Primary teachers’ perceptions of differentiated instruction: insights from Maldivian classrooms

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ABSTRACT Differentiated Instruction considers students’ unique characteristics and uses these distinctions to shape the learning process for students rather than viewing these characteristics as obstacles. Despite the significance of differentiated instruction, research highlights that primary teachers in the Maldives have limited knowledge regarding the comprehension and use of differentiation. Therefore, this study explored Maldivian primary school teachers’ perceived knowledge, understanding, and planned use of differentiated instruction. A qualitative collective case study design was utilised, incorporating semi-structured web-based interviews and lesson plan documents from four primary school teachers in one Maldivian school. Findings indicated that these teachers may have interpreted differentiated instruction as effectively meeting students’ educational demands by considering individual ability levels, reporting that these teachers tend to differentiate according to three fixed levels (gifted, average, students requiring support), rather than addressing students’ readiness levels in flexible ways. Teachers reported having collaborative meetings as enablers for effective differentiation implementation, with barriers including large class sizes.