Attuned Pedagogy: The Artistry of Differentiated Instruction from a Taiwanese Cultural Perspective

Differentiated instruction has been a framework of effective teaching and a main indicator of professional standards of gifted teachers in Taiwan. However, practically, there are significant disparities between the theoretical expectations and practical implementations regarding curriculum modification, teaching strategies, and demanded resources. Before the advocacy of the concept of differentiated instruction, attuned pedagogy was a very similar idea to differentiated instruction and has been a common language used to describe the goal of effective teaching in Taiwan and in the Chinese culture. Based on the perspective of the culture-sensitive research paradigm, the purpose of this chapter is to delineate the ideal of attuned pedagogy and suggest attuned pedagogy as the artistry of differentiated instruction for cultivating giftedness when we face the challenges of intellectual diversity. In this chapter, a review of the challenges of differentiated instruction in Taiwan will be provided. Then based on the studies of master gifted teachers in elementary schools, three essential principles of attuned pedagogy will be proposed: uniqueness not individuality, intimate relationships, and matching the curve of variation. The four recurrent themes regarding the praxis of attuned pedagogy include: inspiring volition to discipline the minds, following student’s natural tendency to find the sweet spot; moderating in-between to trigger potential; and leaving space to attune personalised connections. Accordingly, the goal of gifted education is to transform giftedness in context. With the long-term purpose of gifted education being to build the student’s learning potential and guide harmony in diversification, the task of gifted educators has to be rooted in wisdom based on professional knowledge and judgement.