Alberta and Differentiated Instruction

The Province of Alberta and Differentiated Instruction

The Alberta School Board describes differentiated instruction as a philosophy and an approach to teaching in which teachers and school communities actively work to support the learning of all students. Building on the foundation that effective instruction must be responsive to students’ readiness, interests, and learning preferences. All three characteristics of the learner will, inevitably, allow educators and students to build new learning through connections to existing knowledge and preferred ways of working. The process depends on the ongoing use of assessment to gather information about where students are in their learning. Teachers use this information to vary the learning environment, instruction, assessment, and evaluation. Readiness refers to the student’s starting point for learning, relative to the concept being studied. Attention to students’ interests, by incorporating the use of learner profiles, enhances the relevancy of learning by linking new information to students’ experience and enthusiasm.

            The philosophy and approach are similar to the U.D.L. in that learning preferences are influenced by gender, culture, the classroom environment, learning styles, and multiple intelligences. The method strongly encourages educators to incorporate pretesting before they begin a unit, as it will be most useful in helping you plan assignments and projects for learner diversity.

            As it concerns the teaching of science, the literature explains how some students will require concrete and tangible examples that provide clear, guided support and that others can develop and apply skills in increasingly independent, abstract, and complex contexts. It may be helpful to consider students' needs along a continuum of support through to independence. The guide includes a self-evaluation for students that the teacher can use after a lesson or lab/project to ascertain learning and learning styles. More importantly, it will guide the teacher when moving on to the next unit. The self-evaluation and assessment sheet can be a helpful tool at the beginning of the school year, as well.

 " Every time you use a pretest to help you plan a learning activity, present information in multiple ways, or offer choice in the format for a final project, you are reflecting the key belief of differentiated instruction." (p.2). Science teachers are always looking for concrete information to guide them when creating projects and approaches to units. Differentiated instruction provides a wonderful opportunity to assist in the search for new approaches and new project ideas. There are many things to learn and take from this document for all teachers and across the curriculum.

Differentiated because it is okay to be different!

We all have a unique style of learning.