Knowledge Resource Bank

Differentiated Instruction (DI)

Appreciating student diversity: Exploring the application of an American systematic educational approach in Singapore, highlighting successes and obstacles.

Differentiated Instruction: Implementations and Experiences of Singapore Teachers

How Findings from DI Can Help Administrators and Teachers? 

Why Research DI in Singapore? 

  • Differentiated Instruction (DI) is a systematic educational approach in which teachers modify content, teaching and learning activities to honour the range of student backgrounds and maximise their learning opportunities and capacities (Tomlinson, 2017).
  • DI is largely associated with the work of Carol Tomlinson in the United States and has been identified as a key SkillsFuture area of practice, hence rapidly gaining popularity in Singapore.
  • As DI originates from the North American context, teachers implementing it in Singapore may face unique issues given the different local context.
  • This project investigated how 10 teachers in Singapore implemented and experienced DI, including the successes and obstacles they faced.
  • Studying teachers’ successes and challenges in implementing DI can help administrators and teachers to contextualise within Singapore to:
    • better engage with the approach
    • acknowledge its limits and potentials

How Was the Research Carried Out?

  • Differentiated Instruction adopted a qualitative research design involving ten teachers.

    • Each participant took part in:
      • three semi-structured interviews
      • a background questionnaire
      • four observation cycles
    • Each cycle comprised an observation and pre-/post-observation interviews

Source: Tomlinson, C.A. (2014). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. ASCD.

 

Learn more about the research : At the intersection of educational change and borrowing: teachers implementing learner-centred education in Singapore


Question-Icon Evidence from DI


 

 

 

 


 What Does This Mean for DI Implementation in Schools?
Implications for teachers
  • Realise that DI is not just a teaching strategy; it is an educational approach based on certain philosophies and principles.

Implications for school administrators and managers  

  • Provide sustained and on-site professional development opportunities
    • engage teachers in reculturing, and beyond mere technical strategies to identify:
      • what shapes them as teachers
      • what assumptions they have of teaching, learning, learners
      • why and how they need to change
  • Create risk-free environments to practice new educational approaches
  • Ring-fence time:
    • plan units of lessons in pairs/groups
  • Set aside funding:
    • purchase curricular resources or flexible classroom furniture
  • Recognise:
    • the potentials and limits of applying an educational approach from a different context to our local context
    • educational change takes several years
  • Be aware of technological, sociocultural, and political tensions

For educators interested in local research related to differentiated instruction, you may refer to:

 

For educators interested in Tomlinson’s differentiated instruction, you may refer to:

 


Research Projects

Related projects

 


Question-Icon Research Team

To learn more about this research, please contact Principal Investigator Ast/P Heng Tang Tang at tangtang.heng@nie.edu.sg.

Principal Investigator

Ast/ Prof Heng Tang Tang, Policy, Curriculum and Leadership (PCL), NIE

Co-Principal Investigator

A/P Tan Heng Kiat Kelvin, Learning Sciences and Assessment (LSA), NIE

Collaborators

Ms. Foong Poh Yi, Curriculum Planning and Development Division (CPDD), MOE

Research Associate

Ms. Lynn Song, PCL (formerly of NIE)


Acknowledgments

Differentiated Instruction was funded by the Education Research Funding Programme, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (project no. OER 02/17 HTT). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Singapore MOE and NIE.

This knowledge resource was written by Ast/Prof Heng Tang Tang and Ms Monica Lim as of 24 May 2022; updated on 13 March 2023.

Never Miss A Story