INDIVIDUALIZED INSTRUCTION – THE EFFICIENT LEARNING MODEL

Abstract

Individualized instruction is one of the possible ways to enhance the teaching and learning processes at school. It is based on acknowledging students' individual capabilities and affinities, thus contributing to the overall rationalization of the teaching process. The teaching concept which is adjusted to the needs of an average student has its disadvantages. Every student is special with individual needs. The idea of an average student is fictional because it completely neglects students who are talentedor below average. Individualized instruction is a didactic principle which forces teachers to adapt their teaching goals, aims and methods, to discover and acknowledge individual differences among students, to encourage students’ imagination and foster the individual value of their personality, to help making their desires come true and meet their needs even when they seem utterly irrelevant. Monitoring and evaluating students’ accomplishments in primary school relies on global aims of education, as well as operational and concrete goals that are a result of the program. Students’ activities and their results are evaluated by the teacher, the class and the student himself. The following students’ characteristics are evaluated: creativity, the ability to work individually, problem-solving skills, motivation, acquirement of the teaching content, the progress levels, and the students’ position among their peers. Students who are talented or make a slower progress require a different treatment. They belong to two completely different ends of the spectrum in terms of their abilities and capabilities. They both require an individualized approach to teaching and learning, which implies the need for individualized monitoring, evaluating and grading their work. The existing education systems in most countries now include special programs which aim at enabling a more natural progress of the students. The purpose of such an approach is to develop children’s’ potential and curiosity by means of activity and communication with the living, materialistic world they live in, with a constant acknowledgment of the students’ individuality.
In order to respect the individual potential of the talented students, the individualized programs and teaching principles should be as flexible, original and dynamic as possible.What both individualized programs and teaching principles have in common is the fact that they both have to undergo a complete individualization, which is characterized by high intensity, high efficacyand creative work. This form of teaching leads to the following conclusion: individualized teaching prepares students for individual work, connecting theory with experience, forming critical points of view and behavioral norms. The teacher monitors, evaluates and grades the individual progress of both talented and students who are below the average. The evaluation process at traditional schools was based solely on knowledge, skills and habits; thus ignoring other abilities, efforts and potentials of the students. The education reform and the introduction of nine years elementary education have changed the grading system as well. Descriptive grading includes monitoring and commenting on students’ individual accomplishments. In other words, a descriptive grade represents a written evaluation of students’ progress in comparison to the outlined aims and goals that are to be achieved. Students somewhat participate in evaluating their own work, which makes this form of teaching very dynamic and efficient. It is believed that individualized instruction is one of the most efficient ways of teaching which is applicable in our settings. A well-planned individualized lesson can significantly improve the teaching process and create a more positive learning and teaching environment which can elevate the quality of teaching and facilitate individual and social needs.