Differentiated Instruction: A Programming Tool for Inclusion

Abstract

Key national and state policies in Australia are driving an inclusive agenda that is challenging and changing the ways schools provide access to a high-quality education for all students. Given these circumstances, teachers need to build capacity to provide instruction to the whole class in a flexible, responsive, and effective manner. Differentiated instruction (DI) is an approach that enables teachers to be student-centred, address each student's needs and interests, and produce successful academic and social outcomes for all students in mainstream classrooms. This chapter demystifies DI and brings together the existing knowledge and associated pedagogy so that teachers can successfully apply DI strategies in their day-to-day practice. DI is defined so that readers understand that DI is not a single strategy but a programming tool with a variety of empirically-supported strategies across the areas of curriculum planning, assessment and monitoring, instruction, and classroom organisation.