The Importance Of Differentiation In General Education

In any classroom, there are different levels of learning abilities of students. Differentiation allows teachers to give students choices. Students can choose the way in which they learn and how to demonstrate their learning. A teacher can anticipate and respond to a variety of student’s needs in a classroom. “Professional development that supports 21st century skills also ask teachers to identify and respond to students’ particular intelligences, strengths, and weaknesses” Hansen, C.B., Buczynski, S., & Puckett, K.S. (2015). Gardner explains that there are eight multiple intelligences or ways of learning that different students may use as approaches to learning. Traditional schooling has placed a premium on the demonstration of the first two intelligences: linguistic and logical-mathematical (Armstrong, 2009). Differentiation allows teachers to meet these multiple intelligences by modifying the content, process and the product to help student engagement in tasks.

Differentiating instruction means that you observe and

We as educators are aware of the ranging gifts of our students and admit that are some students that have significant disabilities that must be addressed but who can receive an education in a general education classroom. A multilevel system and the design and development of differentiated instruction began in the general education classroom. “The initial application came to practice for students considered gifted who perhaps were not sufficiently challenged by the content provided in the general classroom setting. As classrooms, have become more diverse with the introduction of inclusion of students with disabilities, and the reality of diversity in public schools, differentiated instruction has been applied at all levels for students of all abilities” Guild & Garger