Selected educational differentiation principles and Tomlinson’s model adapted to RFL teaching

Abstract

In an increasingly heterogenic and individualized world, it has become indispensable to transmit this societal diversity into the classroom (cf. Haß, 2017, 45). The construct of differentiation and/or individualization, although praised to be the ideal way of dealing with heterogeneity, however, is often misunderstood or seen as too difficult to realize at school. Meeting the needs of a multitude of students can be overwhelming and difficult to assess, thereby often crippling its implementation (cf. Lavania & Nor, 2020). The following article attempts to provide clarity and practicality through an overview of selected principles behind differentiation and ideas as to how to concretely apply them to the Russian as a foreign language (RFL) classroom.