I believe that the game Chess can be related to a metaphor regarding differentiated
instruction because the teacher is the Chess “master” or “overseer.” The master or overseer is said to be the professional teacher with a deep understanding of the abilities of their
students because they have worked with their students for many weeks; they are
very familiar. Chess masters are said to have over 50,000 chess patterns, and they plan and anticipate these moves all throughout the game in order to beat their opponent. Teachers do the same thing with differentiated instruction because they use countless instructional strategies to help their students combat their learning or intellectual disabilities. Sometimes, they use instructional strategies simply to help a student gain a concept much better. Differentiated instruction relies heavily on adherence to the basic principles of teaching. Chess is the same because it relies heavily on the principals of the game and the ability to plan and understand the other opponent’s deficiency. The other difference is a teacher understands their student’s deficiency and uses this understanding to help the student. Teachers can be amazing differentiated instructors, but providing effective instruction to all on the same level should always be performed first! I believe if that does not work, then try to differentiated methods.
Chess is a creative and appropriate example for differentiated instruction. Could you elaborate on your last two statements, "Teachers can be amazing differentiated instructors, but providing effective instruction to all on the same level should always be performed first! I believe if that does not work, then try to differentiated methods." Differentiation assumes that all learners come into a class bringing different sets/levels of ability, interest, and learning styles, and the role of an effective teacher is to give each learner what he/she needs in the way he/she can best absorb it. For example, would it make sense to put jr. high football players and NFL players in the same training camp together and expect the instructors to give them all the same instruction at the same pace? They both need the same essential football skills but at varying levels of depth/complexity.
ReplyDelete