A Phenomenological Study of Teacher Perceptions of the Applicability of Differentiated Reading Instruction Designs in Turkey

Recently, the idea that individuals who become learners in educational settings have different features not only in terms of language and culture, but also cognitive skills, past life experiences, pre-knowledge resulting from these experiences, and the way that they, has been widely accepted in the literature of educational sciences (Huebner, 2010; Prince, 2011; Schlechty, 2009; Tomlinson, 1995, 2001; Tomlinson et al., 2003; Vygotsky, 1978).This fact comes along with the necessity for teachers that they plan their teaching considering the differences of the students who are defined as the richness of teaching (Anderson, 2007; Palmer, 2005). Research findings show that teachers feel this necessity, and most of them consider the culture, language, economy, intelligence, motivation, etc. and related differences between students as an important part of the educational processes (Casey & Gable, 2011; Prince, 2011; Sharabi, 2009). However, examining the implementations intended to address these differences, we can observe that teachers either ignore this fact, or the plans they design involve giving less tasks for students with learning difficulties, and provide better students with more complicated tasks they probably have difficulty in doing (Gable et al., 2000). These kinds of implementations can be defined as useless or asystematic as students are assigned to a task that is more advanced, or much easier than the conceptual framework they learn. However, differentiation in education is not an approach based on "more" or "less" challenge trials. On the contrary, it is considered a process that is based on theoretical foundations related to the topic, requires systematic planning, has certain implementation principles, and required clarity (Levy, 2008).This process, called differentiated education, is an approach that is inspired from Vygotsky's (1978) socio-cultural learning theory that asserts that learners should study in certain social and cultural contexts. Additionally, this approach was also influenced by brain-based learning principles. Some of the principles of brain-based learning theory that have influenced the differentiated education approach are as follows (Tomlinson & Kalbfleisch, 1998): (1) Safe and unthreatening learning environments support learning. (2) Students should meet new circumstances in an appropriate way, they should feel comfortable when they face new circumstances, and besides content should be neither too easy, not too difficult. (3) Students should make sense of the ideas and skills through meaningful relations. Additionally, we can claim that this approach has also been affected by theories that are learning and information-processing oriented, and based on learning and thinking styles (Dunn, 2000; Kolb, 1984; Sternberg & Williams 2002). Similarly, the multiple-intelligence theory coined by Gardner (1993) is one of the theories that influenced the differentiation in teaching's emphasis of individual differences between learners. In addition, there is another theory that influenced differentiation in teaching. It is Maslow's (1987) theory of hierarchy of needs, which asserts that students can only learn when their basic needs are met, and as their needs are met students can get to more advanced levels of learning. Tomlinson (1995) who were inspired from the theories mentioned above, and organized differentiated education approach as an efficient and systematic approach that is based on arranging content, process and product for each learner, was also one of the most important contributors to this approach. At this point, it would be beneficial to define the concept of the "Differentiated Education Approach" studied in the present research, and its uses in educational environments in detail.In the related literature, the differentiated education approach is defined as a process in which teachers plan their teaching considering the different needs of different learners, not arranging the quantitative structures of the tasks assigned to students, but making qualitative analyses to associate the structure of the task and students' needs (Hall et al. …