Differentiated instruction

Abstract

Education is for life. Education is vital in that it should establish a solid base on which the future of the child is built. When discussing the learning process, one should consider the triangular relationship that exists between the teacher, the learner and the content. The content to be learned is the source of learner growth and thus the purpose of teaching. Organizing the content is the first step in planning teaching in such a way that enables the learner to receive it with maximum facility. Learning goals cannot exist in isolation, and what is to be learned cannot be separated from the Why, When, Where and How. In planning and teaching, the subject areas of the curriculum should be interrelated in treating the concerns that children have and wish to pursue. "You cannot hurry human growth It is slow and quiet, quiet and slow as the growth of the tree." Agnes Snyder This dissertation focuses on differentiated instruction - a method of teaching which helps children to learn happily at their own rate. Both parents and teachers alike, should not attempt to accelerate children's intellectual development but should endeavour to facilitate the natural process. Research learning and attention to the characteristics of children in the various stages help teachers in establishing goals in the planning of the curriculum. This document provides information about the characteristics of differentiation and aims to research the extent to which differentiated instruction is being practiced in our schools. Interviews and questionnaires submitted to a number of primary teachers were used as research tools. These aimed at determining the teachers' attitudes towards the strategy of teaching through differentiation in the primary schools.