Differentiation

In this short essay I intend to explain the meaning of differentiation....
In order to fully explain differentiation it is important to turn to The National Curriculum and look at what has become known as the ‘general inclusion statement’. This statement contains a statement that defines inclusion as “a demand on teachers not to ignore the three principles of inclusion (below) in their planning” Session 1 / Inclusion, the individual and the environment. In short, these three principals are: To set suitable learning challenges, to respond to pupil’s diverse learning needs, and overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups. In other words teachers are expected to develop lessons
In one class in my developmental placement I had a student with a minor hearing impairment, she was simply given a seat near the front of the class where this allowed her to hear what was being said more easily. For all types of SEN, once the student has been identified as having an issue there will be some assistance for the teacher as well as the pupil and it is important to use this support in order to ensure that all pupils are fully integrated into the lesson.
Differentiation is not a term that is solely used to describe inclusion of those pupils with SEN. Indeed the very nature of the word differentiation suggests that we are catering for every different individual in the classroom. It is every bit as important that those pupils who stride through the lesson content to be challenged as well, and for this reason it is important to always have extension tasks or differentiated tasks for these pupils as well. One example of this in design and technology might be for gifted and talented pupils to design their own recipe rather than use the one provided by the school. The pupils could be encouraged to either adapt a provided recipe or research one for themselves, thus allowing them to strive to their own limits. I would also provide extension tasks for the more able students to begin once they had finished the main body of the lesson, if they were to do so with time to spare. In part three of this essay I have included a lesson that involved designing and making a