Perspectives of teachers on differentiated teaching in multi-cultural South African secondary schools. Studies in Educational Evaluation.‏

South African teachers encounter numerous challenges in the creation of differentiated activities toinclude diverse learner needs in effective teaching and learning. These challenges include the inability toidentify learning barriers and adapt the curriculum, teaching and assessment methods according to thelearning styles and readiness levels of learners. The study aimed to explore secondary school teachers’(n = 262) perspectives on the implementation of differentiated instruction in public secondary schools(n = 27), using qualitative and quantitative approaches. The results indicated that teachers cannot alwaysassist their learners when they need them; show them how to solve problems; or allow learners to workon their own. In addition, various limitations, such as inadequate teacher training, large class sizes,workload, undisciplined learners, lack of resources and parental involvement, second languageinstruction, inadequate support services and socio-economic barriers contribute to the use of teacher-centred methods. The study recommends that intervention programmes in the form of workshops onhow to create differentiated activities should be prioritised in the professional development of teachers.