To make education inclusive - we must begin with the teachers!

Our world today has become more and more diverse, and classrooms in every educational level mirror this reality. Elementary, middle, secondary, and postsecondary school students differ greatly in terms of performance, cultural background, language competence, gender-based learning preferences, learning styles, motivation, interest, self-regulatory competencies and other features (Dosch & Zidon, 2014; Hardy et al., 2019). Given the substantial and continuously increasing diversity of the student population, teachers need to move away from the ‘one-size-fits-all’ model of teaching into inclusive instructional approaches that embrace student diversity and provide meaningful education for all. In order to build inclusive classrooms, educators need to create effective learning environments that provide equal learning opportunities for all students (Gheyssens, Conseugra, Engels, & Struyven, 2020). Personalisation and differentiation are rooted within inclusive education philosophy that argues that diversity is to be found in any group of students, and therefore, educators should adjust their instruction accordingly (Lindner, Alnahdi, Wahl, & Schwab, 2019).

Research relating to elementary, middle, secondary, and postsecondary students has documented the positive effects of personalisation and differentiation (Bal, 2016; Chamberlin & Powers, 2010; Tulbure, 2011; Valiandes, 2015). However, even though personalisation and differentiation have been recognised as key to academic success for all learners (Guay, Roy, & Valois, 2017), teachers worldwide rarely adapt their teaching according to their students’ characteristics (Schleicher, 2016). Given the potential of personalisation and differentiation, these reports are quite surprising. With this background, an important question arises, which variables enable teachers’ implementation of personalisation and differentiation in their daily practice?

This question is of course not new, however, it is still a query among policy-makers, educational researchers, and education practitioners. Across empirical research, scientific literature, and education policy reports one can identify a vast amount of variables that serve as enablers of teachers’ practice of personalisation and differentiation in their everyday instruction. Example of some of these noteworthy variables are policy and organizational variables, support from school administrators, resources, teacher collaboration, professional development and teacher training, among others. Nonetheless, both literature and experts agree on one very particular enabler: the teacher himself or herself!

Then again, a second question arises, what individual teacher variables exactly work as enablers of the inclusive practices of personalisation and differentiation? There is a long list of important teacher variables such as their preparedness to effectively implement inclusive practices, readiness, their mindset, and beliefs that all students can learn and thus belong in the classroom. However, variables that have been empirically proven to be the strongest predictors of teachers’ adoption of personalisation and differentiation are their attitudes and self-efficacy (Bosse, Jäntsch, Henke, Lambrecht, Koch, & Spörer, 2017; De Neve, Devos, & Tuytens, 2015; Knauder & Koschmieder, 2019; Sharma & Sokal, 2016). Inclusive education expert, Prof. Dr. Jacqueline Specht, highlights that self-efficacy could be even considered as the number one enabler of personalisation and differentiation. She argues that those teachers that recognize that they can make a difference and that perceive themselves competent enough to reach all students, are those that include personalisation and differentiation in their daily practice.

Now how can we promote positive attitudes and increase teachers’ self-efficacy towards personalisation and differentiation? Simple and clear-cut answer: teacher professional development and teacher training. Professional development programs strive to bring change within in-service teachers’ attitudes and beliefs. Student teachers’ attitudes and self-efficacy can be improved through more practice-oriented preparation  and more experience in real classes. Jacqueline Specht adds that theory should not be left out of the equation, but that teacher training curricula should focus on strongly connecting theory and practice.

Now more than ever before, teachers are called to ensure that education is inclusive, whether it takes place at school or remotely at home. However, we cannot make education fully inclusive until teachers themselves differentiate and personalise in their teaching.

References

Bal, A. P. (2016). The Effect of the Differentiated Teaching Approach in the Algebraic Learning Field on Students' Academic Achievements. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research (EJER), 16 (63). 185–204. https://doi.org/10.14689/ejer.2016.63.11.

Bosse, S., Christian Jäntsch, Thorsten Henke, Jennifer Lambrecht, Helvi Koch, and Nadine Spörer. (2017). Das Zusammenspiel der Offenheit für Innovationen, der Einstellung zum inklusiven Lernen und der Selbstwirksamkeit von Lehrkräften. [The relationship of teachers’ openness to innovate, their attitude towards inclusive education and self-efficacy.] Zeitschrift für Bildungsforschung, 7(2), 131–146. https://doi.org/10.1007/s35834-017-0185-4.

De Neve, D., G. Devos, and M. Tuytens. (2015). The Importance of Job Resources and Self-Efficacy for Beginning Teachers’ Professional Learning in Differentiated Instruction. Teaching and Teacher Education, 47, 30–41.

Chamberlin, M., & Powers, R. (2010). The promise of differentiated instruction for enhancing the mathematical understandings of college students. Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications, (29), 113-139.

Dosch, M., & Zidon, M. (2014). “The Course Fit Us”: Differentiated instruction in the college classroom. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 26(3), 343-357.

Gheyssens, E., Consuegra, E., Engels, N., &Struyven, K. (2020). Good Things Come to Those Who Wait: The importance of professional development for the implementation of Differentiated Instruction. Frontiers in Education, 5(96). https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2020.00096

Hardy, I., Decristan, J., & Klieme, E. (2019). Adaptive Teaching in Research on Learning and Instruction. Journal for Educational Research Online, 11(2), 169–191.

Knauder, H., and C. Koschmieder. (2019). Individualized Student Support in Primary School Teaching: A Review of Influencing Factors Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Teaching and Teacher Education, 77, 66–76.

Lindner, K-T., Alnahdi, G.H., Wahl, S., & Schwab, S. (2019). Perceived Differentiation and Personalization Teaching Approaches in Inclusive Classrooms: Perspectives of Students and Teachers. Front. Educ., 4:58. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2019.00058.

Roy, A., Guay, F., & Valois, P. (2013). Teaching to address diverse learning needs: Development and validation of a Differentiated Instruction Scale. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 17(11), 1186–1204. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2012.743604

Sharma, U., and L. Sokal. (2016). Can Teachers’ Self-Reported Efficacy, Concerns, and Attitudes Toward Inclusion Scores Predict Their Actual Inclusive Classroom Practices? Australasian Journal of Special Education, 40(1): 21–38. https://doi.org/10.1017/jse.2015.14

Schleicher, A. (2016). Teaching Excellence Trough Professional Learning and Policy Reform: Lessons from Around the World. International Summit on the Teaching Professions; OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264252059-en

Tulbure, C. (2011). Differentiated Instruction for Pre-Service Teachers: An Experimental Investigation. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 30: 448–452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.088. 

Valiandes, S. (2015). Evaluating the Impact of Differentiated Instruction on Literacy and Reading in Mixed Ability Classrooms: Quality and Equity Dimensions of Education Effectiveness. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 45, 17–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2015.02.005