Report: Evaluation of Teaching Philosophy and Differentiation Plan

This report evaluates a teaching philosophy and a differentiation plan, focusing on a year 5 teaching and learning sequence. It analyzes the teacher's skill-based philosophy, identifying strengths like experience and emphasis on grammar, as well as weaknesses such as the use of set resources and tasks for all students. The report explores alternative approaches like a balanced approach and multimodal processes to enhance student learning. Part B presents a rationalized differentiation plan, including strategies for students with English as an additional language and those struggling with writing, incorporating resources, outcomes, and time requirements. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of adapting teaching philosophies to cater to individual student needs and interests for more effective learning outcomes. The assignment is a great resource for students to learn more about evaluation of teaching methods.

Evaluation and
Differentiation Plan

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART A...........................................................................................................................................1
Evaluation of teaching philosophy and learning sequence..........................................................1
PART B...........................................................................................................................................3
Rationalised differentiation plan / discussion..............................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
REFERNECES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Teaching and learning are two different elements that are linked with each other because
if teacher will teach all the students properly then they will be able to learn effectively. While
planning to develop skills and abilities of all the students the teacher can use differentiation plan
as it can help to deal with all the issues that are faced by them while learning (Johnsen, Fearon-
Drake, & Wisely, (2020). Present report is segregated in two parts. First one is based upon
evaluation of teaching philosophy and learning sequence and second part is focused with
development of differentiation plan. This assignment covers various topics such as philosophy of
the teacher, learning sequence, evaluation of them, strength and weaknesses of teacher etc. Apart
from this, a detailed differentiation plan along with the views on the elements covered in part A
are also covered in this assignment.
PART A
Evaluation of teaching philosophy and learning sequence
From the teaching and learning sequence – year 5 it has been analysed that Mrs Clark is a
very experienced teacher who teaching the students since last few years. While teaching
individuals she uses skill based philosophy. It is all about analysing, planning and implementing
skills that are gained with the help of knowledge based learning. Under this type of philosophy
all the students are motivated to apply their insights, assess concepts and think in logical manner
(McKenna, Shin, & Ciullo, (2015). The teacher makes sure that all the students learn necessary
skills such as spelling, grammar, punctuation, handwriting etc. All of them are pre-requisite
qualities that are required by all the students so that they can score good in their academics. By
evaluating the teaching and learning sequence – year 5 it has been determined that it provides
various benefits to the individuals. These are developing the ability to think in critical manner,
building effective oral and written communication, enhancing skills of problem solving, sparking
creativity etc. The whole sequence demonstrates that different resources that are used by the
teacher for teaching purpose are spelling textbooks, writing prompts, basal readers, worksheets
etc. All of them are provided by Mrs Clark and not any one of these resources are linked with the
learning that occurs in class. All the teaching related activities are performed in classrooms with
the help of very teacher-directed learning episodes. The way of teaching is not right as Mrs Clark
believes that by providing direct instruction to the students they will be able to learn the way in
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which information report could be generated. If the teachers will think that they are having
experience and it is required to be learned by the students then it may leave negative impact upon
mind set of them because they will have specific target to achieve. In order to make sure that all
the students are learning properly the teacher is required to analyse the area of interest of them so
that tasks according to their interest could be set and assigned (Deunk, and et. al., (2018). As
analysed from the sequence, teacher is not negotiating with the students in relation to their
interested area which is resulting in development of some specific skills of students rather than
enhancement of all the capabilities. The sequence is also demonstrating that teacher uses same
resources and tasks for all the students and does not expect any type of creativity from them
which results in weak creative thinking skills of the students. All the individuals have different
capabilities and skills and for bringing best out of them it is very important for teachers to use
innovative ways for teaching rather than using set tasks for them (Goddard, Goddard, & Kim,
(2015).
Balanced approach is a way of teaching in which teacher mixes phonics with whole
language. If it is used by teachers then they give equal attention to writing as well as reading
instruction so that students can learn effectively. There are five essential elements that are
focused under this approach. These are ongoing evaluation and assessment, intentional and
systematic skills instruction, authentic writing and reading activities, excellent models of writing
and reading behaviour and copious amount of varied and rich literature. By using this approach
teachers will be able to develop all the skills of students rather than some specific capabilities to
learn and read. Apart from this, multimodal process could also be used by teachers to develop
skills and capabilities of all the students. It is highly focused with using combination of
communication modes while teaching students. Some of them are image, print and spoken texts.
This process include different modes such as speaking, representing, listening and viewing which
are different from readings and writing modes of communication (Thaneerananon, Triampo, &
Nokkaew, (2016).
By analysing the sequence different strengths and weaknesses of the teacher's philosophy
are analysed. The strengths include the experience, value for grammar, punctuation and spelling,
follow strict rules for content, presentation and layout. Some of the weaknesses of teacher's
philosophy which were analysed while evaluating sequence are using set resources and tasks for
all the students, teacher does not integrate language and literacy teaching and learning etc. Apart
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from this, Mrs Clark think that students should learn her experience as well as she also does not
negotiate with the students about their area of interest. Due to this ability of the students get
impacted which leaves negative implication upon their ability to learn.
It is very important for Mrs. Clark to make changes in the philosophy which is used for
the purpose of teaching the students. For this purpose, the teacher can adopt a new philosophy in
which the key interest of students will be negotiated, new and interesting tasks will be set for
them according to their area of interest, different resources will be used for teaching etc. For
creating multimodal text and use balanced and scaffolded approach the teacher can make
changes in the philosophy and modify the way of teaching which is used for the students. If the
philosophy and approach will be changed then it can help the students to learn properly and it
will also improve their skills (Park, & Datnow, (2017).
PART B
Rationalised differentiation plan / discussion
A balanced approach to writing and creating could be defined as the approach in which
different types of phonics are mixed with the whole language so that all the students can learn
properly. With the help of it, students will be able to learn easily as they will be provided with
such opportunities in which they can learn effectively and their skills to meet academic targets
could be met. In my views if it will be used by the teachers while teaching students then it can
help them to make sure that they are facilitating the students to learn all the skills that could be
used by them while studying (Scherer, & Siddiq, (2015). While analysing the sequence I
assessed that Mrs. Clark is not using effective approach to teach students as she uses same tasks
and resources to teach all the students. Apart form this, she does not negotiate with individuals
regarding their field of interest which can help to inspire the students to take part in academic
activities.
According to me if the teachers will use multimodal text while teaching the students then
it can help all the individuals to enhance their ability to learn and read effectively. Apart from
this, it is one of the effective styles of teaching that can facilitate students to gain all the skills
that are required by them. There are various types of key aspects that are focused while using iy.
These are comics, posters, picture books, text books and graphic novels. If all of them will be
used by teachers then it will be beneficial for students to take interest in the material which is
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taught by teacher. If it would have been used by Mrs. Clark then it would have facilitated her to
improve skills of all the students and improve their interest in the classes (Wormeli, (2018).
In multimodal writing and balanced approach various aspects are common as both of
them are focused with development of skills and abilities of students. In order to make sure that
all the individuals are learning according to their area of interest it is very important for the
teacher to analyse the interest of students and set tasks accordingly. If same tasks will be used for
all the students then it can result in weaken ability of all the individuals to learn and perform all
the tasks properly. In order to provide effective learning experience to all the students it is very
important for teachers like Mrs. Clark to integrate language and literacy teaching and learning in
to the curriculum areas. It can help the individuals to understand the aspects that are taught by
the teacher. Apart from this, it is also very important for her and other teachers to pay attention
towards differentiation as it can help the students to take more interest in classes and facilitate
teacher to cater to individual student interests. For this purpose, rationalised differentiation plan
could be developed (Cash, (2017).
Differentiation plan:
Differentiation plan can be stated as a plan in which instructions are tailoring to meet
individual needs. The teacher differentiates the process, content, learning environment,
utilization of ongoing assessment. There are some elements included in differentiation plan
including students, strategies, resources needed, outcome and time required (VanTassel-Baska,
& Baska, (2019). The differentiation plan for improving the learning of students is as follows:
Students Strategies Resources
required
Outcome Time required
Students for
whom English is
an additional
language
Providing the
students with
vocabulary is one
of the strategy
that helps English
as some
additional
language students
to learn
The resources
required for
executing this
strategy includes
English
vocabulary,
writing exercises,
knowledge of
Through
implementing this
strategy, students
for whom English
is additional
language will be
able to learn
effectively.
2 months
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effectively.
Teaching
vocabulary make
the students able
to be more
successful,
weather in the
homework
assignment,
classroom
activities, all the
subject in general.
It is specifically
the case of
English as an
additional
language learner
who are behind
native speaker
peers while it
comes to English
vocabulary. It is
very difficult to
make meaning
out of content
without receptive
keywords
knowledge.
keywords etc.
Students who
struggle with
writing
For the students
who struggle with
writing, providing
Adequate amount
of time
By executing this
strategy, students
will be able to
3 months
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them with more
time to finish
their work is one
of the most
appropriate
strategy which
helps them in
overcoming the
issue and write
more effectively.
Extra time
declines the
tendency of
rushing which can
increase the focus
of student on
quality.
write effectively
and improving
their writing
quality.
Conclusion
As per the above mentioned report, it has been concluded that learning and teaching are
interlinked with each other as if teaching is effective then students are able to learn more
effectively. Use of skill based philosophy while teaching will motivate students to apply their
insights. It is very necessary for the teacher to know about the area of interest of the student and
assign them with tasks accordingly. In the balanced approach of teaching, there are 5 key
elements including ongoing evaluation, systematic skills instructions, reading activities and
authentic writing, models of reading and writing behaviour as well as copious amount of rich
literature. It is very important for the teacher to use appropriate philosophy for teaching as this
will help the students in learning in more effective way.
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REFERNECES
Books and Journals
Cash, R. M. (2017). Advancing differentiation: Thinking and learning for the 21st century. Free
Spirit Publishing.
Deunk, M. I., and et. al., (2018). Effective differentiation practices: A systematic review and
meta-analysis of studies on the cognitive effects of differentiation practices in primary
education. Educational Research Review, 24, 31-54.
Goddard, Y., Goddard, R., & Kim, M. (2015). School instructional climate and student
achievement: An examination of group norms for differentiated instruction. American
Journal of Education, 122(1), 111-131.
Johnsen, S. K., Fearon-Drake, D., & Wisely, L. W. (2020). A Formative Evaluation of
Differentiation Practices in Elementary Cluster Classrooms. Roeper Review, 42(3), 206-
218.
McKenna, J. W., Shin, M., & Ciullo, S. (2015). Evaluating reading and mathematics instruction
for students with learning disabilities: A synthesis of observation research. Learning
disability quarterly, 38(4), 195-207.
Park, V., & Datnow, A. (2017). Ability grouping and differentiated instruction in an era of data-
driven decision making. American Journal of Education, 123(2), 000-000.
Scherer, R., & Siddiq, F. (2015). Revisiting teachers’ computer self-efficacy: A differentiated
view on gender differences. Computers in Human Behavior, 53, 48-57.
Thaneerananon, T., Triampo, W., & Nokkaew, A. (2016). Development of a Test to Evaluate
Students' Analytical Thinking Based on Fact versus Opinion
Differentiation. International Journal of Instruction, 9(2), 123-138.
VanTassel-Baska, J., & Baska, A. (2019). Curriculum planning and instructional design for
gifted learners. Sourcebooks, Inc..
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Wormeli, R. (2018). Fair isn't always equal: Assessing & grading in the differentiated
classroom. Stenhouse Publishers.
Students who
struggle with
writing
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Students for
whom English is
an additional
language
CONCLUSION
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
A. Collier-Meek, M. and Sanetti, L. M., 2019. Treatment integrity of a homework intervention:
Evaluating parent and student adherence, exposure, and program
differentiation. International Journal of School & Educational Psychology. 7(1). pp.56-
68.
Cash, R. M., 2017. Advancing differentiation: Thinking and learning for the 21st century. Free
Spirit Publishing.
Heacox, D., 2018. Making differentiation a habit: How to ensure success in academically diverse
classrooms. Free Spirit Publishing.
Jaensch, V. K., Hirschi, A. and Spurk, D., 2016. Relationships of vocational interest congruence,
differentiation, and elevation to career preparedness among university
students. Zeitschrift für Arbeits-und Organisationspsychologie A&O.
Johnsen, S. K., Fearon-Drake, D. and Wisely, L. W., 2020. A Formative Evaluation of
Differentiation Practices in Elementary Cluster Classrooms. Roeper Review. 42(3).
pp.206-218.
MacArthur, C. A., 2018. Evaluation and revision. Best practices in writing instruction. 287.
Pozas, M., Letzel, V. and Schneider, C., 2020. Teachers and differentiated instruction: exploring
differentiation practices to address student diversity. Journal of Research in Special
Educational Needs. 20(3). pp.217-230.
Tolsdorf, Y. and Markic, S., 2017. Development of an instrument and evaluation pattern for the
analysis of chemistry student teachers’ diagnostic competence. International Journal of
Physics & Chemistry Education. 9(3). pp.1-10.
Treuhaft, W., 2017. Closing the Achievement Gap for Students with Disabilities: A Focus on
Instructional Differentiation-An Evaluation Study (Doctoral dissertation, University of
Southern California).
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