Edinburgh Learns: Differentiation explores how students learn and understand new material effectively and offers strategies for supporting this in the classroom. We look at how to differentiate through Content, Process, Product and Environment, sharing practical ways to provide the right pace and challenge for all learners, without watering down the curriculum. The course addresses how our mindset about learner potential shapes how we approach planning for achievement, and suggests tried and tested approaches that can help us plan for achievement for all learners, regardless of their starting point.

This is a two-session course (four hours of face-face professional learning in total). This professional learning is aimed at teachers and school leaders from all school sectors to develop their confidence and ability in teaching through an effective differentiated approach.

Key learning

Explore practical approaches to differentiation through the themes of:

• content - setting clear goals, identifying threshold concepts and how they link to prior knowledge
• process - modelling techniques and planning strategies to support learners
• questioning - cold calling, probing and how to plan for questioning
• product - PACE grids, tiering and empowering learners
• environment - creating learning pits and making your context a resource that you and your learners can rely on.