Topic: Differentiation in Mathematics class

Student name: Nishu Jain

Student number: 4612209

Assessment 1: Literature Review

Unit: AED5001 Education Research Design and Methods

28-November-2019
Introduction:

Globalization, culturally diverse populations and frequently changing technology is resulting

in many challenges for education people around the world. Education is one of the area that
needs continuous efforts to meet the needs of the students. Teachers must understand the
different abilities and level of understanding of the students to make tailor the instructions.
This understanding of ‘one size doesn’t fit all’ allows teachers to focus on the design of the
instructions depending on the strengths and weaknesses of various students. Students do
lose their focus and interest in the topic if the instructions given by the teacher are not in
accordance with their learning style (Morgan, 2014). It is very well written that when there
are visible differences in the learning styles of the students, teachers must take necessary
actions and differentiate their instructions to make the learning interesting and successful
for the children (Tomlinson, 2000). So, differentiated instruction becomes more important
and key thing in primary level education as students of the same age might differ in the
requirement of instructions and support during learning. It is assumed that differentiated
instructions positively impacts the learning of students but only few researches are available
about the direct connection between differentiated instructions and successful learning of
learners.

Differentiated Instruction:

There are many definitions of differentiated instructions. Tobin and Tippett (2012) defined it
as an approach and set of instructions given by the teacher to meet the different needs of
their learners in the inclusive environment of the classroom. Differentiation means giving
learners various ways to consume information (Tomlinson, 1999). Observing and
understanding the diverse needs of learners and hence, using that understanding to plan for
the delivery of the content is also termed as differentiation. It can also be defined as a series
of strategies that will help teachers to know the level of his learners and help them progress
on their academic journey (Ruys, Defruyt, Rots & Aelterman, 2013). Smit and Humper
believes differentiated instruction as an approach that strategically enables the planning of
teachers to meet the varying need of the students. Although there are differences in these
definitions but one thing which is similar is, that differentiated instruction is required to
meet the learning styles of various students and help them develop their own individual
abilities as far as possible. This makes it clear that differentiated instructions is not a
strategy in itself but an approach to instruct the students using strategies.

Differentiated instruction is also very different from individualised instructions.

Individualised instruction means instructions required to facilitate the learning difficulties of
students whereas differentiated instruction is to include the varying needs of learners in the
one same classroom. So, individualised instruction can be considered as a part of
differentiated instruction.

In today’s schools, students are very much culturally and academically diverse. In a
classroom setting, there are students who are great in literacy and numeracy, there are
some who have exceptional qualities for art, music and drama but they are not very good
with numeracy and literacy, some differ with their learning style whereas for some students,
English is not their first language making it difficult for them to read or understand
instructions. The Movement toward inclusion has resulted in requiring teachers to respond
to diverse academic needs (Pierce, Adams 2004). So, there arises the need to enable the
low-level learners and meet the needs of middle level learners and also extend advanced
learners’ capabilities. Teachers need to be mindful that there are enough opportunities for
every student to progress in their learning. In differentiated classrooms, teachers start from
the level of the students. They realise that learners differ in their own prime ways
(Tomlinson, 1999).

Differentiated learning serves the purpose of one instructional strategy that teachers can
use to facilitate the diverse needs of students. Students in differentiated classrooms are
motivated to continue even when tasks are difficult or beyond their learning level. Students
become engrossed because the task is enjoyable and relates to their interest or it is
specifically to challenge them and it does not bore them (Tomlinson, 2013).

Mathematics Instruction:

It has been explained by Lubienski in 2002 that how schools fail in facilitating children of
different races, colour and poor financial backgrounds, especially in mathematics. National
Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2014) states that Mathematical scholars and
researchers are looking for answers to their questions in order to improve mathematics
education and move further towards giving equal opportunities to students from all
backgrounds who achieve the highest levels in mathematics. Improvement in the
mathematics instruction has been a key point so that all the students can meet the high
standards as set by the state education department. But there are students who are at risk
for mathematics difficulties, vary in motivation and ability which makes it difficult for them
to achieve the set benchmarks.

Mathematical literacy is really important for students as it opens doors to problem solving,
reasoning and analysing numerical information and provides knowledge to suffice in this 21 st
century. “All students must have a strong foundation in mathematics to work progressively
in this ever changing world.” (Ball et al., 2005, p. 1056). Problems in mathematical
calculations and reasoning generally influences the education of the child (Gross, 2007).
Problems with language or memory can be one of the reason for a child to experience
mathematics difficulties as said by Gifford and Rockliffe in 2012. The National Council of
Teachers of Mathematics (2000) has greatly enhanced the mathematics instructions by
promoting standards based instruction. These standards describe the skills that a child
should have in order to perform wisely and effectively in this 21 st century.

It is really important for teachers to build up on students’ strong points and give them a
platform where they can work and progress towards becoming high level scholars in the
field of mathematics education. Unlike the olden days, teachers today allow good time to
students to think, question and work. Differentiated Instruction allows students to receive
instructions which meets their needs effectively and thus making the good use of
instructional time. During class discussions, only few students get the chance to share their
findings or to present their difficulties in front of the whole class. That’s why the teacher
cannot really know about the understanding or difficulties of other students. So, it’s
important for teachers to work in small groups or work with differentiated instructions. A
significant mathematical way in which the teacher can identify each student’s interest in his
work, find his zone of proximal development and help them with their ideas and concepts,
can happen in small groups (Margolin and Regev, 2011).

Differentiation in Mathematics Class:

Unlike other subjects, the math teacher teaches all the students based on the fairly narrow
curriculum goal. The teacher does identify and observe that some students need additional
help and try to help them as much as possible whereas other students work independently.
However, it can be seen that students in the same math classroom differ in their
mathematical skills significantly. Therefore, understanding the differences and
differentiating instructions become all the way more important in maths class.

One way of meeting the needs of the students is to assign them tasks within their zone of
proximal development, it allows students to access new ideas that are beyond their prior
knowledge but within their reach. For this, teacher need to know the zone of the child
which can be determined by using prior assessments of the student and by analysing the
student. Differentiated instruction is not a new idea for teachers but it is gaining more
importance for mathematics in recent years. To effectively differentiate instruction: prior
assessment, choice and big ideas should be considered. Students’ progress and succeed
when differentiated instructions are applied correctly in maths class (Grimes & Stevens,
2009). Choice should be there for student whether in content, process or product. When
students are taught through differentiated instructions, they become motivated and learn
mathematics effectively and see themselves as a successful mathematician (Lawrence-
Brown, 2004).

Conclusion:

It can be seen that working with differentiated instruction in a classroom consists of many
activities. Teachers need to recognise the different levels of the students and the nature of
their styles and interest so that teacher should be able to formulate the goals for the
student keeping in mind the pace and focus required for the individual child. The need of
mathematics has been left behind by our society in process of making everyone literate.
Creating mathematically literate citizens is rarely questioned by teachers; which is really
important for meeting the daily demand of this 21st century.

Many factors promote and limit the differentiated instructions in the classroom. Learning
environment plays a vital role. Many teachers lack the time, knowledge, flexibility and
resources to plan differentiated instructions. In addition, effective differentiation depends
on the skills possessed by the teacher.

This knowledge and thinking makes it possible to formulate my research question. The main
research question is:

“How does Differentiated instructions effects the student mathematics achievement in

middle primary school classrooms?”

References:

Cannon, M. A. (2017). Differentiated Mathematics Instruction: An Action Research Study.

(Doctoral dissertation).

Margalin, I. & Regev, H. (2011). From whole to small group instruction: Learners developing
mathematical concepts.

Hani Morgan (2014) Maximizing Student Success with Differentiated Learning, The Clearing
House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2000). Principles and Standards for School
Mathematics. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2014). Principles to action: Ensuring

mathematical success for all. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Kellough, D. R. (1999). Surviving your first year of teaching: Guidelines for success. Prentice-
Hall, Inc.

Lubienski, S. T. (2002). A closer look at black-white mathematics gap: Intersections of race

and SES in NAEP achievement and instructional practices data. The Journal of Negro
Education.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2000). Reconcilable differences: Standards-based teaching and

differentiation. Educational Leadership.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). Differentiated instruction in the regular classroom: What does it

mean? How does it look? Understanding Our Gifted.