After participating in a differentiated instruction professional development program, teachers were able to partially implement differentiated instruction strategies in their classrooms. The main concerns that arose were related to facilities, time and support constraints, as well as teachers' and students' existing attitudes and beliefs. Effective differentiated instruction requires viewing teaching as a cyclical process that incorporates ongoing assessment to meet students' varying needs. Long-term, school-wide support is needed to fully integrate differentiated instruction as a fundamental approach in secondary education.

1. Introducing differentiated
instruction in secondary
education
Results of a teacher professional development program
Wouter Smets, Debbie De Neve & Katrien Struyven
EARLI 2017 - Tampere

2. Introduction

3. Introduction
Trend towards inclusive education
learning disorders
special needs
roots in migration
“Every classroom is a heterogeneous classroom”
How can and must teachers respond to this?

4. Introduction
Differentiated instruction (DI) is an approach to teaching
that takes into account differences between students in a
proactive, positive and planned way in order to gain the
maximum learning effect for each student.(Coubergs, Struyven et al.
2015)

5. Introduction
Adapted from: Oaksford & Jones, 2001

6. Research questions
After following a differentiated instruction (DI)
professional development intervention:
RQ 1: To which extent teachers managed to introduce DI in their
practice?
RQ 2: Which were the main concerns that arose during the
introduction of DI?

7. Method

8. Sample
• 20 teachers
• 3 urban schools, 4 teacher teams
Teacher teams
School A Diverse subject teachers
School B French teachers, all grades
School C French language teachers, 8th grade
School C History teachers, all grades

9. Intervention: A differentiated instruction professional
development program (PDP)
Training phase:
1: (flipped) theoretical frameworks
2: DI as part of a cyclical educational practice
3: DI as a teaching technique
Experimenting phase:
- Implementation achievable and realistic strategies
- 4 months of coaching

10. Cyclical educational practice
Adapted from: Oaksford & Jones, 2001

11. Intervention: A differentiated instruction professional
development program (PDP)
Training phase:
1: (flipped) theoretical frameworks
2: DI as part of a cyclical educational practice
3: DI as a teaching technique
Experimenting phase:
- Implementation of achievable and realistic strategies
- Follow up: 4 months of coaching

12. Data collection
- Fieldnotes during coaching sessions
- Interviews with all teachers
Data analysis
- Thematic analysis
- Within-case and cross-case
analyses

13. Results:
Implementation

15. Adapted from: Oaksford & Jones, 2001

16. Teacher professional development towards
differentiated instruction
skills
development:
•differentiated teaching
techniques and class
management
teaching cycle
development:
• begin assessment and assessment
of differentiated instruction
mindset development
•differentiated instruction
as a philosophy
•theoretical frameworks on
differentiated instruction

17. The cycle of teaching: on the role of assessment
pre-assessment
formative assessment
differentiated summative assessment
not realistic?
no need?
no priority?
Realistic and achievable strategies: pragmatic phased
approach

18. practice
Assess
formative
I and/or P
Assess
summative
instruct
Instruct 1
+
Practice 1
assess
Instruct 2
+
practice 2
assess
Linear versus cyclical
approach to teaching &
learning

19. instruction practice
Formative
assessment
Summative
assessment
Deep level
instruction
Deep level
practise
Basic level
Linear versus cyclical approach to teaching & learning

20. Results: concerns

21. Concerns
Facilities
Time and support
Teachers’ and students’ attitudes and beliefs
>> Growth mindset: (Dweck 2008, Dweck 2015)
>> Selfdetermination: (Deci, Vallerand et al. 1991)

22. Implications for
teacher education

23. Implications for teacher education & educational change
Professional development towards differentiated instruction
• Depends on a variety of actors (teacher education, curriculum
developers, handbook writers, school management, teaching teams,…)
• Takes a lot of time to be integrated as a basic attitude or competence
• Some elements of DI are easier to learn than others

24. Thank you.
Contact
E: wouter.smets@kdg.be debbie.deneve@kdg.be
T: @wouter_smets RG: Debbie_De_Neve
RG: Wouter_Smets