Differentiation overview

• Choose a statement from the quotes quilt that stands out, for example, because you like it or you disagree with it.
• Come up with three reasons that justify your opinion of the quote and relevant evidence to support these.
• Think of the pupils that you teach. How might the quote you have chosen relate to observations you have made about specific pupils? If there aren't any links, why not?

The quotes in the quilt all support the use of differentiation. However, you can challenge your thinking further by completing an additional exercise – ‘Reasons not to... differentiate’.

Often, when discussing new strategies in schools that might be perceived to add to teachers’ workloads, there can be some negativity. It may seem that giving permission for this legitimises these views but importantly, it allows you to acknowledge and address these negatives and move on to a more positive discussion.

Write down all the reasons why not to or why it’s hard to differentiate to provide appropriate levels of support or challenge. Summarise the common reasons for the difficulties and record these to come back to later on, and at the end of the course, review whether you have covered anything to alleviate these concerns and whether there is anything you still need to pay attention to.