Key Topic 1: Meeting Learners Needs The phrase “no one left behind” along with “education for all” has been long standing thrusts of the DepEd. This thematic consistency informs you that the public school system is serious in its mandate to ensure that every learner gets the chance to have access to quality education. Having a reliable education for all is a primary investment of the Philippines to have a secure future based on its competent citizens. While the end goal of education is to form productive citizens for nation building, the baseline of achieving this is when learners meet the learning standards fit for their grade level. As a new teacher in the Department of Education, you have to be acquainted with a diverse class composition. In fact, it makes the teaching profession exciting because there are new insights and experiences everyday which you can gain. However, it is also in diversity that challenges take place. In a class, learners do not have equal skills or levels of preparation. Some learners may be interested in your class, while some may not. Some may be quick in grasping new lessons, some may have difficulty. Harvard professor Howard Gardner would call these multiple intelligences. By and large, it is crucial that they meet or even exceed the expectations of the curriculum. Differentiating the Learning Process: Diagnostic test, reinforcement, remedial classes, and enrichment The previous activity tells us that learners have different strengths in which they can grasp a lesson. For instance, classes in Filipino or English may be easier for learners with linguistic and verbal strengths compared to those with bodily- kinesthetic intelligence. The point is to empower the learner to reach the minimum standards of the curriculum, or if possible, surpass it. These learning competencies are crucial because they set the necessary skills as the learner advances or gets promoted. Also, these learning skills deem to match the demand of the real world which every learner has to confront. d. Remedial – According to Tan (2018), remedial programs “give learners more time to work on their problems toward the desired learning outcome.” As a corrective intervention, it may also serve as a “building block” to prepare them to the next lesson. 4 Based on existing DepEd protocols, remedial activities are necessary to uncover the potential of a learner. 1 Jessica Hoth, “Diagnostic Tests” in The SAGE Encyclopedia Here are some interventions which will allow the learners to meet the required learning competencies of the curriculum: a. Diagnostic tests - function as a way to assess the criteria, teaching, and learning which will take place in a classroom. Since it examines a learner’s learning characteristics with respect to knowledge, motivation, and learning difficulties, you can use this test to inform your judgment in helping the learners reach or exceed curricular requirements. 1 b. Reinforcement – is a system of affirmation for a learner’s learning progress. More than an apparent reward, it gives a signal to a learner that he/she is doing good and that he should carry on. This intervention allows a learner to cement progress throughout the learning process. 2 c. Enrichment – are activities, tasks, or special assignments that challenge a learner to improve their grasp of a lesson. This type of learner engagement assures that a learner’s knowledge of the lesson deepens. It may also provide a prelude to the next lesson which is related to the previous one. 3 of Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation , ed. Bruce Frey (London: SAGE Publications, 2018), 512. 2 Marilyn M. Ault, “Reinforcement” in The SAGE Encyclo- pedia of Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation , ed. Bruce Frey (London: SAGE Publications, 2018), 1395. 3 Ser Hong Tan, “Mastery Learning” in The SAGE Encyclo- pedia of Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation , ed. Bruce Frey (London: SAGE Publications, 2018), 1024. 4 Ibid., 1021. 102 The Teacher Induction Program - Core Course 2