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What's the difference?

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Different but Equal

1/12/2015

5 Comments

 
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Yesterday I read a piece in Education Week written by Dr. James Delisle in which he flatly rejected the idea of differentiated instruction in the classroom in favour of a streamed teaching approach to homogeneous groupings of kids.

In his article he states: 
 Although fine in theory, differentiation in practice is harder to implement in a heterogeneous classroom than it is to juggle with one arm tied behind your back. In fact, what he argues is that differentiation, while a laudable goal, is too difficult for teachers to implement and it therefore is a failure, a farce, and the ultimate educational joke played on countless educators and students. In other words, according to him, the problem is not the theory, but rather the actual practice. And, rather than improve the skills of our teachers in order to meet the needs of all learners, we should turn back the clock and educate in narrowly defined silos of learner "capability". Hopefully, we have left those days behind us.

Years ago, I taught at the University of Connecticut alongside Jim Delisle and, ironically, Carol Ann Tomlinson who is perhaps the world expert and greatest proponent of differentiation. So I wondered, all of these years later, what would make him think this way?

There is no question that many teachers consider the challenge of meeting the needs of a diverse group of learners an impossible task. You only have to look at the rhetoric surrounding the recent teachers' strike in British Columbia with its rallying cry against the integration of special needs students into classrooms and demands for contract language controlling "class composition" to see this mentality at work. Unfortunately the idea of "streaming" classes is based on the fallacy that students fall into definable categories as learners and that if properly grouped, they can be taught with a "one size fits all" style of instruction. Certainly many post-secondary institutions operate that way but I have never seen a good school, or a master teacher who would ever consider that to be an effective approach to teaching and learning.

Teachers have always struggled with how to differentiate to meet the needs of all learners. Thirty years ago, attention to "learning styles" was all the rage. Teachers were encouraged to vary their methodology in order to give each student some opportunities to learn in their own preferred way. One system in vogue at the time divided students into four learning quadrants and recommended that learning activities and approaches be balanced among them. Although this was superior to a monomodal approach, it still meant - even to its advocates - that the needs of only one quarter of the students in a class were being appropriately addressed at any given time. 

What we really needed then, and still need now, is a multimodal approach. In other words, rather than varying our methods from time to time, educators really should offer multiple approaches concurrently. This is the fundamental concept behind Universal Design for Learning (UDL). You start with the concept, or the assessment, or the teaching strategy and offer a variety of approaches or options for students to pursue. UDL starts with the premise that everyone is capable of understanding a concept; or demonstrating mastery; or being engaged in learning; the role of the teacher is to find the pathway that will make it work for each of her or his students. For a class novel study for example, that might mean using a combination of a regular print copy; a digital book with adjustable font; an audio-book; or even speech to text software on a laptop or SmartBoard. Additionally, some creative strategies for challenging learners, inspired by a universal design approach, can often prove to be more effective for all students - even those who would normally succeed in a traditional classroom.

At KGMS and Maplewood Alternative, each of our classes is the most eclectic mix that you can imagine and our school functions quite wonderfully with over 160 different educational plans operating at the same time. Our teachers are masters of the art of running a truly student centred and differentiated classroom, being aware of the range of learning styles and needs that they face and helping children and young adults navigate their way through the curriculum. Do they have supports? Of course they do. We have relatively small core classes (15-18) which are subdivided into working groups of five or six with a dedicated teacher for language arts and mathematics; we have specialist support teachers in Science, Social Studies, Phys-ed and the Arts; we have a strong counseling department which delivers our Social-Emotional Learning programme; we have psychologists, an SLP and an OT at our disposal; and a legion of expert tutors that provide close to an hour of one on one tutoring for each elementary student, every day and individualized academic support for all of our high school students.

You see, the real issue is not about who is in your classroom, but rather it is about how you are organized to effectively serve them. In our school, students with complex learning needs are not a challenge to be faced, they are a puzzle to be solved. We work as a team to unlock the barriers to their learning and open up new pathways to success. It is often a difficult task, but it is always rewarding.

Every teacher, every classroom, and every school has to provide a learning environment that recognizes that every student learns differently. You can call it differentiation, or you can just call it effective teaching. Either way, it is the only way to meet the needs of the learners in our care.  Anything less, to put it in Jim Delisle's terms, would be a "farce"!


5 Comments
Mark Brown
1/13/2015 12:20:36 am

Well said Jim.

One small thing to add... while Delisle's article might have drifted too far and threw the baby out with the bathwater I think what he was trying to get at is that "differentiation" is not the be-all and end-all answer to the challenges of teaching. Too many administrators (and well-paid delivers of "PD") are out pushing various differentiation methods like snake oil salesman. The truth of the matter is that teaching isn't teaching unless the student is learning. It's not what is taught that matters, it what is learned. Our profession would be far better off if we focused on the learning, not the teaching, and if we stopped expecting all teaching to look alike.

The leadership of excellent learning (i.e. being a teacher) cannot be taught nor quantified by checkboxes and checklists. If we moved away from top-down approaches to education, fired the majority of the so-called teaching experts, stopped worrying about appearances and instead focused back solely upon the learning we might, as a profession and presently embarrassingly obtuse system, be able to move forward and meet the needs of today's learners.

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Brenda
1/14/2015 10:26:38 am

I just want to say AMEN to this:
"The truth of the matter is that teaching isn't teaching unless the student is learning. It's not what is taught that matters, it what is learned. Our profession would be far better off if we focused on the learning, not the teaching, "

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Vera Chestn8ut
2/1/2015 10:55:30 am

The number one thing I noticed about this article is the support the teachers receive from their educational community. Teachers working as a team can truly mean the difference between life and death for young learners. Teachers need the support and help from the entire educational school community--teachers, parents, and support specialists. Without these other team members teachers often feel like they are on a sinking ship and all the life boats are gone! No one teacher can meet the needs of all students without help. Most teachers genuinely want to do the best for their students but are often lacking the full support of a strong educational community. Sometimes those support systems are only partially in place leaving both teachers and parents flailing to be a SLP, a behavior councilor, a reading specialist, and more. When teachers have access to high quality support specialists they can become a well-informed teacher and advocate for every student. In all honesty Dr. Christopher's schools seem like a phenomenal place to teach in which students and teachers have the support services they need to be successful. My hat is off to you and I hope that one day this will become a standard in education.

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Lauren Thompson link
5/30/2015 02:23:25 am

I think differentiation can work only with smaller class sizes, as this school has. Sufficient teacher training and support are also necessary. Alas, these three elements are missing at the Brooklyn public school I am affiliated with. (And this is considered a "good" school!)

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Nicola link
11/29/2020 05:14:34 am

Thankk you for being you

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    Dr. Jim Christopher is recently retired Head of Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School and Maplewood Alternative High School in North Vancouver. A parent, author and long-time teacher, and educational administrator across Canada, he has been actively involved in the drive to differentiate learning experiences to meet the needs of all learners.

    View my profile on LinkedIn

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