Take a moment and consider the question: What does managing differentiation mean to you?
Before I answer what it means for me, let me tell you a little bit about my teaching context. Working as an English language teacher in a private language school is an incredible job. I have had the opportunity to teach all ages from six years old to 86.
I’ve been lucky enough to teach in Ireland, England, Spain and South Korea. I’ve had the privilege of meeting new and interesting people each week. Some of them hope to study in an English-speaking university, or are looking to improve their career prospects; others want to keep their brains active after retirement, or finally tick learning a language off their bucket list; and then there are those who need English to communicate with new children-in-law, or simply to travel the world.
What do they all have in common? They’ve all pinned their hopes for language success on their chosen school and their teacher.
And therein lies the challenge. When your whole class changes each week, with a third leaving and then replaced by new students; when some are there for a week and some for a year; when some come from cultures where neurodiversity is openly discussed and supported and others where it is a weakness to be denied; when some have just come from a university setting and others haven’t been in a classroom in decades, differentiation is not something you can avoid. It must be managed, and managed carefully.