How Can Invention Education Simplify Differentiated Instruction?

Educators know all students are unique and have different goals, interests and learning styles. To better serve students, teachers often implement a technique known as differentiated instruction — the practice of first understanding the ways in which a student learns best, and then catering the instruction methods, content and assessments to meet their needs.

Widely considered one the world’s leading experts on differentiated instruction, Carol Tomlinson, professor emeritus at the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development, says the practice speaks to teachers’ fundamental responsibility to their students.

“We’ve often taught as though all the kids in the classroom are wired exactly alike to learn, as though they should come in programmed to learn on the teacher’s schedule,” Tomlinson said in an interview with the University of Virginia. “Really, to me, differentiation is the common sense of saying, if we take on the responsibility of teaching, we accept the responsibility of making sure that every kid learns as well as he or she possibly can.”

Implementing Differentiated Instruction in the Classroom

Many educators are making great strides in bringing hands-on opportunities into the classroom over using traditional “sage on the stage” techniques. To achieve this they act as learning guides to encourage students, and provide support through idea generation and open-ended questioning.

When considering this approach, a common concern is the question of how to approach classroom management. In one of her many books on the subject, Tomlinson argues that to have the greatest chance of success in implementing differentiated learning, educators should reconsider what this type of management looks like when students are given more responsibility for their own learning.

“When you go into classrooms where teachers lead kids in that way, management is not the problem we tend to think it is, because kids feel empowered and interested and invigorated,” Tomlinson said.

Viewing Differentiation Through the Lens of Invention Education

For over 30 years, the National Inventors Hall of Fame^® has developed hands-on invention education programming that allows educators to seamlessly integrate differentiated instruction in their classrooms.

Jayme Cellitioci, creativity and innovation strategist at the National Inventors Hall of Fame, is integral to creating and continuously improving our engaging curricula. Read below for her summary of how invention education fosters personalized instruction by igniting students’ natural curiosity and guiding them to have autonomy over their learning.

Invention education is a natural invitation for learners to enter into education in their own way, with their own curiosities, at their own pace and with their own preferred outcomes. Youth are naturally engaged in problem solving by focusing on challenges and opportunities. Whether they have a strong inventive identity, or perhaps view themselves in a different light, the invention process allows learners to explore content in a way that suits their level and style.

For instance, having multiple entry points into the waters of innovation, a student’s prototype may look like a simple and functional raft or an intricate research vessel. When children design their prototypes alongside one another, they can collaborate and be inspired yet take their own unique pathways. This approach lends itself well to a shared experience where each individual child is setting their own course.

In this way, invention education simplifies differentiation by making a single lens with multiple magnifications.

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