Differentiated instruction in pre-service teachers’ perception related to teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and students’ learning outcomes: A study of educational management outcomes

Abstract

Differentiated instruction (DI) plays a pivotal role in addressing student diversity in the classroom. The implementation of this approach requires strong pedagogical knowledge from teachers, which can influence students’ learning outcomes. Therefore, it is important to prepare teacher education students to understand DI not only theoretically but also in practical teaching contexts. This study aims to examine pre-service teachers’ perceptions of pedagogical knowledge and students’ learning outcomes in the implementation of DI, based on their teaching practicum experiences over one semester. There are 389 teacher-candidates from five different majors in a teacher education programme at a private university in Jakarta, Indonesia, who voluntarily participated in this study. In data collection, a five-scale questionnaire is used, consisting of 22 positive statements related to teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and students’ learning outcomes. Those data are analysed using descriptive statistics and presented in percentages. The findings, guided by two research questions, show that regarding teachers’ pedagogical knowledge, most respondents selected the much (M) scale, accounting for 1887 responses (48.5%) of the total. The respondents perceived themselves as most capable of using various teaching methods in implementing DI, whereas they rated their ability to design assessment tools and forms the lowest. In terms of students’ learning outcomes, most responses fell into the to a great extent (GE) category, with 1927 responses (41.28% of the total). The respondents perceived that DI most strongly improves students’ higher-order thinking skills, while the lowest perception was related to students’ mental preparation for the class. This study concludes that pre-service teachers still need to strengthen their competence in designing assessment tools when implementing DI. In addition, future teachers need a deeper understanding of how DI can support students’ mental readiness for learning. Therefore, teacher training colleges are encouraged to provide pre-service teachers with comprehensive knowledge and practical experience related to DI so that its implementation can be carried out more effectively.