1. “Differentiated instruction:
unpacking the concept”
Nicos Sifakis
Assoc. Professor
Hellenic Open U i
H ll i O
University
i
Serres, 22.02.2014
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 sifakis@eap.gr
http://eap.academia.edu/NicosCSifakis
https://www.facebook.com/nicos.sifakis
FB differentiated instruction page
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2. “The illiterate of the 21st
century will not be those who
cannot read and write, but
those who cannot learn,
unlearn and relearn”
Alvin Toffler
3
Some of th
S
f the
problems…
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2

3. 5
6
3

4. 7
8
4

5. 9
10
5

6. 11
12
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7. • When all learners receive
the same instruction
through which they are
expected to learn the
same thing in the same
way on the same day
One-size-fits-all approach
13
Teaching English For No Obvious
Reason (Abbott 1981)
•
•
•
•
Typical secondary-school learners
Little or no motivation to learn
Learning needs hard to define
A situation where no obvious learning
objective is envisaged
• Curriculum: typically conservative
T.E.N.O.R.
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7

8. What
Wh t a solution
l ti
might look like…
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“Differentiation is
making sure that the
right students get the
i ht t d t
t th
right learning tasks at
the right time.”
(Earl, 2003: 86)
Differentiated instruction
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8

9. • Autonomy
• Belonging
• Competence
Key human needs
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Key skills for the 21st century
• Digital-Age Literacy
– Basic scientific, economic and technological
Basic, scientific economic,
literacies
– Visual and information literacies
– Multicultural literacy and global awareness
• Creative-Inventive Thinking
–
–
–
–
Adaptability and managing complexity
Self-direction
Curiosity, creativity, and risk-taking
Higher-order thinking and sound reasoning
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9

10. Key skills for the 21st century
• Effective Communication
– Teaming collaboration, and interpersonal skills
Teaming, collaboration
– Personal, social, and civic responsibility
– Interactive communication
• High Productivity
– Prioritizing, planning, and managing for results
– Effective use of real world tools
real-world
– Ability to produce relevant, high-quality products
(NCREL, 2003)
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“The main crisis in
schools today is
irrelevance”
Dan Pink (2002) Free Agent Nation
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10

11. Age of Agriculture
Industrial Age
I d ti lA
Age of Information Intensification
Age of Creation Intensification
[Source: M. Teruyasu, Nomura Research Institute]
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12. 23
“My wife and I went to a [kindergarten] parentteacher conference and were informed that
our budding refrigerator artist, Christopher,
would be receiving a grade of Unsatisfactory
in t W
i art. We were shocked. How could any child
h k d H
ld
hild
– let alone our child – receive a poor grade in
art at such a young age?”
“His teacher informed us that he had refused
to l
t color within the li
ithi th lines, which was a state
hi h
t t
requirement for demonstrating ‘grade-level
motor skills’.”
[Source: Jordan Aryan “AHA!”]
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12

13. “How many artists are there in the room? Would you please
raise your hands. FIRST GRADE: En masse the children leapt
from their seats, arms waving. Every child was an artist.
SECOND GRADE: About half the kids raised their hands,
shoulder high, no higher. The hands were still. THIRD
GRADE: At best, 10 kids out of 30 would raise a hand
best
hand,
tentatively, self-consciously. By the time I reached SIXTH
GRADE, no more than one or two kids raised their hands, and
then ever so slightly, betraying a fear of being identified by the
Every school I
visited was participating in the
suppression of creative genius.”
group as a ‘closet artist.’ The point is:
Gordon MacKenzie, Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with
Grace
26
13

14. • Learner-centredness
• Learning-centredness
• Teacher autonomy
• ICT-enhanced
“New School – New Learning”
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• NOT a set of instructional strategies…
• BUT a philosophy, a way of thinking
about teaching and learning;
essentially, a set of principles…
• which REQUIRES rethinking our
classroom practice and results, an
ongoing process of trial, reflection,
adjustment in the classroom itself.
What is
differentiated instruction?
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14

15. • Every student is worthy of dignity and
respect
• Diversity is both inevitable and positive
• The classroom should mirror the kind
of society in which we want our
students to live
• Most students can learn most things
that are essential to a given area of
study
Essential assumptions of DI
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Guided by:
• Respectful tasks
• Flexible grouping
• Ongoing assessment/adjustment
Differentiation of instruction
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16. Teachers can differentiate:
• Content
• Process
• Product
Differentiation of instruction
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…according to learners’
• Affect
• Readiness
• Interests
• Learning
Differentiation of instruction
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17. 1. ‘Attributes’: who they are
– Age
– Aptitude
– Personality
– Learning disabilities
– Social identities
In what ways are learners
different?
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2. ‘Conceptualisation’: how they
conceptualise FL acquisition
– Motivation
– Attitude
– Cognitive style
– Beliefs
3. ‘Actions’: what they do to learn
–L
Learning strategies
i
t t i
In what ways are learners
different?
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17

18. Through a range of instructional/management
strategies, such as:
• Multiple intelligences
• Jigsaw
• V i d texts
Varied t t
• Literature circles
• Small-group interaction
• Group investigation
• Independent study
• Varied homework
• ICT
Differentiation of instruction
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
stations
agendas
centers
tiered ti iti
ti d activities
learning contracts
compacting
independent study
portfolios
Strategies for DI
36
18

19. 37
38
19

20. 39
40
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21. 41
42
21

22. 43
44
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23. 45
46
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24. 47
48
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25. 49
50
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26. • Delivering instruction online outside of class and
moving “homework” into the classroom
• What’s driving it: (a) prevalence of online video
(b) poor learning outcomes of one-size-fits-all
education model
d
ti
d l
• Khan Academy
• Ideal for task-based and CLIL-related
classes, use Moodle to store all materials
(files, activity rubrics, video links, etc) for
learners to access
Reverse instruction
(‘flipped classroom’)
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52
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27. What should a language
teacher KNOW?
What should a language
teacher BE?
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• Subject-matter
– English language
–Teacher as Resource
• Pedagogy
– Teaching & Learning
–Teacher as Pedagogue
• Educational psychology
p y
gy
– Handling group dynamics
–Teacher as Leader
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27

28. Group characteristic features:
• Interaction among group members
• GM perceive themselves as a distinct unit and
demonstrate a level of commitment to it.
• GM share some purpose or goal for being together
• Endurance for a reasonable period of time
• Development of salient ‘internal structure’ (rules,
standard, regulation of entry/departure,
interpersonal patterns, status hierarchy)
• G is held accountable of it members’ actions
i h ld
t bl f its
b ’ ti
What is a group?
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A group/team is
a
WEB
in
FLUX
56
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29. • A group is a living developing
process (a “system”)
– Part of a broader physical, social,
physical social
economic and cultural environment
What are groups made of?
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58
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30. • A group is a living developing
process (a “system”)
– Enormous complexity of the in group
in-group
relations/communication channels
Y = X2 - X
What are groups made of?
59
60
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31. 61
62
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32. 63
• Forming
• Storming
• Norming
• Performing
• Adjourning/Mourning
j
g
g
Group dynamics stages
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33.  sifakis@eap.gr
http://eap.academia.edu/NicosCSifakis
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34. Dr Nicos C. Sifakis
Hellenic Open University
sifakis@eap.gr
http://eap.academia.edu/NicosCSifakis
State English Teachers' Union of Serres,
Serres, 22.02.2014
Seminar on Differentiated Instruction
Materials at varied readability levels
General but useful resources for reading levels:
 http://www.scholastic.com/bookwizard/: Scholastic’s Book Wizard allows teachers to
search for books by level, but not all books are leveled for each leveling system
 http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/guidedreading/leveling_chart.htm:
guided
th
reading levelling chart for grades kindergarten to 6 grade
 http://www.fountasandpinnellleveledbooks.com/: the Fountas and Pinnell Leveled Books
Website for subscribers includes a database of 18,000 leveled books as well as
suggestions for reading instruction, supporting materials and teacher tips
 Focus on one god readability levels online analyzer: Lexile. http://www.lexile.com/ 
http://www.lexile.com/analyzer/: The Lexile Difference: Measuring Reader and Text: The
Lexile Framework evaluates both reading ability and text complexity on the same scale.
Unlike other systems, the Lexile Framework uses assessment results to match readers
with texts essential for growth and monitor their progress toward standards. A student
gets his or her Lexile reader measure from a reading test or program. For example, if a
student receives an 880L on her end‐of‐grade reading test, she is an 880 Lexile reader.
Higher Lexile measures represent a higher level of reading ability. A Lexile reader
measure can range from below 200L for beginning readers to above 1700L for advanced
readers. A book, article or piece of text gets a Lexile text measure when it's analyzed by
MetaMetrics. For example, the first "Harry Potter" book measures 880L, so it's called an
880 Lexile book.
Spelling assigned by proficiency
 http://www.spellzone.com/: an online English spelling course with hundreds of pages of
teaching, spelling tests and games (written mainly with older students in mind: teenagers
and adults)
 http://www.primarygames.com/reading.htm: free games for younger learners, such as
hangman, scramble, etc.
 http://www.ultimatespelling.com/: software, has a feature where the correct spelling is
flashed onscreen when the user attempts to make an invented spelling. In that manner,
the user eventually learns how to spell that particular word correctly each time it is
encountered until such time that the 'reminder' no longer flashes.
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