Barriers in differentiated instruction: A systematic review of the literature

Abstract

Differentiated Instruction (DI) is a well-known and well-debated pedagogical approach that gives importance to the fulfilment of student needs (Tomlinson; 2000, Jacobse; 2019). However, many studies found that although this well-known approach has been introduced to most educational institutions, there still lie challenges that hampers its implementation. The current review intends to set an overview of the barriers that teachers face in the implementation and incorporation of DI in classroom teaching and learning. A total of 19 empirical studies were chosen for thorough review upon meticulous selection criteria. The findings showed that there are numerous challenges that teachers face. The challenges were listed and classified into 11 different categories and the most common challenge that teachers face is the lack of DI knowledge with 63.3% of frequency. It was also found that certain challenges were the effect of other mentioned challenges. A framework was formed in this study; categorising the challenges into governable and ungovernable factors. This review framework will ease researchers and teachers in working out the challenges that could be dealt with personally and the challenges that require the interference of other parties. It also provides a summary of the challenges that teachers face in DI implementation from 2014 till 2019.