EDFD452 Digital

“Improving educational outcomes for all young Australians is central to the nation’s social and economic prosperity” (MCEETYA, 2008). The first goal of the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians is the promotion of “equity and excellence” by Australian schools (MCEETYA, 2008). Every child learns differently, and it is essential that each student receives the right support, known as differentiation, to reach their full potential whether it be to enhance or extend their learning (Paige, Lambert & Geeson, 2017). An area that I have demonstrated differentiation for all abilities is writing.

 

One of my lessons involving differentiation was a procedural writing lesson in year 2 with the learning intention of “I am learning to write step-by-step instructions beginning with a verb”. This was the first lesson on writing a procedure. I had the students watch a video on how to make a pizza, modelled the structure of a procedure and then had the student sort what happens first in the making of a pizza before writing the procedure individually using a scaffold.

 

I categorised the class into three tiers (above, at and below expected levels) and differentiated based on two elements as outlined by Barton (2014). The below expected was differentiated based on resource and above were differentiated on response whilst at expected level students wrote the procedure using the scaffold.

 

Taking the learning intention into account, the below expected levelled students were supported by being provided with a list of verbs. The students still completed the same work as everyone else but were supported based on their needs to be able to begin their instruction with a verb (artefact 1).

 

The above expected levelled students wrote the procedure in their writing books rather than a scaffold and were differentiated based on response. Their response was to be differed including more detail such as baking the pizza and describing how to cut the ingredients (artefact 2).

 

Achieving the intended outcome is possible by all students, but it is finding the right support between what the student can do independently and what the student can do with assistance, aligning with Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal development (Subban, 2006). In order for excellence and equity to be promoted in the classroom, I need take into account all abilities and scaffold activities that cater to those learning needs whether it is to extend or enhance learning (Hill, 2012).

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