DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING FOR DEVELOPING SELF-DEVELOPMENT AND ACADEMIC ABILITIES OF CHILDREN WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Children with intellectual barriers in inclusive elementary schools have two needs that are actually interrelated, namely the development of academic abilities and self-care skills as provisions for independent living. This study was compiled to see how Differentiated Instruction (DI) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can be used as a framework that bridges the two needs, rather than handling them separately as often happens in the field. The author traces and synthesizes a number of relevant national and international journal articles, ranging from the basic principles of DI and UDL, operational techniques for self-development development such as task analysis, prompting, chaining, and modelling, to various implementation challenges faced by teachers in the field, both in terms of competencies, infrastructure, and systemic support. From this search, it can be seen that DI and UDL actually complement each other: UDL plays a role in the design stage, making the curriculum flexible and accessible to many students from the beginning, while DI plays a role when learning runs, adjusting the content, processes, products, and learning environment according to the needs of each child. When these two frameworks are combined with systematic behavioral intervention techniques, the self-development ability and academic achievement of children with intellectual barriers have the potential to grow together, rather than interchangeably. The study concludes with several recommendations: strengthening teacher training, closer collaboration between regular teachers and special education teachers, and a curriculum that has been designed from the beginning to accommodate academic and self-development goals as a whole.