Interactive Professional Learning for Teachers Serving in Jamaican Schools
Differentiation in Jamaican Classrooms
Practical strategies for helping learners with diverse educational needs participate,
understand and demonstrate learning—even when classes are large, resources are limited,
and a formal diagnosis or specialist support is not yet available.
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Start Here
The learner is already in your classroom.
Some students arrive in Jamaican classrooms with needs that have never been formally identified.
Others may have a diagnosis but little classroom support. A teacher may be expected to respond
without an aide, specialist, psychologist, specialised equipment or a separate programme.
The question is not only “What does this child have?”
The more useful classroom question is: “What is getting in the way of learning, and what can I change?”
Talk with someone beside you.
Think of a learner who was physically in the classroom but was not meaningfully participating in the lesson.
What was the learner doing? What was the class doing? What support was missing?
Jamaican Classroom Reality
Differentiation has to work in the classroom teachers actually have.
This workshop does not assume a small class, unlimited resources or a specialist beside every teacher.
The activities ask what can be done within real teaching conditions while keeping the learner connected
to meaningful curriculum.
Large classes One teacher may be responsible for many learners with very different levels of readiness.
Unidentified needs A learner may show significant difficulty without having a formal diagnosis.
Literacy gaps A student can reach upper primary or secondary school while reading far below the level of the assigned text.
Limited specialist support Teachers may need practical classroom strategies while referrals or assessments are unavailable or delayed.
Curriculum pressure Teachers still have content to cover and students may be preparing for PEP, CSEC or other assessments.
Behaviour concerns Learning difficulty, frustration, sensory overload or executive-function needs can sometimes appear first as “indiscipline.”
Important: Teachers do not need to diagnose students in order to respond to observed learning needs.
Support can begin with what the teacher sees, hears and notices in the classroom.
A Simple Thinking Framework
Look at the learner, task, barrier and adjustment.
1. LearnerWhat can this learner already do? What strengths, interests and needs do you notice?
2. TaskWhat is the actual learning objective? What must every learner understand or demonstrate?
3. BarrierWhat part of the lesson is creating unnecessary difficulty?
4. AdjustmentWhat can change without removing the core learning?
Case Study 1 • Form 1 English Language
When “misbehaviour” begins with a reading task
Meet Dwayne
Dwayne talks, walks around and avoids the worksheet.
A Form 1 class is asked to read a two-page passage independently and answer eight comprehension questions.
Dwayne looks at the page for several minutes, begins talking to the boy beside him and eventually walks
across the room. The teacher tells him, “Every day is the same thing with you. Sit down and do your work.”
Later, the teacher discovers that Dwayne is struggling to decode much of the passage.
Decision 1
If the learning objective is identifying the main idea, which response is the strongest starting point?
Yes. If reading fluency is not the skill being assessed, the teacher can change the route into the content while preserving the learning goal.
Ask whether the response helps Dwayne reach the learning objective—or simply removes him from the learning.
Your turn. Name two low-cost ways Dwayne could still work on identifying the main idea.
Case Study 2 • Grade 5 Mathematics
“Miss, what we supposed to do?”
Meet Shanice
Shanice frequently misses instructions, loses track of where the class is, starts the wrong question,
looks around the room and repeatedly asks the teacher what she should be doing. There is no formal ADHD diagnosis.
The teacher has explained all six steps verbally and tells Shanice that she needs to pay better attention.
Decision 2
Which adjustment can the teacher use without diagnosing Shanice?
Correct. Classroom support can respond to observed attention, memory and organisation needs without the teacher making a diagnosis.
Choose the option that adds structure to the lesson without changing the mathematics she is expected to learn.
Discuss: Which of these supports would also help students who do not have identified Special Educational Needs?
Case Study 3 • Autism & Sensory Needs
What changed before the response?
Meet Kemar
Kemar usually participates when lessons are predictable. Today the teacher changes the seating plan,
places him in a new group, turns on a video and asks groups to begin immediately while the room is very noisy.
Kemar covers his ears, refuses to move and repeatedly says, “No.”
Decision 3
Before treating Kemar's response as deliberate defiance, what should the teacher consider?
Yes. The teacher should first examine the environment and demands surrounding the behaviour.
Look at what changed in the classroom immediately before Kemar's response.
Write one adjustment the teacher could make before the next group activity:
Case Study 4 • Dyslexia & Literacy
She knows the answer when she can say it.
Meet Rochelle
Rochelle contributes thoughtful answers during Social Studies discussions. When she must read several
paragraphs and write extended responses, she works slowly, loses her place and produces much less than she
can explain orally.
Decision 4
If the objective is explaining causes and effects, which approach best preserves the learning?
Correct. The support addresses literacy access while keeping Rochelle engaged with the same core concept.
Focus on preserving the concept being taught rather than replacing it with unrelated work.
Case Study 5 • Behaviour & Regulation
“He is disruptive.” What else do we know?
Meet Malik
Malik calls out, jokes with peers and leaves his seat during long independent written tasks.
During practical demonstrations, debates and activities where he can move and contribute, he is engaged
and often gives useful answers.
Decision 5
Which question gives the teacher the most useful information?
Exactly. Behaviour becomes more understandable when the teacher examines antecedents, task demands,
environment, regulation and what happens after the behaviour.
The behaviour itself is only one part of the information.
Complete the sentence:
Instead of asking “How do I stop this behaviour?” I can ask...
The Question Teachers Ask
“But I have 40 students.”
“I cannot teach one lesson for the class, another for the child with autism,
another for the child who cannot read and another for the child who cannot sit still.”
That concern is reasonable. Differentiation should not require forty separate lesson plans.
Often one change in lesson design improves access for several learners at the same time.
Instead of
A long verbal explanation with all instructions given at once.
Try
Short explanation + steps on the board + worked example + quick partner check.
Instead of
One long written task for everyone with no checkpoints.
Try
Chunk the task, check after each section and give a model of the expected response.
Instead of
Assuming quiet sitting is the only evidence of attention.
Try
Purposeful movement, response cards, paired talk, mini-whiteboards or brief active checks.
Instead of
Sending one learner to the back with unrelated work.
Try
Keep the same learning goal and change the level of support, text access, response method or pacing.
Strategy Bank
Low-cost strategies teachers can use tomorrow
Dyslexia & significant reading difficulty
Chunk text; pre-teach vocabulary; read key sections aloud; allow paired reading; reduce unnecessary copying;
use larger spacing and clear formatting; provide sentence starters; let students explain ideas orally before writing;
use audio where available; and separate the skill being assessed from reading speed when reading fluency is not the objective.
Autism, predictability & sensory needs
Use clear routines; show the sequence of the lesson; warn students before changes; reduce unnecessary ambiguity;
offer structured choices; use visual instructions; allow processing time; consider noise, lighting and seating;
and create predictable routes for asking for help or taking a brief regulation break.
ADHD, attention & executive-function needs
Give one step at a time when needed; write steps visibly; use checklists; shorten teacher-talk segments;
provide purposeful movement; use quick feedback; break larger assignments into checkpoints;
organise materials consistently; use timers where helpful; and check that the learner knows what “finished” looks like.
Behaviour, regulation & disengagement
Look at what happens before the behaviour; consider task difficulty, boredom, embarrassment, communication,
peer attention, sensory load, fatigue and emotional regulation; teach replacement behaviours;
reinforce successful participation; provide choices where possible; and avoid assuming that all refusal is deliberate defiance.
Very low literacy in a secondary classroom
Keep the learner connected to age-appropriate concepts while adjusting how information is accessed.
Use oral explanation, images, diagrams, key vocabulary, paired work, short accessible text, teacher read-aloud,
matching, sequencing, labelling, demonstrations and structured response frames rather than giving unrelated primary-level work.
Quick Check
Myth or accurate?
“A teacher should wait for a formal diagnosis before adjusting instruction for a learner who is clearly struggling.”
Correct. A diagnosis may guide support, but teachers can respond immediately to observable learning barriers.
Consider what the teacher can change based on classroom evidence without attempting to diagnose the learner.
“Differentiation means making the lesson easier for students with Special Educational Needs.”
Correct. Differentiation changes access, support, pacing, grouping, materials or response options while preserving meaningful learning.
The aim is access—not automatically lower expectations.
“A strategy designed for a learner with Special Educational Needs may also improve learning for other students.”
Correct. Clear steps, modelling, visuals, chunking, movement and multiple response methods often strengthen instruction for many learners.
Think about whether good instructional design benefits only students with identified needs.
Interactive Planning Tool
Build the adjustment
Choose the barrier you are observing and identify the learning goal you want to preserve.
The page will generate a planning question for the teacher.
5-Minute Lesson Redesign
Do not redesign everything. Change one barrier.
1. Learning Goal
2. Barrier
3. Adjustment
4. Evidence of Learning
Final Case
The student at the back of the room
You enter a classroom during a Science lesson. Most students are examining a diagram,
discussing the topic and answering questions.
THE CLASS
Learning about the human digestive system, discussing vocabulary and completing a labelled diagram.
THE STUDENT AT THE BACK
Colouring an unrelated worksheet alone.
A member of staff explains:
“He has Special Educational Needs. He cannot really do what the rest of them are doing.”
Is the learner included—or merely present?
Discuss: What would you need to know before accepting the conclusion that the learner cannot participate?
Now redesign the situation.
How could the learner participate meaningfully in the same Science topic with appropriate support?
Oral Reflection
Finish these sentences with your group.
“A student does not need to be able to ______ before they can learn ______.”
“Before I say a child cannot do the work, I should first ask ______.”
“One thing I can change in a large class without creating 40 lesson plans is ______.”
“One behaviour I might now interpret differently is ______.”
Commitment
What will you do differently tomorrow?
Inclusion is not determined only by where the learner sits.
It is visible in whether the learner has meaningful access to teaching, participation and learning.