Differentiation as a means to inclusion (DIMI)

Abstract

This research on differentiated instruction (DI) for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is timely and significant in light of the current emphasis within the field of inclusive education (IE) to identify the most effective and promising teaching strategies to cater to diverse learners within mainstream classrooms. Differentiation has gained international attention as an approach associated with responsive teaching, and as an approach for the development of inclusive learning environments. In this study, we consider inclusive learning environments as those in which the use of teaching methods is based on flexibility and variety, and responds adequately to the students’ readiness, interests and learning profiles (Tomlinson, 2017). To this end, it is important to investigate the factors that affect the understanding and use of DI by teachers as well as the factors that influence the inclusion or exclusion of specific types of modification. According to Janney and Snell (2013), modifications may be curricular, instructional or alternative. Curricular modifications refer to what is being taught (i.e., content), instructional modifications pertain to alterations of the way instruction takes place (i.e., method, activities), and alternative adaptations involve altered goals, instruction and activities.