Differentiation can be defined as all the measures that help individual students to work at the most suitable level at that point. I favour a system that I call ‘invisible optional differentiation’.

N.B. You will find many other examples on differentiation in my other articles all through these web pages. So here we are scratching the surface really.

This article will clarify the concept of ‘differentiation’, give an example of it and provide a historical perspective on it in Finland.

What do I mean by ‘invisible optional differentiation’?

• invisible = an outsider who steps into the class does not immediately know who are weak or excellent students since everyone is working in a serious manner at their own pace. I seldom use the term ‘differentiation’ but simply make the students work in pairs or groups and let them choose the tasks.
• optional = the students are not forced to do certain exercises but there is a choice, a number of options, so that the students can pick up the tasks they prefer, they can also mostly choose the ones they work with
• differentiation = in mixed-ability classes very many activities in class are planned carefully in advance so that even the weakest students find tasks that suit their level and the best ones have tasks that are challenging enough

Let’s take an example: Checking the understanding of a chapter in a textbook. Usually the teachers ask questions and one student answers at a time. How can we make all students work hard at a level that suits them best? Topic of the chapter: ‘Travelling abroad’

If we differentiate and apply CLT principles, we give the students 3 options: A is mechanical (answers can be found in the text), B is semi-communicative since the answers/comments are at least partially based on the text, C is communicative since the ideas are based on the students’ experiences, not on the textbook.

A Work in pairs and answer the questions on the screen (or a handout) B Tell in your own words what the text is about (key words: platform …) C What do you think about travelling on the train compared with travelling by car or by plane?

Does this kind of differentiation cause us extra work as a teacher? Not really since we have always done A and B/C do not need any/much preparation.

• Students are not labelled at any point according to their abilities.
• Students are given options on what to do in some parts of the lesson and they can choose between tasks that vary in difficulty level.
• Students can make progress at their own pace and they choose themselves which of the tasks given they will work on.
• The teacher organizes the activities in class but does not tell the students which tasks they must do.
• Differentiation can be used to help students in many ways.

A historical view on differentiation in Finland

In the early 1980s when we first started to apply communicative language teaching, CLT, ideas we still had the streaming operating in Finnish language classes. Streaming meant dividing the students into three classes/levels according to their proficiency level and test results. We taught the groups in separate classrooms and even had special textbooks for them.

There is no denying that there was a lot of discussion about the abolition of the streaming system when we gradually introduced a completely new curriculum in the elementary and junior high schools in the 1980s. Teachers had little idea how one could possibly teach mixed-ability groups and it was feared that the level of learning would drop drastically.

Luckily the CLT ideas were the main things that were pushed ahead in our teachers’ in-service training days and we got a fresh start. We were also lucky since the Finnish publishers responded to the challenge by producing excellent and modern textbook materials full of CLT applications. In fact, the transition was rather smooth and it took only a few years and all of Finland was teaching mixed-ability classes with confidence.

As a result, no matter where you lived in Finland the students received the same kind of high quality language teaching. CLT and differentiation principles were a child of democracy entering schools more and more. One of the basic principles in our new curriculum was to try to make sure every single pupil and student had an opportunity to develop their skills in full. It practice it meant not only teaching English well but other skill areas too: social skills, manners and self-control, study skills and technical skills needed in working life.

One of the reasons Finland is so high in PISA results is that our weakest students are the best in the world. We do not give upon them and let them drop out.

We teachers started to take care of every individual and never gave up on them. Special teachers entered the schools to help the ones with serious learning difficulties such as dyslexia and ADHD. We realized that students learn differently, in their own style, and that we have to allow this happening in class too. We learnt to give positive, constructive feedback to enhance students’ self-confidence and motivation. And we learnt to evaluate the students not only on the basis of the course exams but took class participation and other factors into account.

When I graduated from senior high school in 1973 my final English examination was simple: translation from English into Finnish and from Finnish into English. Nothing else was tested. The evaluation was harsh: 2, 4, 6 and 9 point mistakes and some of my friends got minus 4, – 4?, as their grade out of 10 for the whole exam. How can someone’s knowledge of English be worth minus something? Luckily things have changed completely from those days.

Well now we English teachers are testing our students in reading, writing, listening, grammar, vocabulary and even speaking and differentiation is taken into acoount even in exams. What a dramatic change! I have described and discussed this change in the articles on the front page under heading ‘ The structure of an ideal text-based lesson’.

In my experience having three options in differentiation is quite sufficient in any skill area.

In the old streaming system we divided students into three proficiency levels and in CLT tasks dividing the tasks is most typically done in three categories too: mechanical, semi-communicative and communicative.

It is worth pointing out that differentiation can be efficiently done only in student-centered teaching, in classes where the teacher fascilitates and organizes the learning situations. All my articles on these web pages actually are part of this story even if there have been several massive changes in teaching since the late 1980s.

In my next articles I will clarify my principles and practical applications in differentiation and scaffolding, introduce four learner profiles and finally consider when differentiation is feasible and sensible in class and when it is not. These ideas have made me change many practices in my class.

Differentiation	Differentiation, how to apply the ideas
	Four types of learners, implications
	Differentiation in text-based lessons
	N.B. See also other articles