2017

Diversity & Inclusion

Portfolio

DIFFERENTIATION FOR DIVERSE LEARNERS

ALEX PFEIFFER - 2119801

FLINDERS UNIVERSITY | EDUC4720

Definition of differentiation and how it applies to my roles as a teacher:
Differentiation revolves around teachers responding to learners needs. This can be achieved
through a range of principles and techniques needed for effective differentiation. Quality curriculum,
flexible grouping and continual assessment are all forms of effective differentiation as teachers can
adjust their teaching styles depending on student needs (Tomlinson. 2004). Teachers can
differentiate through content, process, the learning environment and a whole host of other aspects
devised to aid students learning. This can all depend on student interest, their learning profile and
their readiness levels (Doubet & Hockett. 2015). Teachers can ensure students achieve this by
differentiation based activities including scaffolding and tiered lessons. As a future educator, it is my
role to come to the realisation that every student is different and therefore, learn differently.
Differentiating students is crucial to ensure that the struggling students are aided and the exceling
students are being challenged. These principles promote effective learning within the classroom
setting allowing students to get the most out of their schooling life.

Definition of inclusion and how it applies to my role as a teacher:

Inclusion relies more on the social aspect of school and life in general. To value all students equally
can increase the participation of students in a whole host of aspects such as school communities and
different cultures (Ainscow. 2013). By giving students a sense of inclusion, can allow students to
belong in the school setting; therefore increasing student well-being. Inclusion can be achieved by
restructuring the policies, curriculum, cultures and practices in schools so that they adjust to the
needs of a diverse classroom (Ainscow. 2013). I achieved inclusion in my recent placement by
conducting classroom activities which ensured every student had a role. Whether it was group work
or individual, every student had a role and every student had a purpose. This emphasised the sense
of belonging which can develop values in the schools wider community. Inclusion also relates back
to treating all students fairly and reducing barriers to learning and participation for all students (not
just special needs students). I was able to achieve this by ensuring all students participated equally.

What differentiated strategies did you try to implement during your professional
teaching experience?
In my practical experience, I chose to implement a large array of differentiation strategies. For a
HAAS (history) assignment, I was teaching a 7,8,9 class filled with diverse learnings. I chose to take a
tired lesson plan approach which allowed flexible grouping. Firstly, this assignment was a group
activity so I had to ensure that the groups were chosen carefully based on student readiness levels
and year levels (Doubet & Hockett. 2015). Once the groups were chosen, the developing group
(which tended to be the year 7 groups) were given a basic version of the task at hand. This allowed
them to work on an adjusted task that still arrives at the same destination as the other groups. The
middle groups (which tended to be the year 8 groups) were given the task and were asked to
complete it normally. The excelling groups (who were the year 9 groups) were given a task that was
adjusted to challenge these students but still end up at the same destination as everyone else. I
found this to be a successful strategies which helped keep the students engaged throughout the
entirety of the assessment.

Another strategy I was able to implement was adjusting a task to suit a student with special needs, in
this case, autism. Through observing in previous lessons and discussing with other teachers it was
obvious that this individual student (Jeff) had a difficult-to-manage scale of autism. He struggled to
learn and grasp easy concepts. He also struggled to adapt to myself. As I was a new person, he
struggled to adapt to the change of having a new teacher which is a typical autism trait (Luiselli.
2008). However, he liked having a role and he liked feeling as if he was useful to a group. So for this
group assignment, I allocated him a specific role that would aid the group. By keeping Jeff occupied
with a group role, prevented his learning disability having an effect on his work. This allowed Jeff and
his group to work coherently in a productive manner.

What worked well? What factors (personal or environmental) helped you to

differentiate effectively?
All of my differentiation strategies worked well. Tiering the lesson by involving flexible grouping
based on readiness levels, worked very well. All students responded well to this strategy. I could see
that students responded well to being put with other students of the same ability level. This allowed
the groups to function appropriately because they were all equal and shared similar knowledge level
ideas. Students also responded well to the challenge of the activity. By adjusting the activity slightly
to suit varying groups, students were able to produce high quality pieces of work that challenged
their particular learning abilities.

What factors (personal or environmental) made it challenging to differentiate?

I found inclusion quite a hard thing to differentiate for in my teaching practice. Quite often, students
of the same learning levels arent friends or dont get along. Students tend to have a lot of friends
that arent in their learning bracket. In terms of group work, this made it difficult to ensure that all
group members felt a sense of inclusion. Even though they might not get along.

The autism student a spoke of before (Jeff), also made it hard to differentiate for. He had a lot of
trouble with listening to assignment instructions. I often found myself invested in explaining the task
one-on-one simply because he couldnt grasp the concept behind my instructions to the rest of the
task. Eventually, I found myself writing a completely different, simplified task sheet just for him. This
way, he could understand the task without having to be told multiple times by myself or his class
mates.

How can you improve your teaching practice with diverse learners for your next
experience?
There is one main factor that I could improve in differentiation. I was able to differentiate effectively
throughout assignments and different assessment tasks, but I struggled with differentiating lesson
tasks. I needed to use more RAFT, learning menu and other activities that differentiate effectively in
a lesson task. I found myself so invested in differentiating assessment tasks, I was unaware of the
different needs that needed to be met in various classes.

How common student differences in this setting might impact on learning and the
classroom environment:
The range of student differences throughout the school impacts significantly on the learning
environment. Student differences have a great impact in the way teachers teach in a classroom
setting.

Students with learning disabilities (Autism):

Frequently, an autistic student would become difficult to manage so it was important that the school
had a variety of differentiation strategies. Jarvis (2013) makes the claim that student differences can
impact a teacher in terms of the way they teach, the level they teach and the differentiation
strategies they use to account for a wide range of difference in their class. At Swan Reach Area
School (SRAS), the autistic student (Jeff) seemed to have a negative effect on the class if handled
incorrectly. These particular students are stereotypically labelled as having trouble learning. They
also react badly to any changes to routine or the teacher (Charman et al. 2011). Jeff would
continually disrupt the class with loud outbursts of anger. This would not only interfere with the
teaching, but with the classroom learning as a whole.

Gifted students:

Additionally, gifted students can also impact the classroom environment in my experience on
placement. They would either find the work too easy or finish the work before everyone else. This
would then place a negative effect on the rest of the students because they would distract the class
as they did not have a task to go on with.

Students with learning difficulties/behaviour management issues:

At SRAS, there are several students with learning difficulties. They are put on individual learning
plans (ILPs) and as a result of this, teachers are required to implement a range of differentiation
strategies to cater for these particular students. These students can often be subjected to bad
behaviour because it is an easy way out (Tomlinson. 2003). This therefore had a negative impact on
other students in the class which effected the learning capabilities of individuals.

How teachers and other staff typically respond to these differences:

Students with learning disabilities (Autism):

To support Jeff who is high on the spectrum with autism, he had a series of cards that he could often
turn to if he felt his behaviour shifting. The cards operated in a similar fashion to the traffic lights
principle. A green card meant that he was fine and everything was going well. An orange card meant
that something had happened and she could feel herself losing control of her emotions. A red card
meant that she had lost control and she needs some space from everyone else. These cards also
displayed pictures on them which he picked out with gave him a sense of being in control. Once a
red card is presented, he then has time to leave the class room and go to a safe place. In this case it
is a tree at the front of the school. This is a great behaviour management strategy that was used by
the school to control Jeffs autism. Once he left the room, he was no longer a distraction to the other
class members. Making the classroom a more learner friendly environment.

Students with learning difficulties/behaviour management issues:

SRAS have a satisfactory learning difficulty monitoring system. All middle and senior schools
students are put into a table for teachers to view. The student names are on the Y axis of the table.
The subjects are on the X axis. At the end of each week, teachers would put either a red, orange or
green colour next to the students name in their particular area of teaching. The green colour means
that the student is where they need to be to pass the topic. The orange means that their grades are
slipping and they are on their way to failing. The red means they are failing and something needs to
change in order to increase their overall grade. This is a good way for staff to be able to recognise
who is on track and who isnt. However this system could be improved by giving written feedback
into the reasons why their grades are slipping. That way, all teachers and even the principle will be
able to identify exactly what the reason is behind the decline or improvement. If students are
struggling, they are then put on an ILP in an attempt to improve their grade.

SSO staff/assisting staff:

Most, if not, every class would have an extra staff member to help out the kids with behaviour
management or autism. Jeff has an assisting staff member just employed to manage him. The bond
between these two is solid and Jeff responds to her well. Additionally, other SSO staff usually help
out in most lessons to ensure all students learn effectively and stay on track with their learning.

Gifted students:

Gifted students who generally excel in their topics are given the opportunity to complete the topic at
Mannum Community College (a sister school), which is much larger. SRAS is only a small school of
roughly 80 students from reception to year 12. For example, if a child is exceling at Physical
Education, they would be given to opportunity to complete this at Mannum Community College.
Therefore been given the opportunity to flourish in a larger classroom which benefits in a subject
like Physical Education.

What philosophy and approach to student diversity and inclusion is reflected in the
schools mission or vision statement, policies, or other published information:

Swan Reach Area Schools Vision statement:

Our VISION is to develop learners with integrity, resilience, confidence & respect. Our students are
encouraged to actively pursue life-long learning skills, enabling them to be successful thinkers and
collaborative contributors in the communities they are part of - now and in the future

The SRAS vision/philosophy statement firstly relates to the matter in which the schools aims to
develop learners. The statement has words like confidence and respect which relate back to
diversity and inclusion. Students must feel included in order to learn which falls back on confidence.
Students feel included in activities when they develop confidence around the group setting. The
second part of the statement has a strong focus on students becoming better members of the
community both in the present and future. This positive approach can allow students to feel
included in the wider community regardless of differences. This is an example of effective
differentiation as teachers must embrace student differences to create inclusion for every learner
(Jarvis, 2015).

How the philosophy embodied in the mission and vision statement is specifically
enacted in practice at this school & the extent to which the classroom and other school
practices you observed throughout your professional experience align with the
philosophy, principles and practices of differentiation and inclusion:
SRAS is a small country school with limited students and resources. However, the mission statement
clearly states that it aims to improve students in the wider community both in the present and in the
future. I have witnessed how this mission statement has been put into place. In many subjects;
instead of teaching skills that the students wouldnt need again, they learn real life skills that allow
them to flourish in the outside world. This allows them to become better members of the
community as the mission statement claims. The mission statement also claims that students will be
successful thinkers. This ties in with the differentiation and inclusion aspect as students will be able
to become successful thinkers through effective differentiation and inclusion.

Strengths:
The strengths or SRAS rely on the strong community based nature in which the school operates in.
Many members from the school want to contribute to the wider community outside of the
school and the curriculum caters for this fact. The mission statement also elaborates on the
huge emphasis on community and how this aspect can effect young students lives.

Areas that need improvement:

SRAS is a small school that relies on the closeness of the community for their success. However,
school members that are not involved in the community are seen as outsiders to the rest of
the school group. This relates back to the essence of inclusion. The students that come from
somewhere outside of the community are generally the ones who struggle emotionally
(making friends etc.). These students do not feel included which effects their school work in
a negative manner (Foreman. 2014). If students do not feel a sense of inclusion,
differentiating these students becomes a more difficult process.

References:

Ainscow, M. 2013, 'Making sense of inclusive education', Trinity Education Papers, vol. 2, no. 2, pp.
2-11.

Charman, T., Dockrell, J., Peacey, N., Peacey, L., Forward, K., & Pellicano, L. (2011). What is good
practice in autism education?.

Doubet, K & Hockett, A 2015, 'Differentiating according to student readiness', in Doubet, Kristina &
Hockett, Jessica A, Differentiation in middle and high school: strategies to engage all learners, ASCD,
Alexandria, Virginia, pp. 173-206.

Foreman, P 2014, 'Introducing inclusion in education', in Foreman, Phil & Arthur-Kelly, Michael
(eds.), Inclusion in action, 4th edn, Cengage Learning Australia, South Melbourne, Vic., pp. 2-46.

Jarvis, J 2013, 'Differentiating learning experiences for diverse students', in Hudson, Peter (ed.),
Learning to teach in the primary school, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, Vic., pp. 52-70.

Jarvis, J. M. 2015. Inclusive classrooms and differentiation. In N. WeatherbyFell (Ed.), Learning to

teach in the secondary school (pp. 154-171). Port Melbourne, Vic: Cambridge University Press.

Luiselli, J. K. 2008. Effective practices for children with autism: Educational and behavior support
interventions that work. Oxford University Press.

Tomlinson, C. A. 2004. How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms (2nd ed.).

Moorabbin, Vic.: Hawker-Brownlow Education.

Tomlinson, C. A 2003, 'Deciding to teach them all', Educational Leadership, vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 6-11.