A differentiated approach to teaching preschoolers and primary schoolchildren: the nature, purpose, objectives, organization, implementation, use. A differentiated approach to learning is ...

At present, there are signs of a mismatch in the level of training of a significant part of school graduates with the growing requirements for the training of workers in common professions. Accelerating the pace and improving the quality of labor, the constant reduction of simple specialties in production, the transition of enterprises to other areas of economic activity cause a number of difficulties in the adaptation of adolescents. In the process of teaching schoolchildren, teachers currently do not use all the available reserves for improving educational work. In this regard, the existing difficulties in the social adaptation of graduates have an increasing tendency. For a radical solution to the difficulties that arise, it is necessary to raise an individual and differentiated approach to training to a qualitatively new level.

The content of the new principles

The concept of "individual approach" implies a didactic method of education and training. He is considered one of the key in general and special pedagogy. The essence of an individual approach is to take into account the personal characteristics of children in the educational process. It allows you to actively manage the development of physical and mental capabilities. As part of an individual approach, a comprehensive study of students is carried out. Based on the results obtained, the development of appropriate pedagogical measures of influence is carried out. This method is of particular importance in schooling, as students vary significantly in level of susceptibility. Differences are caused by characteristic people’s interests, temperament, etc. The individual approach includes all measures aimed at creating favorable conditions for learning and development of students and determined in accordance with their personal capabilities. Of particular interest in the use of this method is due to the significant variation in the abilities of persons of the same age. If personal characteristics characteristic of some students are revealed in others, then they are called typical. In other words, these or those opportunities are characteristic for a certain group.

The essence of a differentiated approach to learning

When solving pedagogical issues, special attention is paid to the socio-psychological characteristics of groups. A differentiated approach to training is one of the methods for the implementation of coordinated activities aimed at accounting for them. There are certain groups in the community that are informal or structural associations. They are distinguished by the teacher according to the similar personal characteristics of each child. A differentiated approach to learning is a method that occupies an intermediate position between frontal activity and interpersonal interaction. It greatly facilitates the educational process. In conditions of high class occupancy, it is far from always possible to determine the content and forms of interaction with each child. Using a differentiated approach in training allows you to develop them for specific groups or categories.

Key areas

A differentiated approach to teaching children cannot be applied without studying interpersonal relationships. This method allows you to influence the interaction of the individual and the group, group and team, child and adult. A differentiated approach to learning is implemented in various ways. Of particular importance among them are game forms, competitions, modeling situations. All of these activities should help unleash the potential of each child. The effectiveness of the method directly depends on the creative atmosphere, the content of interaction, democratic governance within the team.

System of measures

A differentiated approach to training and education includes a fairly large number of pedagogical actions. This method is a set of measures aimed at the study, accounting and development of typological features. The tasks of a differentiated approach in training include ensuring:

1. Achievement of mandatory results by each child in accordance with his real capabilities.
2. Improvement of creative, value, cognitive, artistic, communicative potential.
3. Perceptions of knowledge in accordance with real possibilities and orientation to the "sphere of proximal development".

The specifics of studying personal characteristics

The goal of a differentiated approach to learning is to identify and explore opportunities by special criteria. As they are several features by which the child is characterized as an integral personality. Each selected property is essential in determining the success of training. Among the criteria, there are dominant ones. One of these is considered a degree of training. The priority of this property is determined by the fact that the level of formation of interest in cognitive activity will depend on it. This criterion also affects the student's learning ability. This method of studying typical personal characteristics is most consistent with the orientation of pedagogical activity in modern conditions. The study of differences involves the establishment of indicators for their determination. In accordance with them, diagnostic materials are formed. As one of the effective ways to study the degree of learning, test work is performed, and learning ability is a school test to determine mental development. In practice, these methods are most often used by teachers. Questionnaire is used to determine the degree of cognitive interest in a particular subject.

Property Groups

In pedagogical practice, a certain classification of features has been developed, allowing to take into account the experience and results obtained by specialists using a differentiated approach in teaching. This division corresponds to three aspects of activity:

1. Executive. It involves properties that reflect the processes of the implementation of plans. These include, in particular, the practical change in the source material, the execution of work, the formation of skills, techniques, correlation of actual actions and the results obtained with thought processes. At the physiological level, executive activity reflects the characteristics of the auditory, visual, and motor systems involved in self-monitoring.
2. Target. This side is characterized by properties that reflect the processes of assimilation of the issue, collection and generalization of information necessary for the solution. In other words, this is orientation in the task, drawing up a plan for future activities, its subsequent adjustment.
3. Energy. This side includes properties that reflect the active activity of the nervous system: feelings, emotions, endurance, level of fatigue, ability to volitional effort. These characteristics determine mainly the degree of performance. Along with this, the intensification of activity depends on motivation and its strength. It, in turn, serves not only as an energy factor, but also as a directing factor. This is due to the fact that it contains properties that apply to the target component of the activity.
   

Analysis

Applying a differentiated approach to teaching younger students, personal characteristics can be determined by a comprehensive assessment. It reflects the specifics of activities in three areas of analysis. As a result, three groups are formed in which:

1. All three sides are preserved to one degree or another.
2. 1 or 2 component of activity is broken.
3. All three components of the activity are not formed.

A differentiated approach in the education of primary schoolchildren includes the identification of typological time groups. They, in turn, are divided into subgroups. The following categories are distinguished in the psychological and pedagogical literature:

1. A highly trained group. It includes subgroups with a stable cognitive interest in this particular subject or in other disciplines.
2. Group with an average degree of training. It includes subcategories similar to the previous ones.
3. A group with a low degree of training, an unstable interest in either this or other subjects.
   

Recommendations of specialists

A differentiated approach to teaching preschoolers allows for the deepening, systematization and generalization of skills and knowledge. It is aimed at stimulating the development of cognitive independent activity of the child. In addition, the method promotes the alignment of skills and knowledge. A differentiated approach in teaching preschoolers is especially effective in studying new material, checking and consolidating what has been learned, and also in preparing homework. Independent activities in the team and at home are two interrelated elements that complement each other. When preparing homework, you should plan tasks of varying degrees of complexity and varying amounts. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the real opportunities and interests of the guys. To facilitate the work of both teachers and schoolchildren, it is recommended to compile a collection with differentiated tasks. In it, questions should be grouped into sections. Each of them includes tasks of advanced and basic levels. The latter includes questions for children with low and medium levels of education, the first, respectively, for strong students. Basic tasks should also be separated from each other. For children with a low level of education - write them in italics, with an average - in normal font. Questions for varying degrees of cognitive interest are recommended to be shown with different icons.

Organization of a differentiated approach in training

One of the most important conditions for the correct implementation of the pedagogical process is the selection of a rational complex of educational techniques and methods. It is also important to assess the quality of the knowledge gained, the method of its optimization taking into account age-related features, the level of training, the formation of general skills within the framework of the educational and educational tasks to be solved. In accordance with these factors, a balanced combination of new and traditional pedagogical methods with the introduction of innovative technologies is ensured. In this case, the optimization of the application of problem tasks and situations, reproductive, explanatory, illustrative, heuristic, partially search, research methods, uses group work and activity in pairs, as well as technical means. Control and correction of skills and knowledge are carried out as part of multi-level assessment systems. It includes dictations and tasks on the subject, tests and training tasks, individual cards with questions, homework and independent work of a teaching and supervisory nature. The quality of each child’s preparation, rather than the formal application of any pedagogical device, method, or tool, is the criterion for successful activity.

Technology

Applying a differentiated approach to teaching in elementary school, it must be borne in mind that each child develops in his own way. In this regard, laggards, excellent students and good guys appear in the class. It is advisable to form a level differentiation at certain stages of the lesson. To do this, you can mentally divide the class into several typological time groups. The educational process in this case will be built according to the real possibilities of each of them. A differentiated approach to teaching schoolchildren allows you to promote a child from a weaker group to a strong one. In this regard, two key areas are outlined in the educational process. The first involves the allocation of typological time groups, the second - the development and implementation of techniques and methods that correspond to each category. In the process of solving the first problem, it is recommended to build on children's learning. It is determined by written verification work, which covers all elements of the content of subject education and require the application of acquired knowledge at various levels of independence. Acquaintance with performance in other disciplines is carried out in a classroom journal. It is also advisable to find out the opinion about the team as a whole and individual students from other teachers. Of no less importance are conversations with parents to identify the personal characteristics of one or another child. Students can also be distinguished by the presence or absence of cognitive interest in a particular subject. If he is not there or the child often misses classes and has a small amount of knowledge, then he is assigned to the lagging typological group. Such students are recommended to be involved in individual group classes, to engage them in open lessons and extracurricular activities, contributing to the development of their confidence.

Development and implementation of techniques

The second task of applying a differentiated approach is most successfully solved within the framework of separate and collective forms of educational activity planning. As one of the verification methods, you can use the degree of difficulty of the tasks. It can be judged by several indicators. For example, problematic or creative tasks in an objective sense are more difficult for students than reproductive ones. The number of links in the process of reasoning from the source data to the answer is also of importance. The larger the number, the more difficult the task. For children in the lagging group, questions should be fairly simple. Their content should be prepared taking into account the mandatory standard (minimum) for the subject. Do not forget about the breadth of transfer of skills and knowledge. The most difficult in this regard include tasks in which students use material in several disciplines. In this case, intersubject communication is formed.

Difficulty indicators

The criteria by which the degree of difficulty of the tasks is determined include:

1. Problematic. As mentioned above, reproductive tasks are easier than creative ones.
2. The distance from the source data to the answer to the question. The greater the number of links in the discussion, the more difficult the task.
3. The number of consequences or causes to be established. The more they need to be found, the more difficult the task.
4. The number of sources used. The more there are, the more difficult the task.

Other methods

In practice, it is advisable to apply the method of differentiation of assistance from the teacher in the process of performing the same task. This method assumes that a weak child receives more detailed instructions than those given to a stronger one. At the same time, successful children solve problems without any help from the teacher. They independently collect sources and determine the logical chain of the task. A standard plan is being developed for the middle group. For weak students, cards should be prepared with questions arranged in accordance with the logic of the heuristic discussion. All arguments should be clearly directed from the first to the last stage. Another method is the differential accounting of students. It can manifest itself in the formulation of individual creative tasks. For example, a teacher instructs certain children to prepare small reports. In this case, they should choose their own from additional literature. Also, the teacher can give the task to make a quiz, crossword puzzle, come up with a continuation of the movie script or comment. In this case, it is important to correctly distribute the activity between the students, taking into account their real capabilities and applying a differentiated approach to teaching. This is especially important when dealing with laggards. , .