Differentiation (didactics)

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Differentiation is a term from didactics . It describes the efforts to do justice to the individual talents, abilities, inclinations and interests of individual students or groups of students within a school or class through organizational and methodological measures (see heterogeneity ). A basic distinction is made between forms of internal differentiation (measures to differentiate in the classroom) and external differentiation (measures to divide students into groups that are as homogeneous as possible, e.g. year classes, remedial courses but also into different types of schools). Differentiation can be understood as the individualization of learning in a larger learning group.

properties

Through differentiation, students have the opportunity to practice in different offers and to bring in their strengths. They get to know their weaknesses and try to improve them. This is done through regular feedback on their skills (from teachers and classmates). You also have the opportunity to provide feedback on your learning success yourself.

  • Learning is seen as an individual, self-controlled process that requires systematic support, guidance, suggestion, accompaniment, reflection, assessment and, above all, demanding, problem-oriented learning arrangements.
  • Differentiation basically aims to strengthen the learners and their potential.
  • Differentiation is characterized by encouragement, empathy, and support.
  • Differentiation is a key element of teaching. It aims to promote learning competence and learning development in the subject.
  • Differentiation requires the development of support concepts which, if possible, begin in the area of ​​elementary education and are taken up and continued in primary and secondary schools.
  • Differentiation aims at specific measures and projects and tracks their effects.

Forms of differentiation

External differentiation

External differentiation or external differentiation means promoting learners in (supposedly) homogeneous subgroups that persist over a longer period of time.

The aim of external differentiation is to dissolve the heterogeneity of the student body by permanently dividing students into uniform learning groups, in particular according to the criteria of predicted performance, age, interest and gender. The structured school system in the Federal Republic of Germany can be seen as a powerful example of external differentiation , in which pupils are generally classified according to the criterion of performance and spatially separated from one another in order to form school communities with relatively homogeneous performance. Close relationship to the concept of selection is indicated here, the latter having a much more negative connotation in colloquial terms, because it is more closely associated with the arbitrariness of the selection process (see educational disadvantage ). An example of external differentiation according to age is the system of grades. The idea of ​​elective courses is based on group formation according to interests. Standardization of learning associations according to gender was widespread until the 1960s ( monoeducation ), but is only practiced occasionally today.

Internal differentiation

Internal differentiation or internal differentiation describes the individual support of individual learners within the existing learning group. The aim of internal differentiation is not the greatest possible dissolution of heterogeneity, but the productive handling of it. In this way, the diversity of talents and interests within a learning group is increasingly seen as an opportunity in the sense of a mutually fruitful exchange. Internal differentiation comes into play in particular where institutional separation is dispensed with in favor of joint learning ( integrated comprehensive school , integrative pedagogy ).

In school, this can be done through project work or a diverse range of topics, for example . Another possibility for inner differentiation is the weekly schedule , which has found widespread use, especially in primary schools.

In the case of internal differentiation, all planning and methodological measures of the teachers come into play, which should take into account the individual differences of the students in a learning group so that as many as possible find a way that suits them to achieve the learning goals in particular and to sound out their cognitive potential in general. Internal differentiating measures can relate to the access to the learning content (such as in workshop lessons ), to the quality or quantity of the learning tasks or to the media. It is important for the teacher to be informed about all possible dimensions of diversity in order to enable effective consideration. For example, ecosystem approaches are helpful for determining the extra-individual dimensions such as B. Family , peer group . On the intra- individual side, personality psychological considerations come into play. In this way, cognitive ( e.g. intellectual skills) can be further separated from non-cognitive dimensions. The latter can be:

Possibilities of implementation

Convergent differentiation

In convergent differentiation, students from different starting levels are brought to the same goal. Differentiation can be made through the use of various aids (e.g. other tasks, tips and assistance, learning aids, support for the teacher).

The problem of convergent differentiation is that high-performing students are under-challenged. These must be given additional incentives, for example by assigning other tasks (e.g. helping other students) or by making the tasks more difficult (e.g. not using a calculator).

Divergent differentiation

The divergent differentiation assumes the same starting level, but in the end the students achieve different skill levels depending on the level. At the beginning, all students perform the same tasks. Depending on the pace of learning, some students reach the next exercise and thus learning level earlier and progress at the end, slower learners work longer on a level or work on easier tasks.

Problems of divergent differentiation:

  • It can lead to frustrations in underperformers
  • The concept of achievement is more firmly anchored in school
  • There is a separation into performance groups (similar to the external differentiation, only within a class)
  • Social learning (learning from one another, helping) is inhibited

Customization

Individualization (see also individualized learning ) describes the demands that a teacher makes of himself and his teaching. He would like to take into account individual learning requirements and wishes and design the lessons accordingly. In extreme cases, each individual student then learns something different. Differentiation is a possibility or rather an attempt by the teacher to meet this demand. In short: Differentiation is a way to achieve (the principle of) individualization.

According to Bönsch (1995), differentiation criteria and possibilities can only offer solution aids at the “middle level”, i. H. only for learner groups within the class. Differentiation then becomes individualization when the learner is "picked up" at his own possibilities (Bönsch, 1995), i. H. Learning begins where it begins to become new for the student. In constructivism , one would start where the student perturbs, is disturbed, i.e. where a cognitive conflict is invoked.

Reasons for differentiation

Lessons in larger year classes offer only limited opportunities to address the individual skills and interests that develop within the subjects. However, the aim of the differentiation is to optimize the learning processes. The purpose of the method is to do justice to the individuality of each student, to meet the very different learning requirements, skills and interests. It is important to take into account the promoting and inhibiting conditions. Furthermore, the competencies required by the curricula can be promoted and learning deficits can be reduced by dividing them into support groups. Lessons that are synchronized and oriented towards the average of the students harbors the risk of frustration, learning fatigue or knowledge gaps.

Differentiation also has a factual aspect on the side of the learning object: The modern, globalized world places higher demands on learning and students. The issues have become more complicated. The problems must be viewed from different angles. The lessons must take this fact into account. The demand for differentiation is based on the one hand on the variety of aspects of the learning object, on the other hand from the very different learning requirements of the individual student: From a didactic point of view, this means that on the one hand the learning object must be worked out methodically in its variety of aspects and on the other hand the student has an approach that is as personal as possible should be made possible by taking into account its special learning approaches and learning skills. Differentiation means multiple perspectives on the part of the learning object and multidimensional learning on the part of the student.

Barriers to differentiation

The reluctance to differentiate in school practice has several reasons:

  • Higher effort : Differentiation requires a higher expenditure of time and material in the preparation and implementation of lessons.
  • Lack of time : The educational standards prescribed by the curriculum restrict the practice of more complex methods.
  • Ignorance of methods : Lack of knowledge about the realization of differentiation.
  • Control anxiety : Insecurity about passing on part of your own control over the class to the students or through negative previous experiences, possibly also from colleagues.
  • Habit : Reproduction of a lesson that was previously experienced as a student and was oriented towards the average student.
  • Class size : The class size does not allow any meaningful differentiation measures.

literature

Books

  • Bönsch, Manfred: Intelligent Lesson Structures: An Introduction to Differentiation . Schneider: Baltmannsweiler 2000
  • Bönsch, Manfred: Differentiation in school and teaching . Ehrenwirth: Munich 1995
  • Paradies, Liane / Linser, Hans Jürgen: Differentiate in the classroom . Cornelsen: Berlin 2001
  • Klaus Giel, Gotthilf G. Hiller, Hermann Krämer u. a .: Pieces for a multi-perspective lesson. Klett, Stuttgart 1974.
  • Siegbert Warwitz, Anita Rudolf: The principle of multi-dimensional teaching and learning . In: Dies .: Project teaching. Didactic principles and models . Hofmann publishing house. Schorndorf 1977. pp. 15-22. ISBN 3-7780-9161-1 .

Essays

  • Becker, Gerold (2004). Director, master conductor, tamer? There are reasons for the longing for “equal learning requirements”. In: Friedrich Jahresheft 2004, pp. 10–12.
  • Döbert, Hans (2003). Characteristics of the school systems successful in PISA. An in-depth comparison of the school systems of selected PISA participating countries. In: Pedagogy , Issue 11, pp. 47–50
  • Vollstädt, Witlof (1997). Differentiation in the classroom. In: Pedagogy , issue 12/1997. Pp. 36-40

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Klafki, Wolfgang / Stöcker, Hermann: Inner differentiation of teaching. In: Zeitschrift für Pädagogik , 22nd year (1976), 4, p. 497 f.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Jörg Haas: Differentiation / individualization in physical education . Seminar for Didactics and Teacher Training Freiburg Dept. of general high schools, sports department, Freiburg im Breisgau 2013.
  3. ↑ See Andreas Hinz: Integration and Heterogeneity. 1995.
  4. ↑ Vollstädt, Witlof: differentiation in the classroom. In: Pedagogy , issue 12/1997. Pp. 36-40
  5. ^ Bönsch, Manfred: Differentiation in school and teaching . Ehrenwirth, Munich 1995
  6. ↑ Siegbert Warwitz, Anita Rudolf: The principle of multi-dimensional teaching and learning . In: Dies .: Project teaching. Didactic principles and models . Hofmann publishing house. Schorndorf 1977. pp. 15-22
  7. ^ Klaus Giel, Gotthilf G. Hiller, Hermann Krämer u. a .: Pieces for a multi-perspective lesson. Klett, Stuttgart 1974