National Standard 1 – Know students and how they learn

1.1 – Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students

1.2 – Understand how students learn 

1.3 – Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds 

1.4 – Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

1.5 – Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities

 1.6 – Strategies to support full participation of students with disability

Artefacts:

During my placement at a rural Queensland school, I reconstructed the differentiation plan concerning resources and the educational needs across the school. This school was set in a small country community with 17% identifying as Indigenous and 7% as EAL/D students. The Year 9 Business Studies class included four students on ICP, one student required substantial teacher aide support . All four students had verified special needs, with one having a disability, and many students faced behavioral issues and social requirements (1.1). A range of differentiation strategies was discussed and implemented with the supervising teacher of the subject, which were applied and improved throughout the placement (1.2). This classroom had a high number of students with needs, as they have a mainstream program for their special education students to allow them to participate and engage in mainstream education.

Many rural schools experience various constraints, which also limit the professional support to help teachers adapt to new practices to meet the needs of their students (DoE, 2018). Many students had never used ICT and didn’t have access to their electronic devices at home. This was a barrier that students faced, meaning these lessons had to take place in a computer lab. With a low level of literacy skills, activities needed to be kept to lower literacy questions and simple solutions while still fully engaging the students (1.5).

Artefact 1 shows the differentiation between resources used and supplied for the students. This ranges from low to high levels of understanding and more directed learning for students with special needs. For excelling students, Artefact 1 was provided in a digital copy with a word count for each question (1.2). Other students were provided with a paper copy and grouped to allow for the teacher’s aide to support me as the teacher and students (1.6). Ensuring the content aligns with students can be used to extend and enrich teaching and learning opportunities. This required adjustments to different aspects of learning in the class environment (ACARA, 2021). Having a physical copy of the worksheet also allowed students with linguistic and socioeconomic needs, such as EAL/D backgrounds, to read at their own pace and be supported by providing literacy support from a teacher’s aide (1.5).

These differentiation strategies increased the effectiveness and engagement of students across all behavioral and emotional needs in the classroom. Scaffolding, resource adjustments, teacher aide support, and work expectations allowed for a personalized education for each student (1.2). Seeing students reach their goals through differentiation was clear as they progressed onto other worksheets of similar scaffolding and adaptation to content (1.1). As a result of defining and measuring each student’s needs, from special education students to gifted and talented students, they were given an equal opportunity in the classroom to understand the content (DoE, 2021).