DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN EDUCATION

Research studies attest that students learn in different ways. Consequently, instructors need to differentiate their teaching methodologies to cater for their students’ individual needs. Differentiated instruction tends to be the answer for today’s challenges in education especially in the Lebanese context. Community service and civic engagement are values that need to be instilled in young Lebanese students in order to help them develop and embrace their new identity especially following the Arab Spring. This paper will depict how Education Students are taught using a differentiated instruction method in a content course, namely in Practicum II. Three students volunteered to tutor students in the Children Cancer Center – Lebanon instead of the regular school setting tutoring during the Spring semester in 2013. They describe through their reflective journals the change in their perspective about the philosophy of teaching and how this experience contributed in making them better future teachers. Their experiences along with their instructor’s experience in coordinating and monitoring the project will be related to the public.