Literature Review 1

Differentiation – What and How: Geoff Petty, 2004 (online)

Available at: http://www.geoffpetty.com/differentiation.html

Geoff Petty is known in the teaching world for his bestselling book ‘Teaching Today: A practical guide’ which offers guidance and advice about teaching in a straightforward and lively manner. The text I am reviewing comes from his website under the section on ‘Differentiation – what and how’. 

Petty describes differentiation as a “plethora of differences” for teachers to cope with, not just mixed abilities but differences in ages, genders, learning styles, prior learning, motivation, experience and learning difficulties. It struck me that for some people reading this that may just seem like too many things to differentiate between and the whole process of trying to ensure learning for all could become overwhelming.

However I would totally agree with Petty when he states that differentiation is not just something “added on to normal teaching”, but it in fact embodies the whole teaching experience and is part of everything that you do as a teacher. This made me think of it from a slightly new angle than I previously had been, differentiation is a way of teaching and not something thing than you should just dip in and out of. But is it really possible to always cater for so many differences?

Because Petty believes that differentiation should be part of everything you do as a teacher he states that “differentiation may not always show up in a lesson plan or scheme of work”, which makes me think of my own inquiry as I had hoped that by the end of it I would be able to write a lesson plan whereby differentiation was included. This made me think will it still be possible for me to achieve this?

Looking at it specifically from a dance perspective I think that I will still be able to write a lesson plan where differentiation is incorporated. Petty is talking about differentiation and education as a whole, whereas my inquiry is looking at it in a much specialised environment. While I may not be able to account for all my ways of differentiating in a lesson plan (as some will be more about the way in which things are done, or scenarios that you cannot predict), then I do think that for some tasks commonly used in a dance class there can be an action plan of how to differentiate when teaching them.

It is interesting to hear how Petty feels education and our views on education have changed, the way he describes how weaker students used to be “sieved out” leaving the more able students to move up to the next level. Changes have happened for the better and it is important that all students get a fair chance to learn and reach their own capabilities and not just those students that are viewed as the ‘more able’. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses and education should be about finding these out. Ken Robinson believes that teaching should be customised to your circumstances, by using differentiation and a variety of teaching styles this kind of teaching can become more achievable.

Thinking about how this would apply to a dance class, the focus does not need to be about being the best dancer but should be more about the process of learning and skills involved that can also be applied to other areas of your life. The majority of students I teach will not go on to pursue a career in dance but many of the skills they learn throughout their dance classes can go on to help them in other areas for example team work, self-discipline, confidence and creativity.

 The text point out how important your role as a teacher is, “Teachers can make much greater differences than they themselves realise”, it is a position that comes with a great deal of responsibility. You are looked up to by your students and are passing information and skills on to them, things you do or say could have a long lasting effect on your students in both positive and negative ways. This is where it is important to remember the person centred approach to teaching dance.

References

Petty, G, 2004. Differentiation, What and How. Available at:

http://www.geoffpetty.com/differentiation.html (accessed on 7 November 2011)

Robinson, K 2010 “Bring on the learning revolution” Talk (online) Available at:

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html (accessed on 7 November 2011)