Leadership for differentiated instruction: teachers’ engagement with on-site professional learning at an Australian secondary school

ABSTRACT

Increasing numbers of students with identified special needs and disabilities attending Australian schools have enhanced the expectation that mainstream teachers will demonstrate competence in planning and teaching for an academically diverse range of students. A qualitative action research study explored how teachers at an Australian secondary campus understood and addressed learner diversity in the context of a whole-school effort towards more inclusive practices. Data were collected over a one-year period as the principal researcher, acting as participant/observer, sought to identify how engagement with professional learning influenced teachers’ understandings, attitudes and practices related to differentiated instruction. Findings highlight the role of school leaders in providing sustained, contextual professional learning and shifting a school culture towards more inclusive teaching practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Differentiated instruction
• inclusive practices
• professional learning
• educational leadership

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Kelly Sharp is a graduate of Flinders University’s doctoral programme and has been involved in a number of research studies related to differentiated instruction. She is an experienced teacher and special educator and is currently the Head of Middle School at an independent school in South Australia.

Dr Jane Jarvis is a Senior Lecturer in Education and co-chair of the Research in Special Education (RISE) group at Flinders University, where her research, teaching, and ongoing work with school-based educators focuses on curriculum differentiation, inclusive educational practices, gifted education and special education.

Dr Julie McMillan is a Senior Lecturer in Education and co-chair of the Research in Special Education (RISE) group at Flinders University, where her research, teaching and work with schools focuses on teacher professional learning and supporting students with intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, behavioural difficulties and complex communication needs.

ORCID

Jane M. Jarvis http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6065-4020

Julie M. McMillan http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8462-7040