Differentiated Instruction for High-Achieving Students in ELL

Abstract

This thesis aims to investigate teachers' and principals' perspectives on differentiated instruction for high-achieving students in English at Norwegian lower secondary schools. Further, the study uses a mixed-method explanatory sequential design comprising a quantitative questionnaire with 45 English teachers and qualitative semi-structured interviews with nine English teachers and four principals. These findings, in correlation to theoretical perspectives and previous research, aim to answer the following research question: How do teachers use differentiated instruction for high-achieving students in the English subject, and what is the principal's role in differentiated instruction? This study's theoretical framework arises from learning theories related to differentiated instruction and Tomlinson's Model of Differentiation (2014). Furthermore, we present previous research in English didactics that shows a need for increased focus on differentiated instruction for high-achieving students. The main findings present how teachers utilize differentiated instruction in English through the frequency of process, content, product, and environment in Tomlinson's Model of Differentiation (2014). Additionally, findings reveal the need to map students' aspects of mastery and gaps to conduct differentiated instruction sufficiently. High-achieving students have been described as academically strong. Noticeably, our study revealed how their gaps relate to social competence and integration within the class dynamic. Furthermore, a lack of time has been highly emphasized as a limitation for conducting DI for high-achieving students. Interestingly, rich tasks have been suggested to make DI more time-efficient and facilitate all students. Further, limitations regarded resources and implied the schools' responsibility to utilize necessary resources and distribute them evenly. In addition, suggestions for improvement regarded collaboration, allocating more time to planning, and communication among teachers and principals to ensure a shared understanding of differentiated instruction. Keywords: Differentiated Instruction, High-Achieving Students, Assessment, Motivation