Organizational Learning & Innovation Series (OLI) “Differentiated Instruction: Reflection as a Practitioner

Los Gatos Superintendent Dr. Diana Abbati continues her series of articles on organizational learning and innovation with her reflection on teaching elementary mathematics and differentiating instruction. 

Self-Reflection

Much of my professional teaching career was focused on differentiating instruction, especially in mathematics, for both elementary and middle school students. As a teacher, I worked endless hours to ensure that my lessons were differentiated to meet the needs of my students. My concern for closing the achievement gap in mathematics, and desire for excellence and high quality experiences for students, are the reasons I pursued my doctorate degree from UC Berkeley. I knew from my own personal experiences that implementing differentiated instruction overtaxed me as a teacher and was ultimately one of the reasons why I pursued being an educational leader. I believed by conducting my own study, I could offer insight and suggestions that would make this problem of practice easier to implement; there had to be some way that I could influence change as a leader. Hence, my study was developed to help other teachers and leaders like myself understand the complexities of implementing such practice. I hoped to possibly find specific organizational conditions that could be simply changed to ensure high quality teaching. As I found out, there is not a prescriptive list that can be easily transferred to other educators or organizations. 

As a superintendent, I am humbled by what I have learned and by the challenges ahead. I feel a kindred bond not only to the teachers who voluntarily participated in this study but for those who I will continue to encounter in my every day work. For those teachers who willingly forge ahead, I commend them for their passion. I also commend those teachers seeking to improve their craft, and those leaders willing to take a step back and understand the complexities of human change. 

In today’s classrooms many of the benefits of creativity and positive relationships with students go unnoticed, and yet there is an increased focus on metrics and accountability. Public school educators work within socially constructed mandates institutionalized by federal and state governments. 

As superintendent, I proffer that leaders must be reflective about their own assumptions, skills, and perceptions in order to improve practices in the classroom. They need to have a clear understanding and focus on the challenges of leading a change effort. I had my own biases and beliefs that differentiated instruction could be easily implemented with support from the organization. I would even offer that I had an unrealistic expectation that an average teacher could easily implement such practice without systemic changes. In my mind, low implementation of differentiated instruction was a weakness, but I am now of a different mind. Leaders need to step back and realistically assess what their organization is able to offer a teacher with average skills and ordinary commitments to their own family. Moral purpose and moral clarity cannot overcome structural obstacles and even the best can only go so far. I clearly did not understand this challenge at the onset of my study. 

To learn more, read the attached study: “Understanding the personal factors and organizational conditions that facilitate differentiated instruction in elementary mathematics classrooms”