The Advantages of Differentiated Learning

There are various students in a class with varying interests as well as various styles of learning. All these students come from different linguistic as well as cultural background and hence are differently receptive to different kinds of learning.

Differentiated learning involves incorporating such different methods of teaching so that all the students learn according to their needs and abilities. It is important to mention that differentiated learning is a method of teaching the same curriculum in various ways. 

Practices used in differentiated learning 

Students are the center of a class in differential learning and the most important thing for a teacher to do in such a class is to understand his students. The teacher makes sure that she/he knows not only where the student comes from but also where the learning comforts of the student. As not every method is equally engaging as well as beneficial for the learner, the teacher develops and tries various methods, trying to get the best way possible for each individual. 

The popular methods used in differential learning include assessing studentҀs learning styles, pre testing to see where the students stand in understanding a concept and thus deciding if direct instruction is required or not, finding various strategies to explore a common topic and manipulating the environment to accommodate all learning styles. 

Advantages of differentiated learning 

There are many advantages in adopting strategies that differential learning emphasizes which may be summarized as follows:

Meeting the needs of diverse students 

In todayҀs class there are students from all kinds of background. There are variations in culture, religions, ethnicity, languages as well as learning style and mental abilities. For this reason the methods used in this method are useful as well as practical. 

They accommodate students with special needs 

Another benefit of differentiated learning is that children with special needs are also involved in the same classroom without need for different class. These students are just a part of a varied classroom rather than part of a different class altogether. The teacher works with students with learning disabilities as well those who are gifted and thus the class is harmonized and balanced. 

Students of different cultures are also accommodated 

Apart from the mental differences, the students who have a different cultural background are also taken care of in such classes. The learning in such classes is fun and not a boring or tough job for students who donҀt speak the same language or wear similar clothes.
This reduces the cultural rifts and students become more accommodating in their lives and not just classroom. 

They help students who are more creative

Many a times the creative students donҀt get any attention in a classroom and are considered as average because they donҀt fit in the usual category. A differentiated learning class helps to identify these students in the class and they learn in the way they know best, i.e., creatively . 

Thus a differentiated learning classroom not only is a new way of teaching but a great way of learning and developing. The students as well as the teacher benefit from it.

About the author: Rebecca is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on topics related to luxury and pregnancy. Beside this she is fond of automobiles. These days she is busy in writing an article on Lamborghini Gallardo.