Differentiation Vs Adaptive Teaching

What is adaptive teaching? Is it just a differentiation strategy wrapped up in a different name? How effective is it for student progress? In this post, we’ll delve into these questions and consider what a move towards adaptive teaching means for teachers.

It’s long been understood that the best teachers are adaptable in the classroom. If a lesson doesn’t quite go to plan, it’s essential that teachers are able to change things to ensure students are meeting the learning objective.

If you have ever taught a group of pupils who were predicted to underachieve, but by the end of the year you managed to get them to reach their targets, chances are you will have adapted your teaching style to support those specific students. So, in a way many teachers use aspects of adaptive teaching already in their approach.

So, what is adaptive teaching? And, why is it at the forefront of discussions at the moment?

The Teachers’ Standards outlines that effective teaching should be ‘adaptive’

According to the Teachers’ Standards, adaptive teachers “respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils.” They:

• Know when and how to differentiate appropriately, using approaches that enable pupils to be taught effectively.
• Have a secure understanding of how a range of factors can inhibit pupils’ ability to learn and how best to overcome these.
• Demonstrate an awareness of the physical, social and intellectual development of children and know how to adapt teaching to support pupils’ education at different stages of development.
• Have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils – including those with SEND, those of high ability, those with English as an additional language – and be able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them.

Adaptive teaching involves teaching the same lesson objectives to all students whilst providing scaffolds to support all students in making progress.

Adaptive teachers will have a deep understanding of the needs of their students. They will have a range of strategies at their disposal that can be used in a range of ways throughout a single lesson, including:

• Questioning, purposeful interventions, fostering quality discussions
• Planned learning activities that are appropriate for the whole class
• The ability to learn from and collaborate with other educators

What is the difference between differentiation and adaptive teaching?

Traditional differentiation usually refers to planning different activities for different groups or individual students, depending on their attainment levels. It also refers to the action you take to remove barriers to learning.

Adaptive teaching is where you focus on the class as a whole. Essentially, it’s the difference between delivering up to 30 lessons at once to suit each individual and teaching one lesson with scaffolding.

The idea with adaptive teaching is that teachers are able to have high expectations in their classroom, with less room for the students to ‘coast’ by tackling a ‘mild spicy’ task every lesson. It is a move away from the ‘bottom group’ always being seen as the ‘bottom group’ and being given ‘bottom group’ work.

Every student is pushed to challenge themselves. Where scaffolding is provided for students, the plan is that those students are working toward becoming fully independent learners.

What is scaffolding?

Picture the scaffolding you would see on a building as it is built. The scaffolding is a temporary support that remains until the building is strong enough to stand by itself. Scaffolding in the classroom follows the same idea – educators provide temporary support that can be gradually phased out as the student becomes more confident and independent.

Issues with Adaptive Teaching

In part, adapative teaching stems from ED Hirsch’s theories around education, which were adopted by Michael Gove when he was Education Minister in 2010. Hirsch states that ‘when a teacher is attending to the individual needs of one student in a class of 20, 19 are not receiving the teacher’s attention.’ He doesn’t believe that teachers should plan separate activities for individual students as a form of differentiation.

Critics of Hirsch’s ideas would say that this creates a simplified view of the classroom. They may argue that individuals and groups of students do need addressing away from the class regularly. Teachers may say that Hirch’s ideas point back to a ‘learn by rote’ era where knowledge and facts were prioritised over fostering curiosity and a love for learning in the classroom.

Therefore, we feel it’s important that the right balance is found in classrooms – we have high expectations and create a learning environment where all can achieve, but deliver appropriate scaffolding and support when are where it is needed.

How effective is adaptive teaching?

The PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) found that ‘adaptive instruction’ is an approach that correlates strongly with student performance.

The Early Career Framework, which entitles new teachers to continued training following their Initial Teacher Training, references ​“adaptive teaching”, moving away from the term ​“differentiation” altogether, which is an important distinction.

How Teaching Assistants Can Help Adapt Lessons for Diverse Learners

Teaching assistants can be an invaluable asset in the classroom when it comes to effective adaptive teaching. By using their knowledge of pupils’ existing knowledge, they can assist teachers in adapting lessons to meet each student’s individual needs.

This involves maintaining high expectations while using appropriate teaching strategies, such as formative assessment and targeted support, to enable all pupils to experience success.

Teaching assistants can provide additional pre-teaching to different groups based on their prior knowledge, which can lead to high-quality teaching and improved student outcomes.

By adapting lessons and providing focused support, teaching assistants can help pupils master important concepts and achieve their full potential.

In summary: 

In principle, adaptive teaching sounds like a great idea, but it is clear that it may take time for school culture to adopt this approach. We cannot simply stop previous methods of differentiation.

Perhaps a move towards adaptive teaching is a move towards supporting teachers to have a vital set of tools; The tools to be able to truly know their students and create a learning environment where all can flourish.

The Education Endowment Foundation offers key questions for schools to consider:

• Are adaptive teaching strategies within the toolkit of every teacher in your school?
• Is there a shared understanding and shared language for adapting teaching?
• Is teaching adapted before and during a lesson?
• What diagnostic assessment procedures are commonly used in your school?
• Are there ways to communicate and celebrate successful strategies across classes and with families at home?

Is your school adopting an adaptive teaching approach? What are your opinions on it? In a future post, we will revisit the topic and share useful strategies and resources to support teaching in being more adaptable in the classroom.

Thank you for reading our post! Are you looking for new teaching opportunities?

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