Differentiated instruction : teacher understanding and implementation in grades 1 to 7 classrooms in government schools of Male' / Rahma Abdul Rahman

Abstract:
Child friendly Baraabaru school concept (2010) and inclusivity (02/2013) of the Ministry of Education call educational leaders to create a learning atmosphere in schools which represent individual diverse learning needs and cater individual learners to create equal learning opportunities for all. Schools are reinforced to implement differentiated instruction (DI), an approach which is supported by many popular learning theories such as Howard Gardeners Multiple Intelligence, Dunn and Dunn's Learning Style and Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development. This quantitative survey study examined teacher understanding and implementation of differentiated instruction in grades 1 to 7 classrooms of government schools in Male'. This research was aimed to identify professional development needs of teachers in differentiated instruction. The questionnaire which was based on differentiated instruction components: student interest, content, product, process, lesson planning and assessment were used to collect the required data on understanding and implementation of differentiated instruction. The demographic questionnaire provided data that identified teacher gender, age range, education level and years of teaching experience. A total of 119 questionnaires were distributed to four selected government schools in Male'. From 119 questionnaires distributed 94 questionnaires were completed and returned back which was participant response of 80%. The results of the study showed that there was variation in teacher understanding and implementation of differentiated instruction. Variation was higher in implementation compared to understanding of this approach. The demographics showed that all the participants have gained some training in DI and among them 31 teachers have gained extensive training. The findings from the research showed teachers with extensive training had a higher understanding and implementation of DI compared to teachers who have got some training. The research did not show any significant difference in teacher understanding and implementation of differentiated instruction due to teaching experience teachers have gained concluding that teaching experience has no effect on teacher understanding and implementation of differentiated instruction in classrooms. The finding from this study will help the school leaders and professional development coordinators to understand the current situation and develop need based professional development programmes for teachers in differentiated instruction. It also will help educational leaders to reflect on differentiated instruction carried out in respective schools this plan and implement ways to facilitate teachers to implement effective differentiated instruction practice in schools.