Responding to individual differences by enriching the self

Abstract

Educators are constantly faced with students who distinctively differ from each other. It is the unique individuality of each person that makes it hard to devise a universal model of how learning takes place. Human needs are so idiosyncratic that each individual deserves and requires special attention and adaptation of the learning experience in order to cater for the particular needs, interests, abilities and attitudes. Accordingly, in this study, I endeavoured to understand better the meaning and implications of individual differences. I explored notions pertaining to the human person that eventually led me to a better understanding of the paradigms that influence learning. Furthermore, I explored aptitudes for learning by looking at student-learning transactions over time. The literature revealed the intricate wholeness surrounding the human person both on an individual level and on a communal level (animate and inanimate). Moreover, I explored the theory of Adaptive Teaching as discussed by Gellel (2005) as a means of distributing learning evenly between all students irrespective of their differences. In particular, the study delved into the principle of ‘Progressive Formation of the Self’ which goes beyond meeting students’ requirements to challenging them to flexibly adapt to different situations, as well as transforming the reality they live in. In conclusion, the literature pointed at the importance of educating the whole child thereby going beyond knowledge acquisition to acquiring tools for thinking and learning, skills, dispositions sense-making capacities needed for life-long learning. This has highlighted the importance of shared meaning making and the role of culture and context as an effective pedagogy for teaching and learning.