Differentiation - when is it too much?

I recently read this post on Dangerously Irrelevant about differentiation/inidivdualized instruction being taken too far.  It got me thinking about how differentiation or individualized instruction is used in the classroom and whether or not it has indeed been taken too far.

The post quotes Ms. Senechal as saying, "New software "rescues" children from frustration and difficulty; it meets them at their level and provides hints and encouragement when they have trouble answering a question. Some researchers are developing mood-sensitive software with animation that mirrors and responds to students' moods."  She says she worries about the long-term consequences of this type of learning.  Ms. Senechal doesn't seem to be protesting the use of technology so much as she is the use of this level of differentiation/individualization.

My concern would be for a child who has a teacher that doesn't look for frustration or doesn't encourage a child when they're stuck.  How well does an overwhelmed and frustrated student learn?  In my experience, not very well.  Differentiation provides a way for a child to determine their own instructional level so they're more likely to learn.  If needed a teacher can guide the student toward the level that is appropriate for them.  It's unreasonable for an educator to think that every child in their class is at the same level and will learn in the same way.  I absolutely agree that everyone needs to be pushed outside of their comfort zone slightly in order to learn, but if you push a child who isn't ready too far they're going to retreat and you'll get nothing out of them.

Ms. Senechal also seems to mistake differentiated/individualized instruction as making things "interesting" or "easier" for students.  Hopefully a student will become interested in the content, but not always.  If a student has a deep hatred for a subject/topic that's tough to dispel and no amount of differentiated learning choices is going to alter that.  Differentiation doesn't make learning easier either, it makes it more accessible.  If you are differentiating with the intent of making things easier or fun for a student then you're doing it wrong.  You should differentiate with the intent of increasing the student's knowledge of a topic and making learning more accessible to them.  "Interesting" and "easier" may be byproducts, and often "easier" truly doesn't mean the learning is any simpler, it just means it's more accessible to the student and they don't have to struggle or become frustrated in the process as much.

I feel saddened that there are educators who don't believe meeting children at their instructional level is the best way to teach, but it also makes me happy to see the many educators who left comments on the post protesting against what Ms. Senechal had to say.