The evaluation essay assignment gives us the option to find an article about someone who is strongly against differentiation and reflect on their opinion. Is there anybody out there that strongly believes differentiation is a load of nonsense? I understand there must be some limits on differentiation. There is only so much I can do as an ESL teacher if my students have had no experience with English before my class. Unfortunately for these students, the external Cambridge exam they are forced to take at the end of the year is designed for students who have between five and six years of English language learning. If in June, they are still using translation software to translate entire pages, they are going to be repeating the tenth grade. I guess that might be the biggest argument against differentiation. It is possible that too much differentiation does not prepare students for some high-stakes exams. That is a flaw of the exams, not differentiation.
In the real world, everything is differentiated all the time. I have already written about how differentiation happens in my son’s swim class. Differentiation is even more common in professional spheres. If an NFL player arrives at training camp a few pounds overweight, coaches will get him on a weight loss program while his teammates will be working on other skills. In an office, people with MBAs may receive extra training on the necessary software. This is not because their MBA program was trash, it simply did not stress that one skill that this job particularly needs. Teachers are constantly evaluated during our careers. These evaluations attempt to provide a holistic view of the teacher. No teacher is a failure if they are unable to devise good assessments; they are only bad at assessment. It seems crazy to me that anyone would not see students similarly. If the goal is actual learning and creating productive members of society, why would students not benefit from differentiation?
The Keasy Depot 