“Not all students are alike. Based on this knowledge, differentiated instruction applies an approach to teaching and learning that gives students multiple options for taking in information and making sense of ideas. Differentiated instruction is a teaching theory based on the premise that instructional approaches should vary and be adapted in relation to individual and diverse students in classrooms (Tomlinson, 2001).

The model of differentiated instruction requires teachers to be flexible in their approach to teaching and adjust the curriculum and presentation of information to learners rather than expecting students to modify themselves for the curriculum. Many teachers and teacher educators have recently identified differentiated instruction as a method of helping more students in diverse classroom settings experience success.” http://www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_diffinstructudl.html

I enjoyed the discussion about Christian and Glenn’s posts around Multiple Intelligences (MI). The discussion was around whether Multiple Intelligences should be used to; just test learner strengths, to differentiate curriculum to suit the strengths of individual students or to extend the skills of learners in weaker areas. I believe the theory of MI should be used for all three. Although it is obvious that students have different strengths and different learning styles, they should be extended to build their skills in the areas which they may not be naturally talented in.

There are numerous ways in which a teacher can differentiate the curriculum to ensure that students are able to engage and connect with the learning. The discussions this week shed some interesting light on different strategies to use in the classroom.