Can Differentiated Instruction Create an Inclusive Classroom with Diverse Learners in an Elementary School Setting?

Learners vary greatly in as far as experience, socioeconomic status, culture, ethnicity, learning styles and cognitive ability are concerned. Such diverse learners bring their own learning and personal character to the classroom, which influence the classroom atmosphere, time management, content to be taught and the educator’s teaching style. Different types of instructional methods should be applied to meet all the learners’ needs and improve their strengths, and the natural diversity in the classroom should not prevent any learner from achieving the instructional goals. When all students are thoroughly engaged in the learning environment and the instructional methods are adapted to suit the different learners, the teacher manages to establish an inclusive classroom environment. One approach towards creating an inclusive classroom is differentiated instruction. Hence, an action research study was conducted with fifth grade students from the private Ronaki Hawler Primary School in Erbil, Iraq, to find out how differentiated instruction may build an inclusive environment in their classroom. The results of the research were significant and showed that when students are provided differentiated instruction that meets their needs, a tipping point can be reached. Moreover, differentiated instruction helped the teacher to establish a positive learning environment. Keywords: comprehensive, differentiated instruction, diversity, inclusive, interest, positive climate DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-6-0