In order to make this accommodation within a single classroom setting, teachers are now challenged with the task of restructuring their classroom practice. As an alternative to preparing and teaching a number of different lessons within a single class, teachers must develop a framework for planning that allows for one main lesson with varying methods of presentation, practise, and evaluation. Multi-level instruction is one approach to the development of this framework.
WHAT IS MULTI-LEVEL INSTRUCTION?
Multi-level instruction (Schulz and Turnhull, 1984) is based on the premise that one lesson will be taught to the whole class. It is an approach to planning that assumes the individualization, flexibility and inclusion of all students regardless of their personal level of skills. It allows the teacher to plan for all students within one lesson, thereby decreasing the necessity for separate programs while allowing the teacher to weave individual goals into the classroom content and instructional strategies.
In order to achieve this, teachers need to fully understand the concept of multi-level teaching strategies. To develop a unit or a lesson that is truly multi-level, the lesson must have a definite aim for all students. It must also include a variety of teacher techniques aimed at reaching students at all levels. This means:
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considering student learning styles when planning presentation methods;
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involving them in the lesson through questioning aimed at differerent levels of thinking (e.g., Bloom’s Taxonomy, a taxonomy of levels of cognitive difficulty developed by Beniamin Bloom, a psychologist and educational theorist at the University of Chicago, (see page 198) ;
