EDUC4720 Differentiation for Diverse Learners Assignment 3 (2)

Define Differentiation and Inclusion

Differentiation and inclusion are one of the most important concepts that have been taught
at university and one that is vital for all teachers to understand and apply. As not only is it in the best
interests of the students but there are also legal requirements for teachers to adhere to.
Differentiation is described by Jarvis (2020) as being like a house. With differentiation being the roof,
which is supported by the 3 pillars philosophy, principles and practice. Within these pillars are the
bricks or the elements that enable successful differentiation in the classroom. Each pillar represents
different aspects of differentiation, with philosophy being based around inclusion of all students,
growth mindsets and ensuring each child is able to succeed. Principles are the elements that are put
into place to support differentiation, these include high quality curriculum, clear learning objectives,
flexible grouping and respectful tasks amongst a range of other things. Whilst practice is what
actually happens in the classroom, how teachers apply the principles in the classroom and how we
can improve on them. From this analogy differentiation can be defined as a way for teachers to
ensure that every child has access to an education that enables them to learn and achieve to the
best of their abilities by being appropriately challenged and engaged in the classroom but also helps
students to form their own identities as learners (Tomlinson, 2008).

Inclusion in a classroom can be defined as the involvement and empowerment of diverse learners
from a range of diverse backgrounds including disabilities, cultures, religions, age, languages and
wealth to access education equally. Inclusion and differentiation are linked as inclusion is one of the
key philosophies of differentiation as mentioned above; however, it is also a legal requirement for
teachers. Inclusion is extremely important for all teachers as there are many legislations and legal
requirements teachers must adhere to. In 1948 after the World Wars the United Nations decided on
a list of human rights within these were the inclusion of all people regardless of age, colour, religion
or disability (United Nations Human Rights, 2020). This was the beginning and since then there has
been more and more legislation put in place to ensure the inclusion of all. One important legislation
for teachers is the Disability Standards for Education (Department of Education, Skills and
Employment, 2005) which outline that all students with a disability must be able to access and
participate in education on the same basis as other students. These standards also outline that
education is for all, teachers must differentiate the curriculum and schools must provide the
resources needed to support any diversity that may be present in the classroom. Doubet & Hockett
(2015) describes diversity as the framework for how teachers plan their lessons, assessments and
instructions to suit all learners. There are four elements to inclusion these are presence,
participation, progress and a sense of belonging. These all contribute to an inclusive classroom
environment which is important for teachers and students (Jarvis, 2020). Furthermore, inclusion can
be further defined as ensuring all students have access to an education equally and are able to be
present, participate, progress and have a sense of belonging within the classroom environment.

Being a future educator, these are two very important concepts to understand and apply to teaching
diverse learners. No two children are the same and therefore each one learns and understands
differently. By understanding these concepts, I am able to put into practice many of the
philosophies, principles and practices of differentiation to ensure that I am including all students in
my classroom and allowing each child the opportunity to achieve to the best of their abilities
regardless of anything.
EDUC4720 Differentiation for Diverse Learners Assignment 3 (2)

2. Analysis of school mission statement

a) What appears to be the school’s philosophy and values related to teaching diverse
learners?

Based on reading the school’s mission statement and philosophy, there is some mention of
diverse learners, but it is no means in detail. The mission statement says that the school strives for
excellence in education, which eludes itself to believe that this school is striving for academic
achievement by students; however, in terms of excellence in education this is an extremely broad
statement. The statement also mentions spiritual growth, which also is a way of including diversity
by way of religion. Diversity is described as anything that makes us different from one another,
whether that be age, colour, gender, religion etc. (Poed, 2015) However, this statement seems to
focus on religion as diversity rather than anything else, so this could mean the school does not have
enough focus on diversity and therefore a lack of focus on inclusion. However, this school not only
allows Christians to attend but also members of other religions as well. The statement also describes
excellence in education and spiritual growth in a safe, caring and forgiving Christian environment
which describes the environment the school is striving for. A safe, caring and forgiving environment
has been described by Foreman & Arthur- Kelly (2017) as being important for the inclusion of all
students; but, by the school adding religion it could exclude some students whom do not identify as
Christian. Attached to the mission statement is the school’s philosophy; this has a lot more detail
about how the school plans to accomplish its mission statement. This includes more detail about
diversity and inclusion.

To successfully accomplish the school mission statement the school has outlined its philosophy.
This outlines detailed statements that the school values diversity by using the term students come
first. This implies that each students’ needs are of the upmost importance to this school and they
would do whatever possible to make this a priority. For this to be achieved by the school, it would be
expected that the school would use differentiated instruction within the classroom environment.
This could be in the form of student readiness, learning profiles or interests and would be very
different in each class and year level (Sousa & Tomlinson, 2018). The philosophy also mentions
valuing diversity and opportunities to result in inspired learning and development. For this to be
successful in the classroom it could be in the form of creating authentic and inspiring learning
opportunities that are of interest to students to enable them to achieve to the best of their abilities
in the classroom (Killen, 2016). This could also be in the form of negotiated learning where the
students get to choose something that interests them or something that is relevant to their lives to
investigate for an assignment (Pendergast & Bahr, 2010).

The philosophy also discusses care and how they are striving to make their learning environment
safe and nurturing environment as they believe happy children learn best. This would in the way of
developing relationships with their students and making them feel as if they belong by finding out
what their interests are or which football team they support. This all contributes to make a child feel
valued, safe and that they belong (Duchense & McMaugh, 2016). One statement that does not really
support the notion of diverse learners is when the statement says that the facilities will engage
students who enjoy and have a desire to learn. Not every child sees the value in school that a
teacher does and they may not enjoy the subject that you are teaching but it is important to engage
the student as much as possible and see how it can relate to something that they may be more
interested in as facilities do not compensate for poor teaching. It would be silly to assume that all
students have a desire to learn in your subject because everyone has different ideas and interests.
However, the last statement very much addresses diverse learners as it specifically states that the
EDUC4720 Differentiation for Diverse Learners Assignment 3 (2)

teachers at the school encourage individuality and diversity because each student learns differently.
This is something that is extremely important to remember because teachers need to be able to
cater to diversity and differentiate lessons so that each child is learning, making progress and feel
they are safe in the classroom. This can also link to the Australian Institute for Teaching and School
Leadership (AITSL, 2020) standard 1 which is knowing your students and how they learn. Teachers
need to know the students to be able to cater to their learning needs whether that be their
interests, learning profile or readiness levels. The school also encourages input from parents and the
wider community, as they say, “it takes a village to raise a child.” This is extremely important in
creating a holistic environment for the child and ensuring that the parents are included in the
education of their children (Tomlinson, 2014). This can also link to the AITSL (2020) standard 7 and
3.7 which are about engaging parents in their child’s education.

3. Observation of classroom video

Suggested length: 700 words:

• Clear learning objectives and teaching for deep understanding. e.g., does the teacher appear to
have a clear sense of the intended learning outcomes? Is the objective explicitly stated or
otherwise made clear to students? Are learning tasks closely aligned with objectives?

The teacher clearly outlines the learning objectives at the start of the lesson to the students, these
were that students should be able to distinguish between metals and non-metals which is the
concept of difference. It was also stated how students will be able to achieve this. There was no clear
understand, know and be able to outcomes just a concept they had to understand. To ensure you
are creating high quality curriculum which is one the principles of differentiation it is important to
create clear understand, know and be able to do objectives for students. High quality curriculum has
been discussed by Wiggins & McTighe (2011) as essential to help students understand what they
need to achieve and how they can achieve this. During the lesson the concept of difference was not
reviewed and not reviewed at the end of the lesson. Therefore, this makes it extremely difficult to
see if the students have actually achieved the intended learning outcomes or not. The experiment
the teacher conducted was aligned well with the learning concept of determining the difference
between metals and non-metals, as students were able to see the difference when different
elements were put into a flame. At the end of the lesson the teacher could have used an exit card to
determine if the students have achieved the learning outcomes and this would have then helped
him to plan the next lesson.

• Use of ongoing assessment to learn about students’ needs and inform planning and teaching for
a range of learners. e.g., does the lesson incorporate opportunities to assess students' progress,
formally or informally? Is assessment managed in a way that would help the teacher make
informed decisions about the needs of individual students and not just the group as a whole? Is
there evidence of the teacher using information from formal and informal assessment to adjust
planning or teaching? Do students receive meaningful, timely feedback?

During this lesson observation there was no evidence of pre-assessment although this may have
been done before this lesson; however, I would have expected to see some differentiated tasks
rather than just one task for everyone. Pre-assessments are important because it allows the teacher
to determine the readiness levels of the students and identity which students may need more
support or need to be challenged further (Doubet & Hockett, 2015). There was also no evidence of
formative assessment during this lesson although students were asked to take notes these were not
collected at the end as a formative assessment. By gathering formative assessment data, it allows
EDUC4720 Differentiation for Diverse Learners Assignment 3 (2)

the teacher to make sure each student has achieved the learning outcomes that have been set at the
start of the lesson. It also enables the teacher to gather information about student progress and
more important plan differentiated learning tasks for the following lessons (Wiliam, 2011). The
teacher could have used a range of formative assessments to gather information about what
students had learnt during the lesson, such as; differentiated worksheets, exit cards, R.A.F.Ts, choice
boards or learning menus. These are all good differentiated learning tasks because they enable each
student to be included as these tasks are based on readiness levels, interests or learning profiles
meaning that all students can be appropriately challenged and show their understanding (Sousa &
Tomlinson, 2018). From this formative assessment, the teacher would be able to plan for the next
lesson and address aspects that students didn’t understand by giving differentiated tasks as listed
above. However, with this lesson being an experiment the students may have been completing
practical reports after the lesson. In saying this, there was no mention of this during this lesson and
without seeing any other information it is difficult to determine what formative assessment was
being used to inform their teaching practice further or the needs of each student. Throughout the
lesson there was no evidence of feedback in either written or verbal form. Written communication is
harder to observe, however; there was little to no verbal feedback given to students about how they
can improve or what they are doing well. Feedback has been described by Hattie (2012) as being
“the most powerful moderators of learning” as it is used to bridge the gap between what students
where they are and where they need to be. It can help to focus attention or accomplish the task. This
is something that I would expect to be more evident throughout the lessons, otherwise students
don’t know what they are doing well or what they need to improve on or where they need to be by
the end of the lesson. The teacher didn’t really converse with the students either making it difficult
to give verbal feedback. Therefore, the teacher would be unable to plan targeted learning
experiences for the students’ next lesson and he has not bridged the gap between where students
are and where they need to be.

• Flexible grouping practices. e.g., are students grouped in meaningful (intentional) ways related
to their developing needs and the intended learning outcomes? Does grouping appear to be fluid
and flexible, or more fixed?

During this lesson, the students were sitting at tables in groups and were asked to complete their
work together. However, the reasons for grouping were not evident in this lesson. These groups
could have been fixed, flexible or fluid and arranged before the lesson based on pre-assessment, the
last lesson or a range of other things but the exact reasons weren’t explicitly mentioned.

• Proactive planning for differences in students’ readiness, interests and/or learning preferences.
e.g., Does the teacher appear to have planned in advance to address student diversity in the
lesson, or does this only happen reactively during the lesson? That is, could the teacher have
anticipated diverse students' responses to the lesson beforehand and made any adjustments to
resources, supports, or activities to make learning more accessible and appropriately challenging?
Do all students appear to be engaged and challenged by the lesson?

During this lesson it was difficult to observe what planning had gone into students’ readiness levels,
interests or learning profiles because students were completing the same practical experiment. The
students were grouped, however; all completed the same experiment at the same time following
along with the teacher. The teacher may have determined that the students were not capable of
following written instructions and working independently from previous lessons, however I would
still expected to see some written instructions given to students to follow along with. Especially for
students who struggle to take verbal instructions, as not all students are good at this as each student
EDUC4720 Differentiation for Diverse Learners Assignment 3 (2)

has a different learning profile. Learning profiles are important to consider when creating
curriculum, assessment and instruction because not all students learn or communicate their ideas in
the same way or prefer some ways and not others. By doing addressing student learning profiles it
allows each student the opportunity to be included in the classroom and enable them to learn and
communicate the content in a way that they prefer (Hattie & Yates, 2014). The teacher asked
students to write down their own meanings and explanations for metals and non- metals in a way
that they would understand. This is good because it enables each student to create their own
meaning and show their understanding, it also means they could use different forms of
communication like drawing pictures or using words, which does address student learner profiles.
However, for students that struggle to create their own ideas there was no scaffolding provided or
additional support from the teacher. Scaffolding is a great tool to provide support for students to
complete a task as it provides structure for a student to follow, which can help with their
understanding (Le Messurier, 2010). To make this lesson more suitable the teacher could have
completed a preassessment and assessed the readiness levels of the students to perform the
experiment independently and answer the questions and understand the concept of difference.
Student could then be grouped according to readiness levels and this would have provided adequate
challenge for all students. This would be a more inclusive approach and allow all students to be
included and provided with support needed to complete the task.

• A positive, inclusive learning environment. e.g., is there a positive, collegial atmosphere in the
classroom? Is there a sense of partnership between teachers and students in the management of
the classroom? Does the teacher explicitly (or implicitly) communicate the message that learning
is valued above performance, that learning involves effort and working with appropriate
challenges, and that diversity is valued?

At the beginning of the lesson when the students walked into the classroom and there was no
interaction with the teacher nor any kind of discussion with students while waiting for all the other
students. This is a fantastic opportunity to greet students by name and engage in small
conversations that enable the teacher to get to know their students better and build on
relationships. This leads to a more positive relationship between student and teacher which in turn
can make a student feel more comfortable in the classroom and create a safe environment (Jarvis,
2015 in Weatherby-Fell). Positive relationships with students in a classroom are extremely important
because it can influence how students behave in the classroom, how safe they feel to ask questions
and seek support, as well as feel included (Tomlinson, 2018). One thing that was observed during the
lesson was that students seemed to feel comfortable to put up their hand and answer questions
meaning that either the questions are too easy, or the students feel comfortable enough in the
classroom to answer questions. There did not seem to be much regard for differentiated learning
within this classroom as there weren’t any changes made for the students as they were all
completing the same task with the same instructions. The only point of differentiation was that each
student had to write their own meanings for metals and non-metals in whichever way they would
understand best.

4. Final reflection

Suggested length: 400 words

Upon completing this differentiation topic, I have gained a whole new mindset towards
curriculum, instruction, teaching and learnt how to use differentiation with my students. When I
EDUC4720 Differentiation for Diverse Learners Assignment 3 (2)

went to school everyone did the same thing and there wasn’t much deviation from that. I never had
an issue with that when I was at school, however; my brother suffers from a learning difficulty and I
now realise the importance of differentiating tasks for students as this was not done for him. As he
never had teachers who differentiated, he lacked confidence and was unable to complete tasks
which meant he would receive below average grades. From this experience and this differentiation
topic, I have learnt that it does not and should not be this way and these students should not fall
through the cracks. Diversity is something that should be valued as everyone brings different
experiences to the classroom and it is an opportunity to learn about other cultures, religions,
disabilities and many other diverse backgrounds. The most important part that I have taken out of
this topic is the ideas about changing tasks to suit each learner, depending on a variety of factors
including learner profiles, interest and readiness levels as well as including different cultures or
religions as described by Jarvis, (2015).

When planning assignments 1 and 2, I originally found the learning objectives to be difficult to
understand and struggled to write them in a professional way. However, these assignments and the
understanding by design to creating quality curriculum textbook (Wiggins and McTighe, 2011) have
helped me to develop my understanding and now I am able to create high quality learning objectives
for the classes that I will be taking on placement. Another thing that I found challenging with
designing my differentiated learning tasks was making sure that although the tasks were different,
they all had to meet the same learning outcomes. From completing the workshops and lectures as
well as the reading “The Differentiated Classroom” by Tomlinson (2014), I have learnt how to do this
successfully and that sometimes the objectives can change for individual students if need be.

From observing the classroom video, it was clear to me that differentiation is not something that is
done in every classroom. There are many ways to differentiate in a classroom, whether that be
through differentiated instruction, curriculum, tasks or assessment (Doubet and Hockett, 2015). The
advantages of differentiation are clear and so it surprises me that differentiation is not done in more
classrooms. Advantages can include increased engagement, academic performance, self-esteem, a
greater understanding of topic as well as many others (Jarvis, 2020).

As a future educator of diverse learners, I plan to use differentiation to get the most out of my class
in terms of academic achievement, but I also want to create a safe environment where my students
feel comfortable as I believe these two things are extremely important. For academic achievement I
aim to use pre-assessments, differentiated learning tasks and instruction to help my students to
achieve the desired learning outcomes as well as their own goals. This way I am addressing each
students’ learning profile, readiness and interest levels as discussed by Tomlinson (2014). As well as
academic achievement, I believe that relationships are crucial to how students behave and feel in a
classroom which has also been described by Jarvis (2015). I want my students to feel as though they
belong in my class and can come to me about any issue they may be facing as well as ask questions
about work and seek support. I have learnt many ways of creating this environment such as making
sure you engage with students and find out their interests, learn their names quickly and have an
inclusive approach. A differentiated approach to teaching as I has discussed also means that I am
achieving almost all the AITSL (2020) standards, with a particular focus on standard 1 knowing your
students and how they learn and also standard 4 creating and maintaining safe and supportive
learning environments. This approach to teaching can also link to the Teaching for Effective Learning
Framework (Department of Education, 2016) that outlines standards for creating safe conditions for
rigorous learning. Going forward into my final placement I would like to employ the techniques and
strategies that I have learnt and apply them into my classes. I will seek help from my mentor as to
whether they believe these strategies are working and how I can improve on them further. I would
EDUC4720 Differentiation for Diverse Learners Assignment 3 (2)

also like to extend my knowledge further by visiting schools that specialise in differentiation or doing
some more professional development as I become a more experienced so that my skills remain up to
date.

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