Individualisation and differentiation as new trends

in education

Hans-Peter Gottein, Pädagogische Hochschule Salzburg

Instead of an introduction….

„Explain something to me, and I will forget.

Show me, and I will remember. Let me do it, and
I will understand.“
http://www.slideshare.net/tag/shifthappens
School and globalisation:
 Decreasing half-life-period of knowledge
 Increasing heterogeneity
 Knowlege society as successor of information society
with the following key competences:
 Technical competence (dealing with new media)
 Competence in the management of knowledge
 Social competence
 Democratic compentence (i.e. solidarity, tolerance, sense of
responsibility)
 LLL (LifeLong Learning)
LifeLong Learning in a knowledge society:

 Motivation to learn (in school and in general)

 Prior knowledge
 Ability to learn
 Self-regulatory competence
 Competence of co-operation
 Competence in using new media
How does learning work?
How learning works – assumption 1:
 Learning by „pounding in“
knowledge
 Brain as a „Black Box“
 Learning model of
behaviorism – i.e.
stimulus/response, positive or
negative reinforcement etc.
(Pawlow‘s dogs, little Albert
etc.)
How learning works– assumption 2:
 Learning through actively taking in information
 Learning through problem-solving
 Focus on mental processes
 Other human achievements (i.e. recognizing
people, being able to walk etc.) cannot be
explained by mental processes alone
 Model of cognitivism
How learning works– assumption 3:
 Learning as individual construction of knowledge
 Generating problems, not solving problems
 „Learning cannot be achieved through teaching!“
(Bengemann, 2000)
 „Explain something to me, and I will forget.
Show me, and I will remember. Let me do it, and
I will understand.“
 Model of constructivism
Learning in a constructivist way:
 Knowledge is constructed individually (in relation to
one‘s prior knowledge).
 Things are only learnt when they are constructed
indivdually. Only if a connection to prior knowlege has
taken place successfully, understanding is guaranteed.
Otherwise, we speak of „inert knowledge“ (isolated
bits of knowledge)
 Learning happens as a cooperative process between
teacher and student. Meta-cognitive competences are
very important.
Key elements of constructivist learning and teaching:

 Planning instruction according to the „sandwich-

model“
 Using different forms of cooperative learning
 Acknowledgement of the fact that learners differ by:
 Speed of learning
 Ability to learn
 Tolerance of ambiguity
 Working with realistic (real-life) situations
 Individual progress as the main factor of achievement
 New forms of assessment(formative vs. summative)
 There is a relaxing and trusting learning environment
 students feel accepted and respected by the teacher
 Students are able to participate actively
 Students are able to work cooperatively
 There is a connection to prior knowledge
 There is an understanding that the contents of the lesson is
important
 There is time for rehearsal
 Effort is worthwile
 student-reference:
 Valuing language
 Respectful relationship
 Including students in the design/planning of lessons
 Implementing a culture of feedback
 Taking into account individual needs of students
 Positive learning environment:
 Relaxed atmosphere
 Reducing fear of failure (students must know if they are in an assessment
situation or not)
 Accepting mistakes as chances to learn
A new paradigm of teaching and learning:
 Learning is an active process: individual construction of knowledge!
 Tuition on the basis of prior knowledge and interests of students
 Accepting individual needs of students
 Learning is process-oriented, not result-oriented
 Making students aware of learning strategies and meta-cognitive
competences
 Situation-specifity of learning: learning through complex, real-life situations
 Learning in social context
 Enable students to identify themselves with their learning:
affective/emotional side of knowledge construction (empirically confirmated
also on neurobiology)
 Mistakes are valuable! („Mistakes are the salt of learning“)
 New forms of assessment
Zones of learing (Vygotsky):
„In a differentiated classroom, students
are not learning different things – they
are learning the same things
differently”.
(Skowron, 2006, S. 69)
BIOLOGISCHE ELEMENTE

ERLERNTE ELEMENTE

zusammengestellt von Michael Kahlhammer 11/08

 BIOLOGISCHE ELEMENTE

 wachsen mit
 sind schwer zu beeinflussen
 bleiben zeitlebens erhalten
 werden sie langfristig vernachlässigt,
kommt es zu Problemen
(Motivation, Ausdauer, Einstellung)

ERLERNTE ELEMENTE
 nicht stabil
 ändern sich oft – auch sprunghaft
 oft Umwälzungen durch soziale
Veränderungen
 PRÄFERENZEN
 SO LERNE ICH AM BESTEN
Starke Präferenz
 DAS BRAUCHE ICH
 FÖRDERLICHE UMSTÄNDE
Präferenz

NICHT-PRÄFERENZEN
 SO KANN ICH NICHT LERNEN

Nicht-Präferenz  DAS HILFT MIR NICHT

 HINDERLICHE UMSTÄNDE

Flexibilität: kann positiv oder negativ sein – ändert sich

Flexibilität

Momentan großer Stress/Druck/Umbruch – besondere Beachtung!

 quota of memorizing

90%
90%
80%

70% 75%
60%

50%
50%
40%

30%
30%
20%
20%
10%

0%
Liste ning Re ading Liste ning and re ading saying yourse lf doing yourse lf
 Knowing basic working techniques, such as:
 Systematic reading
 Finding out key-words and strategies of note-taking
 Examples:
 SQ3R
 highlighting
 Single work / 5‘:
 If you make students read a text: what are your instructions?
 Which experiences/obversations have you had during a reading phase in the
classroom?
 Partner work / 15‘:
 Talk about the points from single work, write down arguments on papers:
 problems
 Possibilities of improvement
 2 Pairs together: please agree on three major problems concerning
reading in classrooms and three major possibilities of improvement
 Method: Think – Pair - Share
 One (of many) methods of systematic reading and note-
taking: SQ3R:
 Survey
 Question
 Read
 Recite
 Review
 Survey: read text very quickly (headlines, first sentences of
paragraphs, pictures, graphs etc.); approx. 1 minute per page
 Question: ask yourself questions (which questions might the text
be able to answer, based on the information from the survey-
phase)
 Read: read the text (line by line)
 Recite: summarize text (orally or in writing)
 Review: try to connect the new knowledge with your prior
knowledge
 goal: knowledge
acquisition

stage of lesson:
development of new
knowledge

step 1: individual work on the task

step 2: cooperative work on the task (2 students

with the same task compare their results; if
necessary, they explain things to each other and /
or correct mistakes

step 3: explanation phase: person A and B form a

pair and alternately present the results of their
task; questions may be asked and should be
answerded; notes are being taken

step 4: „insurance“-phase: back to the same pair

as in step 2; students make sure they have
understood everything and have all the information
they are supposed to have
 step 1: first individual work on task

step 2: compare with a partner

step 3: explanation phase: partners A and B

meet and exchange their knowldege

step 4: second individual work on task

goal: knowledge
acquisition
steps 5 and 6: comparison and explanation (as
stage of lesson: steps 2 and 3)
development of new
knowledge
step 7: absorption and use in indivdual work

step 8: discussion in plenum

step 1: individual work

step 2: pair work: explain your partner with deliberate mistake(s)

step 3: Partner B tells partner A the mistakes which could be

discovered, Partner A helps if necessary

step 4: as step 2 – change partners

goal: practice and anwenden

step 5: as step 3 – stage of lesson: repeat and

practice
change partners
Step 1: individual reading of 1st paragraph

Step 2: student A reads 1st paragraph aloud, student B

listens attentively

Step 3: student B summarizes what he/she has just heard;

questions for better understanding may be asked; questions
for later answering by the teacher may be written down

Step 4: individual reading of 2nd paragraph

goal: work on
Step 5: as step 2 – change partners texts

stage of lesson:
development of
Step 6: as step 3 – change partners new knowledge

Step 7: summary in own words

Step 8: present own summaries in plenum; questions to the

plenum/to the teacher may be asked
 goal: activate prior
knowledge, exchange
opinions

stage of lesson: practice, use

of new knowldge

Step 1: individual work on task

Step 2: student A is an interviewer and asks student B

about the contents of the individual work of step 1 –
notes are being taken

Step 3: as step 2 – change partners

Step 4: continue work with the results, according to the

task set by the teacher
 goal: knowledge
acquisition

stage of lesson:
develop new
knowldege

Step 1: individual work on task

Step 2: work in a pair/a group

on the same task

Step 3: present the results of

step 2

Step 4: back to pairs/groups of

step 2 – clarify open
questions/summarize
 goal: analyze and
interpret

stage of lesson:
reflect and judge

Step 1: Each member of the group has a

sheet of paper with a task and 5 empty
spaces underneath. Each member of the
group is supposed to comment (writing)
on the results of the task.

Step 2: sheet of paper is passed on

within the group clockwise until it gets
back to original person.

Step 3: original person writes a

summary, based on the results of own
work and comments of other group
members.

Step 4: plenum: presentation of group

results, discussion etc.