EDUC4720 Differentiation for Diverse Learners (Middle and Secondary Schooling)

2020

4.5

1 x 3-hour workshop weekly
1 x 2-hour on-line lecture weekly

1 1 of EDUC3642, EDUC2426
2 9 units of level 2 EDUC topics
Must Satisfy: (1 and 2)

1 of EDUC3653, EDUC3654 has been successfully completed

Increasingly, contemporary classrooms are characterised by multiple forms of diversity among learners. Effective teachers are responsive to this diversity as they facilitate inclusive learning environments and enable all students to access quality curriculum in a variety of ways. In this topic, students will engage with key principles underlying differentiation for diverse learners and examine inclusive practices across a range of contexts. Students will synthesize and build upon their understanding of individual and group differences in learning and development, and environments that support learning, as they critically examine the rationale for differentiating curriculum. They will consider the teacher's role in assisting individuals with special educational needs to engage with curriculum and they will further develop their skills in the design of curriculum and assessment to support learning for all students.

This topic aims to help students:

• deepen their understanding of diverse learners and educational contexts
• appreciate the interdependence between learning environments, curriculum, instruction, assessment and student engagement and learning
• develop knowledge and skills related to differentiating curriculum and instruction to maximise learning for all students
• understand and manage the complexities of a flexible, responsive, and inclusive learning environment

In completing this topic, students are expected to:

• articulate a rationale for differentiation based on knowledge of learner differences, inclusive practice and effective pedagogy
• demonstrate understanding of key principles of effective differentiation and how these may be reflected in a range of educational practices
• design differentiated learning tasks suitable for a range of students within a diverse classroom, in the context of one or more curriculum areas
• incorporate appropriate technologies into a differentiated learning task in order to facilitate students' access to curriculum
• reflect upon the experience of implementing a differentiated learning task in order to identify factors that can facilitate or impede effective differentiation in different contexts