DIFFERENTIATION AND ITS PROBLEMS - THE VIEWS OF PRIMARY TEACHERS AND CURRICULUM SUPPORT STAFF IN NORTHERN-IRELAND

This paper identifies a range of problems associated with putting diff erentiation into practice. The opinions of head teachers, subject co-o rdinators, and teachers were sought, as well as those of the curriculu m support staff in the Education and Library Boards on the extent to w hich these problems affected primary schools in Northern Ireland, and case-studies illuminated these views. The results showed that the curr iculum support staff regarded most problems in differentiation in a mo re serious light than the schools themselves did, but there was agreem ent on the acute lack of time to deliver a differentiated curriculum, on the shortage of human resources and on the difficulties with new as sessment methods.