This study analyses teacher perceived difficulty in implementing differentiated instructional strategies in regular classes. The participants were 273 Portuguese primary school teachers with teaching experience ranging from 1 to 33 years. A 39-item questionnaire was used to evaluate teacher perceived difficulty in relation to different instructional strategies. Teacher responses were factor analysed and five different domains were identified: (1) activities and materials; (2) assessment; (3) management; (4) planning and preparation; and (5) classroom environment. Results showed that with the exception of the classroom environment domain, all the instruction practices in the remaining domains were considered to be difficult. In particular, the most difficult practices were under the domain of activities and materials and were associated with the adaptation of curricular elements (content, process, and product) based on student characteristics (readiness, interest, and learning profiles). The results also revealed a strong association between the activities and materials domain and the assessment domain. Some implications of these findings for initial teacher training and teacher professional development programmes are discussed.

Education systems around the world, faces the major challenge of including all children in schools. Differentiated instruction (DI) is proposed as a pedagogical approach that support social, emotional and academic success for all students in the context of heterogeneous classrooms. Although, recent research draws the attention to the inconsistent definitions and practices of DI. In this context, this qualitative study aimed at exploring the Portuguese teachers self-reported typical DI practices in mixed-ability classrooms. The participants were thirty-six teachers from kindergarten to middle school and came from a public-school cluster of five schools. The qualitative analysis carried out indicate a variety of practices under the concept of DI, ranging from practices aimed only at a group of students, based on low ability or special education needs, to practices aimed at building communities of learners. The majority of the self-reported practices described DI as simply giving one assignment to most pupils and fewer or easier activities to students who are struggling with their learning. Implications for initial teacher training and professional development programmes are discussed.

Teachers’ beliefs are directly connected to their practices and have an impact on students’ educational experiences and results. The aim of this study was to describe and examine the relationship between beliefs and practices linked to teaching students to write in the first four years of primary school. A total of 255 Portuguese primary school teachers participated in the study. A 52-item questionnaire was used to evaluate their beliefs, preferred activities and classroom organisation procedures in relation to writing instruction. Beliefs and classroom organisation procedures were subjected to factor analysis, whereas activities were considered individually. The analysis of teachers’ beliefs revealed two different factors: (1) code-based beliefs and (2) meaning-based beliefs. The analysis of teachers’ classroom organisation revealed three different factors: (1) pairs or small groups; (2) individual; and (3) whole classroom. Most of the participating teachers emphasised both explicit teaching and informal learning methods. There were significant associations between beliefs and activities and beliefs and classroom organisation procedures supported by code vs. meaning beliefs. However, the different associations revealed in the study showed that teachers combine multidimensional aspects in their writing instruction theory and practice