Differentiated learning and strategies for inclusive education
What is inclusive education?
The goal of inclusive education is ensuring that all students, regardless of ability, learning style or cultural background, have access to education. The alignment between inclusive education and differentiated learning is seamless: both recognise and value individual differences and provide equitable opportunities for learning.
Explore what inclusivity looks like in the classroom with our blog on inclusive education.
What is differentiation in education?
Differentiation refers to the changes, responses and variations that teachers make to support the diverse learning needs of students. Effective differentiation operates on the basis that every child can reach their full learning potential with the right support and guidance.
How does differentiation support a more inclusive learning environment?
Differentiated learning promotes inclusive education in the classroom by:
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Promoting equity
By using differentiated learning strategies, teachers can ensure that students get the specific support they require to connect with the curriculum and reach their individual potential.
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Supporting collaborative learning
Teachers that utilise group work and peer learning in their differentiated instruction are likely to observe an increase in empathy, communication skills and a sense of community among their students.
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Engaging diverse learners
Differentiated instruction in the classroom can help keep students more engaged and motivated. Acknowledging and incorporating differences in learning preferences, interests and abilities allows students to have a clear pathway to learning.
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Building a sense of belonging
Differentiated learning experiences encourage a feeling of belonging in the classroom by embracing individual strengths and supporting students in addressing areas for growth. This ensures that students don’t feel left behind, and instead feel valued and respected.
We explore this in more depth in our blog about the four principles of inclusive education.
How do students benefit from differentiation in education?
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to teaching and learning, so variation and differentiation are required to give every student the opportunity to reach their goals – regardless of specific learning needs or challenges.
It’s important to remember that differentiation doesn’t just benefit the gifted and talented; it also enables students with disabilities and special needs to access the same curriculum as their peers.
You might have one student that excels at reading and writing, and another who often gets overstimulated learning in a group setting – both of these students will benefit from learning strategies that are differentiated to their specific needs.
Instead of setting the same task for every student with little variation or providing the same success criterion, you can use a mix of planned and contingent adjustments. These can support students’ understanding of concepts and help them absorb information while developing key skills.
Differentiation can focus on specific instructional elements and management strategies. Most often, the four types of differentiation are:
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Content: differentiated content may be needed to help students gain the knowledge, understanding and skills that they need to learn. For example, teachers might need to present content in various forms (such as visual or electronic) to different students, based on their ways of learning.
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Process: you may need to differentiate processes that help students understand the content they’re learning. For example, students might digest content at different speeds and are encouraged to ask questions and learn through trial and error. Getting all students to complete the same task could mean that some students might not feel challenged enough, while others might struggle to complete it at all.
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Product: you may need to differentiate the ways students demonstrate what they’ve learned and what they understand from the content. For example, providing assessments in multiple choice or long-form test formats.
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Learning environment: you can also differentiate the physical learning environment of the classroom by making modifications. For example, providing ear plugs or headphones to students who struggle working with elevated noise in group work.
What are differentiated learning strategies?
As we’ve touched on, there’s more than one way to implement differentiated learning strategies in your classroom. Some practical approaches that you can use include:
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Providing varied levels of challenge for those who are behind, in the middle or advanced
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Providing multiple pathways to learning, encouraging students to find their learning style
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Applying different instructional strategies.
Specifically, these differentiation teaching strategies can look like:
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Flexible groupings: students are organised into small groups based on learning style or skill level.
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Choice boards: students are offered a menu of activity options, allowing them to select tasks that align with their strengths.
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Tiered tasks: learning assignments are designed with variation to suit different ability and readiness levels.
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Ongoing assessment: using formative assessment throughout the teaching period to monitor students’ progress and understanding of key concepts and adapting instruction appropriately.
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Technology integration: teachers can use adaptive learning software and interactive apps to differentiate and personalise students’ instruction.
What is an example of differentiated instruction?
Take the example of teacher using a tiered assignment approach for a science lesson. In this scenario, students are learning about ecosystems, but the tasks are designed to align with varying levels of ability and learning styles. Tasks are as follows:
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Foundational learners: identify and describe basic components of an ecosystem using visual aids and structured prompts.
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Intermediate learners: analyse the impact of human activity on a specific ecosystem and present findings in a format of their choice, such as a report, slideshow, or creative video.
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Hands-on learners: work in small groups to construct a model of an ecosystem, complete with labels and explanations.
The teacher provides tailored support throughout this process, such as additional resources for those who need more guidance, and opportunities for self-directed exploration for advanced learners. This approach ensures all students are engaged, challenged, and able to demonstrate their understanding in a way that suits their unique strengths and needs.
Bringing it into the classroom with Tes
Using differentiated learning strategies may be beneficial, but it does come with challenges: planning and analysis may take more time, for example. However, there are tools you can use to alleviate some of this pressure – learn more in our blog about planning and intervention tools.
Our Provision Map tool streamlines your SEND processes, saving time and allowing SENCOs to focus on supporting students.