Differentiated Instruction in PE – Journey in Radin Mas Primary School

Differentiation

Carol Ann Tomlinson defines differentiation as a teacher’s proactive response to learner needs shaped by mindset and guided by the non-negotiables of differentiation (Tomlinson, 2014). As part of the SkillsFuture for Educators (Sfed) introduced by MOE, differentiated instruction (DI) is defined as a teacher’s planned and adaptive response to meet the diverse learning needs of all students to maximise their progress in learning. Thus, DI is an educational approach that acknowledges and accommodates the diversity of students' learning preferences  interests, readiness levels, and abilities in the classroom. 

Our students come from increasingly diverse backgrounds, possess varying abilities, and learn in different ways. This calls for DI in PE, which promotes inclusivity and success for all students and therefore, enhancing their overall learning experience. 

Teachers need to learn to differentiate their instructional and assessment strategies so that the diverse learning needs of all students can be met, and students can maximise their learning progress, to develop to their fullest potential, helping them become useful citizens and active contributors for the nation. In the context of PE, this means creating a learning environment that provides multiple approaches for students to succeed, regardless of their physical abilities, interests, or prior knowledge. It involves adapting instructional strategies, content, and assessment methods to meet the unique needs of each student, while maintaining the same learning objectives for all.

Our Journey

When we started our DI journey, there was naturally some apprehension and lack of clarity. Our school leaders assured us of their support, and they gave us the time and space we needed to learn, discuss, explore, and develop.

In 2019, we began with schoolwide introductory workshops on the basics of DI. Our school’s SSD and the team of Senior Teachers (STs) guided our teachers through the terminology and the DI model from Tomlinson (2014). We immediately tried designing a simple lesson plan based on what we had learnt with the guidance of our STs. There were also Open Classroom sessions which teachers could attend to learn more about DI. A new package on DI was also crafted for our Beginning Teacher (BT) extended induction to ensure that each BT in our school was mentored by an ST in this area.

In 2020, we revisited DI with the use of Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR) framework (Fisher & Frey, 2021) and how all four phases of the GRR Framework are necessary if we want students to learn deeply, think critically and creatively, and be able to mobilise learning strategies. 

Just as we began designing our DI lessons, things took a sudden turn in 2020 as COVID caused a major disruption, and we had to pivot completely to online learning. Singapore entered the circuit breaker period to pre-empt escalating COVID-19 infections. 

Eventually in April 2022, group size limits and safe distancing requirements were removed. We went into how Assessment Literacy (AL) can be integrated with DI. We also discovered that our previous work in Formative Assessment (FA) was very useful. Helping our students better understand how to use the FA tools helped them further understand what they needed to work on. Short sharing sessions by teachers on their best practices in DI were also conducted at the annual year-end strategic planning week during the “Insightful Learning” sessions.

In 2022, enacting DI in our classrooms was further enhanced by having teachers pair with a colleague of their choice who would be their critical friend. Teachers and their critical friends would visit each other’s classrooms as they carried out their DI lessons. It helped teachers to ease into DI in their classrooms by starting with manageable tasks and having a peer give feedback regarding students’ learning. During our PE PLT sessions in 2022, we worked in groups on DI lesson packages for our chosen levels. We were given the autonomy to choose the levels and learning areas we wanted to focus on in PE. 

These opportunities to work with partners and in teams gave us many invaluable experiences to learn from one another, share ideas, sharpen our thinking, and improve our lessons with our colleagues. It helped build relationships and further enhanced the rapport we had amongst the members of our PE department. What began as a seemingly daunting task gradually became more manageable due to the support from School Leaders, HODs and colleagues.

Useful Tips for Implementing DI

When planning to differentiate lessons, it is important that teachers should have an open mind and be willing to step out of their comfort zone to try out various teaching, learning and even assessment strategies. We also had to ensure there was a balance between form and function, between carrying out “too much” assessment of skills and having game-like situations to apply the skills.

Some useful tips we have gleaned from our DI Journey to reach out to students of different needs during PE lessons can be summed up by the acronym S.C.O.R.E

• Space: Consider the space allocated for the practice task. A practice task can be made more challenging depending on a bigger or smaller playing space.

• Combination: Different combinations of students may result in different learning outcomes. Students at the same ability level can be grouped together to complete a challenge pitched at their level.

• Outcomes: Success can be different for different students in class. Plan the practice tasks to be personalized to students of various abilities. For some, success is when one can make ten passes to a partner but for some, success is when one can make three passes in the same amount of time. Focusing on effort and progress helps students gain greater motivation to keep trying.

• Rules: Relaxing or having more stringent rules for students of different abilities may make a practice task easier or more challenging. For some groups, one can only score after three passes are made, but for some groups, scoring is allowed with just one pass.

• Equipment: Different equipment or different checklists can be used in the same lesson for students to access a similar learning activity. An example is the use of big no bounce balls or floorball pucks for students still developing their floorball skills before moving on to using the actual floorball balls.

The above looks simple but can be quite challenging when carrying it out. Do not be discouraged if something does not work when trying for the first time. 

Sound Bytes from the PE team:

“For every stage, students needed to achieve a certain target before progressing to the next stage. I made it clear to my students that it was perfectly alright for them to remain in Stage 1 to 3. That assured the developing students that they would not be perceived as ‘underperforming’ in the eyes of their peers, and they were able to learn at their own pace. For higher ability students, I encouraged them to try to achieve beyond stage 3. Naturally, these students were motivated to do their best. It goes to show how important DI is in enhancing students’ motivation and satisfaction especially in a very diverse group ranging from students with low ability to the higher ability ones.”

Mr Idham Anis Ashiblie, HOD PE/CCA/Aesthetics

“I learnt that my students including the Primary 1s can be taught to reflect and do self or peer assessment. when we provide them with a clear and understandable vision of the success criteria or learning target.”

Mdm Lena Lee Lai Wan, PE Teacher

“I was very heartened to see the Primary 2 students expressing themselves creatively in different forms. They enjoyed executing their gymnastic sequence and the autonomy of choice in learning. Their thinking and choices were made visible to me even if they were unable to perform some of the skills well.”

Mr Teo Wai Chin, PE Teacher

“When students are grouped based on their level of readiness and needs, the level of enjoyment in the PE experience increases because they are adequately challenged.”

Mr Ng Jun Kiat, SH PE / CCA

Contributed by

Mrs Joyce Won has been teaching for more than 20 years and enjoys helping her students learn how to keep physically fit and active. She hopes her students will be active for life. She is the Senior Teacher / Physical Education in Radin Mas Primary School.

Mrs Doreen Foo has been teaching for 18 years and enjoys having fun Physical Education lessons with her students. She is the Year Head / Lower Primary in Radin Mas Primary School.

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References

Tomlinson, C.A. (2014). The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners. 2nd Edition, ASCD, Pearson.

Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2021). Better Learning Through Structured Teaching: A Framework for the Gradual Release of Responsibility. 3rd Edition. ASCD, Pearson.

Student Development Curriculum Division. (2016). Physical education teaching & learning syllabus: Primary, secondary & pre-university. Singapore: Ministry of Education.

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