Thread by @ThatMathsMan

🧵Really feel like I need to talk to Differentiation following the episode of the TDAPE podcast with @Kieran_M_Ed @Suchmo83 and @Mr_AlmondED. If this was on TV, a voiceover might say, “If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and you need someone to talk to, call…” 🤣
1/n

Before I go any further, in case anyone needs to be told, this is a personal Twitter account and these are my views and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.

I’m sure everyone who works in education has different experiences and views, that’s natural.
2/n

I think Kieran, Chris and Neil are spot on in much this episode, and it really brings back memories of 4-way differentiation (in my own early practice) or worksheets for the sake of arbitrary policy.

IME these (and other lethal mutations) are still very common.
3/n

In the recent past, a culture of intense workload wasn’t helped by several expectations (which I think may still exist in some schools) including:
📚differentiation by task every lesson
✍️ ‘triple’ marking
📈 progress tick sheets
And/or the absence of these was seen as lazy
5/n

Talking from experience, I worked in schools that did this. I even upheld these principles as an SL at the time because I thought they were the right thing to do.

In hindsight I could’ve done better for myself and my colleagues. I nearly ‘burnt-out’ and know others who did.
6/n

It’s possible that many current school leaders still hold these expectations, because that’s what they endured themselves as teachers.

In some cases these HTs didn’t just survive, they were graded outstanding for doing so… and now many expect the same of their teachers.
7/n

I’m grateful to say that IME (working with schools) these expectations seem to be becoming a thing of the past.

In my region at least, we have senior leaders who value teachers and children as people first and put well-being ahead of procedural ‘hoops’ to jump through.
8/n

In my 5 years of working as an adviser, I’ve seen:
💭Feedback becoming more streamlined, more in-the-moment
💡Diagnostic assessments used to identify chn’s starting points
⏰Same-day interventions led by teachers

And I think this is a good start, but I still get asked…
9/n

Should differentiation still exist? Yes, absolutely. Some children need something different from their peers, but it’s not LA/MA/HA worksheets.

If chn find something hard it’s often because their prior understanding isn’t as secure as their peers, and need support with this
10/n

Should we ever have diff tasks for diff children? In some cases, this is absolutely necessary yes. But in an ideal world we wouldn’t get to this stage. We would, instead make sure that huge gaps in understanding don’t develop.

IMO this is a pedagogy and curriculum issue.
11/n

What about higher attaining children? Should they be given more challenge? Sure but the answer doesn’t lie in moving them on to future content earlier. That will widen the gap between chn.

Depth of understanding doesn’t come through rushing on to future content sooner.
12/n

So, what can a teacher do differently? IMO this isn’t a one-person issue so it can’t be solved with a one-person fix.

Schools can put systems in place to address diff needs, which reflect their pedagogy. This will likely involve curriculum design, timetabling etc.
13/n

Is there a short-term solution for schools who find themselves with wide gaps between what diff groups of children know?

I don’t think there’s one ‘silver bullet’, but identifying chn’s starting points before each unit can help teachers highlight and address gaps beforehand
14/n

What about in the long-term?

As with any aspect of school improvement, it’s complex. At work I help leaders identify how these gaps occur in the 1st place

Are any of the actions we’re taking making these issues? If we can remove them, that’s ‘addition through subtraction’
15/n

IME, rigid differentiation as a process of creating different tasks (as an expectation of lesson design) is now seen by many as outdated.

But, if every child is to learn the same thing at the same time then lots of thought needs to go into preventing and addressing gaps…
16/n

…and schools must make better use of differentiated support through scaffolds (designed to be temporary, with an ‘exit strategy’ for removing them), differentiation through environment (which could incl group size or more time) and differentiation by strategic revisiting.
17/n

That’s more than enough for now. I hope I’ve not been controversial. Instead, I hope, as well as helping me to sort through my ideas, it’s given you food for thought too.

The thinkingCPD.com blog is on holiday for now, but will return in the new school year.
18/n

If you work in a school where you think you’ve got differentiation ‘sussed’ it’d be great to hear from you. Please comment below.

If you’re working in a school that’s trying to get better at this, reach out. We do better together.

Please share, if you think it’ll help.
19/19

@threadreaderapp please unroll.