This presentation reports on a small-scale study of five school teachers in one urban secondary school in London, England. The research seeks to explore teachers’ differential behaviour and how they understand and respond to diversity in their classrooms, which is suggested to be one of the most influential educational factors which affect student interest, motivation and academic achievement (Rosenthal 2002). The value of acceptance and celebration of diversity closely mirrors political and cultural processes occurring within the European Union, which is ‘bound together by common values such as freedom, tolerance, equality, solidarity, cultural diversity …’ (European Communities, 1997). A concern for effectively meeting the needs of a diverse range of students has been identified in previous research projects across Europe (see Humpreys et al. 2006). Such research has cited an increase in immigration, special needs students attending mainstream schools and the challenge of meeting literacy and other competencies required in modern society as indications why in recent years schools in Europe have witnessed increasingly heterogeneous classrooms.

One objective of this research is to contribute to understanding how to help teachers teach more responsively to the learning needs of the variety of students that typifies contemporary classrooms. The study compares the personal perspectives of five teachers and how they give meaning to diversity in order to facilitate the development of theoretical and practical knowledge regarding responsive teaching and inclusive practice. In the European Union in particular, this kind of inquiry can also be seen as directly in line with the trans-national movement to support and respect diversity in all its forms (UNESCO, 2005).

When teachers plan and teach their lessons they may take into account student differences by considering student readiness, their interest, and their learning profile (Tomlinson 2003). When selecting tasks, assignments, materials or modes of instruction, teachers can draw on information about students’ previous performance assessments or psychological reports. However, a lot of information that teachers rely on stems from their own perceptions of students’ educational needs which are related to the expectations they have of their students (Rubie-Davies et al. 2010). The literature on teacher expectations questions whether teachers form specific perceptions of individual students based on their level of attainment, interest and learning profile or on group characteristics of students, for example, their gender, ethnicity and social class (McKown & Weinstein, 2008). These student characteristics may contribute to stereotyped teacher attitudes, which can lead to differentiation practices which are more likely to suppress than to enhance student learning. The research questions ask:

1. How do teachers perceive heterogeneity among their students and therefore how do they differentiate in the classroom? 
2. To what extent is differentiated teacher behaviour planned or unplanned?

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