Natasha Meseldzija EDUC4720

2165909 / mese0016 Assignment 3

ASSIGNMENT 3: DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION PORTFOLIO

EDUC4720 - DIFFERENTIATION FOR DIVERSE LEARNERS
Natasha Meseldzija
Student ID: 2165909

DEFINITIONS OF DIFFERENTIATION AND INCLUSION

In an education setting, inclusion is understood as ensuring all students are

able to participate in the class and access the learning (Foreman, 2014).
Indeed, the Disability Discrimination Act states that “it is unlawful to
discriminate against people, including children, with an illness or disability in
the provision of…educational facilities.” (Australian Human Rights
Commission, 2019). However, inclusion involves more than just not
discriminating against students, or encouraging all students to participate in
learning. Ainscow & Miles (2008) break inclusion down into four main
elements: presence, participation, progress or achievement, and a sense of
belonging. Teachers should aim to address all four elements to ensure their
classroom is truly inclusive (Ainscow & Miles, 2008). In order to have an
inclusive classroom, teachers must provide opportunities for all students to
access the learning content, participate in lessons, make meaningful
progress, and feel like they belong. One way teachers can do this is by
employing differentiation techniques within their classroom.

Differentiation is a teaching approach that aims to ensure all students in a

classroom are able to access and make sense of the learning content,
develop their knowledge and skills in relation to the content, and work at a
level that is an appropriate challenge for them individually (Tomlinson, 2001).
Differentiation involves teachers tailoring their instruction, tasks, and lessons
to cater to the diversity of the class and meet the needs of each individual
student. Teachers can differentiate in respect to student readiness, student
learning preferences, or student interests (Tomlinson & Strickland, 2005).
Ideally, all methods of differentiation should give every single student the
opportunity to develop and achieve their learning goals, even though they
may take different, individualised pathways and approaches to the learning
(Tomlinson & Strickland, 2005). Evidently, differentiation practices are
inherently linked with inclusion, and teachers should aim to incorporate
differentiation within their classroom to ensure the presence, participation,
growth, and sense of belonging for all their students.
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SCHOOL DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION PROFILE

The types of student differences teachers commonly address in the

classroom.
The school I’m attending for my final placement is a community school in a
rural town on the Limestone Coast. The school has 309 enrolments, 136 of
these being in the secondary school where I am based. Of the 309 students, 5
students identify as ATSI, 10 have disabilities, 4 speak English as a second
language, and 43 receive financial aid as part of the school card scheme.
Statistically, the school also has low literacy and numeracy levels when
compared to Australian and worldwide standards.

It is important to note that these statistics do not necessarily reflect all the
students with learning difficulties, difficult home lives, unidentified learning
needs, or other personal issues. After getting to know the students in each
class, it has become clear there are a high number of students who had
diverse learning needs that are not officially recognised by the school.
Additionally, there area many students with learning difficulties (ASD, ADHD,
etc.) whose pants or legal guardians either do not allow the students to take
action with medication, or who choose not to work with the school to negotiate
a modified learning plan for their child. Furthermore, there would be at least 6
students within each class who come from difficult home lives, and have to
deal with serious issues outside of school. I also believe the small school size
and class size only amplifies these differences. From these statistics and
informal observations, it is evident that within any of classroom there is bound
to be a myriad of diverse learning needs.

How common student differences in this setting might impact on learning and
the classroom environment.
The large range of student differences has an impact on the classroom
environment, and thus affects each individual student’s learning. Oftentimes,
students with diverse learning needs are given more attention by the teacher,
whether to help scaffold the content or to closely monitor the student’s
behaviour. Either way, this can lead to the rest of the class’ learning needs
being neglected, which can in turn result in challenging behaviour. In saying
this, it is also possible that students with diverse learning needs don’t receive
the attention they need from the teacher. In turn, the student cannot access
the learning content. This can result in the student falling behind or displaying
poor, disruptive behaviour.

Most of the students realise the differences between them and understand
that these differences are not limiting. The students are all encouraging
towards each other and are not disrespectful about anyone else’s learning
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needs. However, I have noticed some students exhibit a fixed mindset in

regard to their own ability to learn. This is particularly evident in students who
have learning difficulties that are not addressed by the school in the form of
an IEP/NEP. These students are often disengaged and do not have a positive
attitude towards school. This affects the classroom climate and creates
potential for other students to take on this same attitude. The culmination of
all this can make it difficult for the teacher to help these students learn while
managing their behaviour, let alone support all the other students in the class
as well.

How teachers and other staff typically respond to these differences

Throughout my placement I have realised the difficulty in finding a balance of
supporting all students. The main strategy used to help cater for students with
diverse needs is to have an SSO with the student. Some students with NEPs
are given modified assessment tasks in particular subjects. The teachers at
the school are aware of the need to respond to the diverse student needs and
aim to differentiate to cater to the diversity within their classroom. Many
teachers discuss how they try to differentiate lessons where they can, but they
also note how difficult it is to consistently prepare and deliver polished,
differentiated lessons.

The lessons that I observed of my mentor teacher were lacking in explicit

differentiation. However, when students had questions about content or a
task, my mentor teacher did tend to offer more scaffolding to particular
students who needed the extra support, and more of a guided discovery
approach with students who were at a higher readiness level. One
assignment that my mentor teacher had set to a class gave students a choice
of presentation mode (written report, slideshow, video, website, etc.). This
more implicit form of differentiation was common amongst teachers at the
school. Many teachers I spoke to explained that while they may struggle to
implement differentiation into all their lessons, their assessment tasks are
almost always differentiated. This ensures that any students with NEP/IEPs,
along with any students with other diverse learning needs are able to access
the learning, and complete the assessment. In this way, all students are
working through content towards similar learning outcomes, they just have
different ways of getting there. This allows all students to showcase their
understanding, and feel a sense of pride and achievement, in turn heightening
students self-efficacy.
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What philosophy and approach to student diversity and inclusion is reflected

in the school’s mission or vision statement, policies, or other published
information.
My placement school’s vision statement concludes with “We believe in
success for all”. Evidently, this reflects the ideas of inclusion and
differentiation. The school’s vision statement also states the priority to provide
personalised education so that all students can achieve their goals. This is
achieved primarily through recognising student voice, and fostering great
relationships with families. The school also has a focus on STEM approaches,
critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and curiosity, communication,
teamwork, innovation and entrepreneurship, and adaptability. The school and
it’s teachers understand that students learn best when they are involved in
authentic and active learning, engaged in relevant hands-on activities,
challenged to think critically and creatively, and reflect on their learning.

Your observations and impressions of how the philosophy embodied in the

mission and vision statement is specifically enacted in practice at this school.
The school’s vision is enacted within the school in many ways. First and
foremost, the school definitely offers personalised education. This is probably
typical of rural schools, due to the small size of the community. The teachers
at the school are able to foster great relationships with students and parents,
partly thanks to the closeness of the community. The positive impact this has
on students learning is extremely noticeable. The school upholds their value
of ‘recognising student voice’ by having an SRC, as well as a number of other
ways. As another example, a year 9 group entered a project into a
competition and won the school $500. The school allowed the year 9 group to
decide what the money would go towards (they chose to use the money to
help rebuild a shed in the agriculture department). This is one example of
many that show how the school recognises student voice.

The school also embodies their vision by putting in time and effort to creating
and upholding NEPs/IEPs for students. These involve substantial work and
collaboration with parents and students to ensure the students modifications
and goals are under continuous review. The school offers TAFE pathways,
which a large number of students undertake. This helps the school be
inclusive and cater for all students and the different pathways they may want
to pursue. The schools focus on a STEM approach is promoted through the
building and usage of modern STEM facilities. I have also noticed many
teachers refer to the schools values when disciplining students, for example
saying “Was your behaviour in line with our school values?”
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Your observations and impressions of the extent to which the classroom and
other school practices you observed throughout your professional experience
align with the philosophy, principles and practices of differentiation and
inclusion we have studied this semester
There is always talk about differentiation amongst teachers at my school.
Strategies for successful differentiation are constantly being discussed. The
conversation often comes back to the idea that differentiation is important and
effective, but not always achievable. As mentioned earlier, I have mainly seen
explicit differentiation occur in relation to student’s assessment tasks.
However the use of implicit differentiation, through assisting/questioning
students and guiding class discussions, is much more common. I have also
observed teachers give different success criteria for different students within a
lesson. For example, a student with ASD who struggles with mathematical
concepts but does not have a modified curriculum might not be expected to
produce the same amount of work in a single maths lesson when compared to
other students in the same class. While the content itself might not be
differentiated, the student should be made aware what their individualised
expectations for the lesson are. In essence, this means that the student still
attains the base knowledge of the mathematical concept, but might not get as
many practice questions completed.

In regard to inclusion, the school excels. The whole school is incredibly

friendly and warm, ensuring all staff, students, and visitors feel safe and
welcomed at all times. All the lessons I observed (by a number of different
teachers) were always inclusive of all students. This meant that in HPE,
students who were injured were not just sitting out doing nothing. Instead,
they were involved in a meaningful role like scoring, timekeeping, umpiring,
duty team manager, role organiser, draw maker, coach, captain etc.
Additionally, sports and games in HPE were modified to ensure all students
could participate. In maths classes, students were included by always
changing the seating options of the classrooms (rows, groups, U-shape,
seating plan, etc.). The teacher was constantly walking around the classroom
offering help to every single student, ensuring all students feel they have
support and are safe to ask questions. In the reception class, students did not
have designated seats, but ‘hot spot’ desks. The students had to make sure
they were always sitting in new spots next to different people.
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PROFESSIONAL REFLECTIONS

What differentiated strategies did you try to implement during your

professional teaching experience? Did you have a chance to implement one
or more of your assignments?
During my placement I was not able to use any of my assignments. However,
I did implement differentiation strategies in a number of ways. Firstly, I
completed a pre-assessment at the start of each new unit in mathematics
classes, which is a crucial aspect of differentiation (Doubet & Hockett, 2015).
This gave me a gauge of the readiness level of each student for each
particular maths topic. From here, I was able to identify three tiers of
readiness within the class. This made it easy to make sure I was teaching the
content at the correct level. It also allowed me to differentiate questions and
activities into three tiers, commonly recommended practice in differentiation
(Tomlinson, 2014). The most explicit differentiation I attempted in maths was
in a task stations activity. I created 10 task stations, each with 3 different tiers
of questions (3 different levels of difficulty, but similar concepts). Students
were paired up strategically so that students with a low readiness level were
paired with a student with a high readiness level. As noted by Tomlinson
(2001), the use of strategic mixed grouping is evidence-based practice, and it
did work extremely well in practice - so much so that I ended up using it again
multiple times over the course of the term.

Aside from the use of these task stations and mixed grouping, I also tried to
use differentiation when the students were working through standard practice
questions on a worksheet. When I curated the worksheets myself, I divided
them into 3 different sections, each with a different level of questions. In
summative maths tests, I provided formulas and scaffolded the questions so
that students at a low readiness level would still able to achieve a passing
grade. I then included ‘challenge’ questions that students would not lose
marks from, but gave students the chance to gain ‘bonus points’.

I found it much more difficult to implement explicit differentiation in HPE

practical classes, especially in the Year 8 classes, as there was less
theory/health concepts involved. Although I do believe I used differentiation
strategies implicitly. For example, the Year 8 cohort was grouped into teams
for the whole unit, and I picked these teams strategically to ensure there was
a fair mix of differing readiness levels in each team. This gave students with a
low readiness level support from peers, and gave students with a high
readiness level extension by providing them opportunities to extend
themselves and coach their team in training sessions and games (Tomlinson,
2001). Also, the Year 8 unit ensured that all students umpired, scored, and set
up the field at some point. While students were carrying out these duties, I
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gave differing levels of guidance, depending on my perceived readiness level

of the student.

The Year 8’s assessment was a self-reflection of their own development, as

well as their team’s progress. This allowed all students to achieve the same
end goal of self-improvement, even if they had different levels of AFL skills,
AFL knowledge, teamwork, or leadership skills. The assessment for Year 9
HPE also followed a differentiated approach, as students were able to submit
the assignment in any form they chose (Moon, 2005). Students could present
the assignment as a written document, slideshow presentation, poster, video,
online website, etc., as long as they showed their understanding of the
content.

What worked well? What factors (personal or environmental) helped you to

differentiate effectively?
The differentiated task stations mentioned previously worked really well. All
students were enjoying the activity and were engaged with the learning. I
believe the success of the activity is partly due to the use of mixed grouping
(Tomlinson, 2001). As noted earlier, the mixing of low-readiness students with
high-readiness students was extremely effective. The students with a higher
readiness level tended to extend themselves by taking the lead and helping to
support the students with a lower readiness level through the more difficult
questions. The students with lower readiness levels were supported, and also
encouraged to challenge themselves, by their peers. By the end of the lesson,
every single student had attempted all 3 tiers of questions at each station – I
was not expecting this!

I believe another side factor that made the mixed grouping so successful was
the fact the school is quite small and in a rural community. This meant that
everyone in the class was friends and got along well with each other. Along
with this, the small class size (16 students) made the activity easier to
manage. I can see how in a bigger school with bigger class sizes, this same
activity might not pan out the same way it did for me on the day. At the end of
the lesson, I collected the students working out and answers as formative
assessment. Formative assessment is vital to gauge student understanding,
teacher effectiveness, and to inform future lessons (Moon, 2005). The
worksheets I collected highlighted how all students had really excelled and
given each question their best shot. It also made it clear what level each
student was at, and showed me that students understood the content, so they
could move on to new content in the next lesson. I made an effort to collect
worksheets, or use exit tickets as often as possible, as I know how important
continuous, ongoing formative assessment is (Moon, 2005).
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What factors (personal or environmental) made it challenging to differentiate?

The differentiated worksheets I used were not as successful as I was hoping.
This was because students didn’t take ownership over their own learning;
many students took the easy way out instead of choosing questions at an
appropriate level. This exhibition of a fixed mindset was common throughout
the school, and a number of students would have benefited from adopting a
growth mindset (Yeager & Dweck, 2012). Aside from this, the main
challenging factor was that students were used to a very generic, or
‘standard’, teaching style. For these students, every maths lesson always
involved the students copying down a formula, the teacher doing an example
on the board, and then the students working through questions in the
textbook. Their familiarity with this process actually limited their ability to
engage critically in some activities, and some students were not prepared to
challenge themselves during differentiated tasks. Again, this relates to the
idea of a fixed mindset (Yeager & Dweck, 2012).

Thinking critically, how can you improve your teaching practice with diverse
learners for your next experience? What goals do you still have for yourself?
Looking forward towards my future teaching career, I would like to implement
more explicit differentiation within both maths HPE classes. Within maths I
could work on using differentiated activities more often in day-to-day lessons.
Within HPE I would particularly like to work on creating differentiated
assessment tasks, as well as being more inclusive of students with injuries in
practical lessons. I would also like to use formative assessment more often,
and improve my ability to use the data from formative assessment to inform
future teaching. My teaching would also benefit if I considered the ‘big idea’ of
concepts more often. As with any aspect of teaching, implementing
differentiation and ensuring inclusive practices will undoubtedly be an area of
continuous development for me.
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REFERENCES

Ainscow, M. & Miles, S. (2008). Making education for all inclusive: where
next? Prospects, 38(15), 15 – 34.

Australian Human Rights Commission. (2019). Disability Discrimination Act.

Retrieved from https://www.humanrights.gov.au/

Doubet, K. & Hockett, J. (2015). Differentiating according to student

readiness. In Doubet, K. & Hocket, J., Differentiation in middle and high
school: strategies to engage all learners. ASCD: Alexandria, Virginia.

Foreman, P. (2014). Introducing inclusion in education. In Foreman, P. &

Arthur-Kelly, M. (eds.), Inclusion in action (4th edn.). Cengage Learning
Australia: South Melbourne, VIC.

Moon, T. (2005). The role of assessment in differentiation. Theory into

practice, 44(3), 226 – 233.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability

classrooms (2nd edn.). Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development (ASCD): Alexandria, VA.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the

needs of all learners. ASCD: Alexandria, VA.

Tomlinson, C. A. & Strickland, C. A. (2005). Differentiation in practice: A

resource guide for differentiating curriculum, grades 9-12. ASCD: Alexandria,
VA.

Yeager, D. & Dweck, C. (2012). Mindsets that promote resilience: When

students believe that personal characteristics can be developed. Educational
Psychologist, 47(4), 302 – 314.