844-6159

Differentiated Learning. Teaching English to Mixed-Ability Classes

by Lăcrimioara Năsui

“Constantin Brâncuşi” Lower Secondary School, Cluj-Napoca
 

Abstract: The present article is dedicated to one of the most important aspects of teaching nowadays- differentiated teaching and instruction for English language learners.
 

Differentiation means directing teaching towards the interests and capacities of all pupils in a class. It is not a simple expedient for keeping pupils busy – although that may prove important – it is a consideration for overcoming any latent barriers to learning. 

Keywords: differentiated learning, mixed-ability classes, positive differentiation, differentiated instruction, English language learner (ELL), background experience.
  

Differentiation
• is a method of organising learning activities
• is the match of what is offered to what is needed
• considers the stage of learning that the learner has reached
• considers their own skills and abilities

The National Curriculum Council (NCC) defined it as: "the process by which curriculum objectives, teaching methods, assessment methods, resources and learning activities are planned to cater for the needs of individual pupils".

‘Differentiation’ is often misunderstood, but used effectively it can be a cooperative strategy that raises everyone’s level.
It is regarded as one of the most important parts of teachers’ work and has been referred to in a variety of ways, from mixed-ability teaching to personalised learning. But the teaching approach now most widely referred to as “differentiation” can still be a difficult one for teachers to grasp.
In his bestselling teacher-training manual, Teaching Today: a practical guide, Geoff Petty describes it as “the process by which differences between learners are accommodated so that all students in a group have the best possible chance of learning”.
Peter Anstee, an English teacher and author of the Differentiation Pocketbook, says that it is about adapting teaching and learning styles to suit the whole class, groups or individuals.

Differentiation is misunderstood

Both authors above agree that the lack of a consistent and clearly-defined description of differentiation has led to confusion among teachers, which has caused the idea to be widely misunderstood and misinterpreted.
Mr Petty G. says that the traditional term “mixed-ability teaching” was unsuitable because teachers realised it was not just ability that could be mixed and that they had to cope with a range of differences among their pupils - such as age, gender, learning style, motivation, prior learning and experience - as well as specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia.
But the accepted replacement term, “differentiation”, is less vivid and less readily understood. “Some believe that it is something added on to normal teaching and that it just requires a few discrete extra activities in the lesson,” Mr Petty says. “In fact, differentiation permeates everything a good teacher does, and it is often impossible to point to a discrete event that achieves it.”
The confusion and lack of clear information on the subject inspired Mr Anstee P., an English teacher at Brentwood County High School in Essex, to write his first book, which has become one of Teachers’ Pocketbooks’ biggest sellers since it was first published last year.
“I’m particularly interested in teaching and learning, but when I have been running training courses and Inset days, I’ve noticed there’s not a lot of advice and guidance available on differentiation,” he says. “I’ve gathered a lot of information on it myself and I’ve been experimenting with different methods in the classroom.”

Differentiation can be daunting 

Differentiation can be a “daunting” prospect for a teacher because it can involve planning several different lessons, he says - the key is to give students choice.
“If students are given choice, they challenge themselves more than teachers do,” he explains. “A lot of teachers shy away from it, or give too much choice and it goes wrong. I have developed a staged approach in which I start small and build up from there.”
He believes some differentiation strategies have done more harm than good, and that teachers must get away from the idea of defining the ability of individual students and grouping them as such, as it soon becomes a “self- fulfilling prophecy”.
“It needs a more subtle view,” he says. “You need to understand why you are differentiating - to create routes through learning that allow all students to achieve and progress. It’s not just about setting up a series of different activities, but planning learning that is generated from students’ needs.

There are three generally accepted categories of differentiation:

• By task, which involves setting different activities for pupils of different abilities;
• By support, which means giving more help to certain pupils within the group;
• By outcome, which involves setting open-ended tasks and allowing pupil response at different levels.

Tips from Peter Anstee’s Differentiation Pocketbook

• Student choice - start with small levels, then build up.
• Questioning - target specific questions at specific students.
• Group work - ensure students have specific roles they are accountable for. Vary them for different students and rotate responsibilities.


Differentiating: What, How and Why

When thinking about differentiated curriculum and instruction, three questions are useful for analysis: What is the teacher differentiating? How is she differentiating? Why is s/he differentiating?
Differentiate What refers to the curricular element the teacher has modified in response to learner needs. That is, it illustrates the teacher modifying :
• content (what students will learn and the materials that represent that),
• process (activities through which students make sense of key ideas using essential skills),
• product (how students demonstrate and extend what they understand and can do as a result of a span of learning), or
• learning environment (the classroom conditions that set the tone and expectations of learning).
One or more of these elements can be modified for any given learning experience.

Differentiate How refers to the student trait to which the differentiation responds. It shows how the teacher differentiates in response to student readiness, interest, or learning profile. Again, any learning experience can be modified to respond to one or more of these traits.

Differentiate Why addresses the teacher's reason for modifying the learning experience. Teachers believe modification is important for many reasons. Three key reasons include access to learning, motivation to learn, and efficiency of learning. Any or all of these three reasons for differentiating instruction can be tied to student readiness, interest, and learning profile.
For example, we can't learn that which is inaccessible to us because we don't understand it. We can't learn when we are unmotivated by things that are far too difficult—or too easy—for us. We learn more enthusiastically those things that connect to our interests, and we learn more efficiently if we have a suitable background of experience. We also learn more efficiently if we can acquire information and express our understanding through a preferred mode.


Bibliography

1.Baumann, AS et al (1997), Becoming a Secondary School Teacher, Hodder and Stoughton
2.Capel, S, Leask, M and Turner, T (2001) Learning to teach in the Secondary School, Routledge/Falmer
3.Geoff Petty (2010), Teaching Today (fifth edition), Oxford
4. Peter Anstee (2011), Differentiation Pocketbook, Teachers’ Pocketbooks


Biodata
Lăcrimioara Năsui has been teaching English for 10 years, to all kinds of students: primary school students, very young learners, lower-secondary school students and high school students. She has attended courses, seminars and workshops for teachers, as a way to improve her teaching skills and help her students in their process of learning. She is particularly interested in preparing students for external exams, like Cambridge, IELTS or LCCI exams. Her personal best is a certificate in TKT test for teachers (Teaching Knowledge Test ), 4 modules, taken in 2009.