rriculum should be based; The curriculum should be, “differentiated: what is taught and how it is taught need to be matched to pupils\’ abilities and aptitudes.’’ (DES, 1985)
Effective differentiation provides appropriate challenge and support for all pupils, ensuring that every young person makes progress and that each individual develops a sense of becoming a successful and increasingly independent learner (South Gloucestershire education service) Although dated research by Bennett et al (1984) suggests teachers were not always utilising this approach. He found that sixty percent of year 2 children and seventy percent of year 3 children in a range of settings were seen to be working at tasks that were either much to easy or much too hard for them.
There are diverse ways in which we differentiate in the classroom: by support, task, outcome, resource and response. These can be used independently but are frequently and most effectively used in combination. Research by Bartlett, J, (2016) suggests differentiation is not an isolated practice. Some channels of differentiation are carefully planned – particularly when planning activities such as task and resources. Others occur simply as a consequence of the direction learning takes during the lesson, which can’t necessarily be pre-planned such as, for example, differentiation through bounce-back questioning or support. This definition is somewhat different to SEAC definition mentioned above.
Focusing on differentiation by task, this paper will examine the role of 3 tiered worksheets e.g. mild, spicy and hot and evaluate the usefulness of them in a primary classroom. This paper will consider the pros and cons of pupil choice during the task section of a class, the concept of challenge during a task, fixed and growth mindsets and ability labelling. The author has made observations during a placement at a school and will draw upon these throughout this paper using the term school A. The author will conclude that to maximise student learning the activities chosen by the teacher should be personalised to their set of pupils and that differentiated worksheets are an essential part of the task process. Section 2 of this paper will assess the effectiveness of pupil choice and its impact on learning and how to create the best environment so that pupils make relevant learning preferences to suit their needs and learning style. Section 3 will seek to understand how varying levels of challenge influence learning preferences and consequently lead to a change in self-esteem and confidence. Section 4 will give sufficient consideration to fixed and growth mindsets and ability labelling. It will evaluate these seminal studies, reflect on their influence on pupils choice of task and therefor their relevance to pupil’s learning.
2- Pupils’ choice.