Differentiation: a contested concept

The purpose of this article is to examine the notion of differentiation, which in recent years has become a key word in inspectors’ reports and other official documents. It is argued that the dominant definition of differentiation undermines attempts to relate the curriculum to the individual by emphasising variations in teaching approaches, but neglecting the role of the whole curriculum. The concept of the individual underpinning differentiation processes is identified as a significant issue. As opposed to the psychometric and behavioural notions of individual differences and competencies which have been influential, an alternative conception of the individual as a socially constituted knowing subject is proposed. In exploring the implications of this for the curriculum, it is suggested that the differentiation of educational knowledge in the National Curriculum is problematical, because it leads to the construction of a curriculum which fails to make connections with pupils’ experiences and common‐sense understandings of the world and thus engage them in educational processes