Rethinking the differentiated instruction in kindergarten
Published:
Dec 22, 2020
Keywords:
Differentiated Instruction Integrated Curriculum approach preschool education learning styles
Abstract
The acceptance of essential idea that every child is unique means that there are various differences at the cognitive and social levels among children. Since, these characteristics of children impact the way they learn, teachers are challenged to respond effectively to everyone’s learning needs. Differentiated Instruction (DI) is considered as an innovative approach for teaching and learning, as it builds upon children’s diversity, in order to maximize their learning. Although the effectiveness of differentiated approach has been indicated by several empirical studies, there is a significant gap of studies that concentrate on preschool education, while scarce empirical evidence exists regarding its effectiveness in the context of an Integrated Curriculum. Therefore, the present paper discusses the criticism that DI has received (e.g. learning profile/style, interpretation of interests), which leads inevitably to the modernization and the revision of the DI’s framework, in order to increase its applicability in preschool education. The proposed framework combines the DI with the Integrated Curriculum context, places learning styles in a secondary, complementary role, updates the approach of interpretation of interests according to related cutting-edge research. Last but not least, the present paper provides several points of educational implications and stresses the need for further examination and application of this framework will shed light onto its effectiveness and its applicability.
Article Details
- How to Cite
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Μαβίδου Α. (2020). Rethinking the differentiated instruction in kindergarten. Dialogoi! Theory and Praxis in Education, 6, 143–158. https://doi.org/10.12681/dial.23528
- Issue
- Vol. 6 (2020)
- Section
- Special Theme
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