Differentiation!

It is perhaps more profound than we think

Differentiation is certainly one of the key themes that is emerging and spreading throughout our education systems.  At its most fundamental, differentiation means accepting each child AS they are, through careful listening investigating WHERE they are and where they want or need to be heading and then working with the child to determine WHAT they need to be doing next.

It is these interactions that awaken a child’s natural drive to develop and prepares them to do the work that they need to do.

When this acceptance is unconditional, it creates in the child – over time – a desire to avoid disappointing or letting down their teacher because they value so highly the relationship that has been created by them.  When the teacher proposes work, the child will do their best to complete it, building both competence and autonomy (as they have chosen to do their best work, there has been no external inducement).

Thus, their three innate drives for connection, competence and autonomy are being met.

When every child responds in this way then every child is doing the work that they need to be doing and differentiation is fully expressed.

Henry_Ossawa_Tanner - The_Seine

Gradually, we are seeing these types of connections with students becoming more common.  They are easiest to form with children who are the most accommodating, it is most difficult to do with children who don’t naturally follow the rules or think the way we do or have the same priorities.

Yet, it is these children who need differentiation most, as what is pitched at the ‘average’ almost certainly doesn’t suit them.

Striving to be unconditionally accepting of the outliers is not only good for them but also deepens and broadens our own capacities until there is no-one that we cannot engage with at this more profound level and we deeply touch every student.

I am offering a one-day workshop on 10th March - The Foundations of Collective Teacher Efficacy - based on my latest book Red Brain Blue Brain.  Registration is now open.  This is suitable for teaching staff at any level from the newly graduated to those in senior positions and is a good way for a school to get a taste of what is possible.    For more information and to register go here.

John Corrigan is an expert in helping individuals to bring their whole of mind to their daily life and increase their effectiveness and the effectiveness of those around them. This expertise scales from the individual to the team to the organisation. At the core of this work is the practice of encounter.  Earlier blogs can be found here.

• To purchase a copy of Red Brain Blue Brain or Student Feedback go here