A recognition of student differences and the need to accommodate these differences is not new to the educational community in Saskatchewan. Increasing diversity in the student population combined with a shift in philosophical, psychological, and pedagogical perspectives in education in recent years has resulted in significant changes in the way teachers are expected to accommodate the diverse educational needs of students.
The Adaptive Dimension empowers the teacher to make adjustments in approved educational programs to accommodate variations in student needs. Like the Common Essential Learnings, the Adaptive Dimension permeates all curriculum and instruction in regular, modified, transitional, and alternative education programs in Saskatchewan schools.
Critical to appropriate application of the Adaptive Dimension is the understanding that foundational objectives are not modified. Rather, the curriculum, instructional approaches, and the learning environment are adjusted so that students with varying strengths and needs can achieve prestated curriculum objectives. It is also understood that evaluation practices within the context of the Adaptive Dimension may need to be adjusted. These adjustments must occur in a manner that does not compromise the integrity of the formally stated curriculum objectives. When adjustments are made to curriculum, instruction, evaluation, or learning environment that alter the foundational objectives, then adaptation has occurred beyond the realm of the Adaptive Dimension and into the area of modified or alternative programming.
The Adaptive Dimension is intended to meet individual student needs through adaptations that enrich, extend, reinforce, or teach differentially toward formally stated curricular objectives for small groups of students. The teacher might also choose to accommodate the needs, interests, or abilities of individual students using the same procedures.
The teacher is the key to successful application of the Adaptive Dimension. It is the teacher as decision maker who assesses the needs of each learner in the classroom and then exercises professional judgment regarding the adaptive variables in order to provide the best possible educational program for each student in the classroom. Through the use of the Adaptive Dimension teachers are empowered to exercise their professional judgment to make educational decisions to accommodate student diversity.