Differentiation for All as Inclusive Design: Graduate Students’ Conceptualisations and Field-Based Course Designs

Abstract

This study examines how graduate students in Curriculum and Instruction conceptualise differentiated instruction and how these understandings are reflected in field-based lesson plans and undergraduate/graduate course designs. Framed within special and inclusive education, it positions differentiated instruction not as a remedial practice reserved for learners with special educational needs and/or disabilities, but as a whole-class inclusive pedagogy promoting equitable access, participation, and learning for all students. A qualitative case study design was employed. Data were collected from open-ended written responses, field-based differentiated lesson plans, and instructional designs produced by 20 graduate students enrolled in a Differentiated Instruction course at a public university in Türkiye. Thematic analysis, document analysis, and cross-source comparison were used. Findings show that participants conceptualised differentiated instruction as a multidimensional, equity-oriented design principle connected to curriculum development, learner diversity, student voice, inclusive participation, global values, and assessment. However, their design products showed uneven systematicity. Differentiation was most visible in process and product dimensions through flexible grouping, activity variation, multimodal products, real-life contexts, digital tools, and alternative assessment, whereas content adaptation, rubric development, and data-informed decision-making were less consistently represented. The study demonstrates how emerging educators translate “differentiation for all” into instructional design and identifies areas requiring support.