Individual difference

• according to the directory of education, the individual difference stands for the variations or deviations among individual in regard to a single characteristics or a number of characteristics.

• It is stands for those differences in their totality distinguish one individual from another.

• individual difference is the difference among human that distinguish or separate from one another and make one as a single unique individual

Types of individual differences

1.Differences in interest2.Differences in attitude3.Differences in values 4.Study habit5.differences in psychomotor skills6.Differences in self concept

interest• Interest may refer as a motivating force that

impels us to attend to a person ,a thing ,or an activity.

• in educational field differences in interest means ,some students like particular subject, teacher, hobby or profession than others

attitude• Difference in attitude is psyche related to

something. few learners have positive attitude towards a particular topic ,subject and profession than others. the role of education in society is to develop positive attitude

values• Values are the things that are given

importance by an individual.• Some learners value materialist life style and

other moral or religious life style etc.• So education must mould the mind of young

generation to have a balance value between materialism and spiritualism

Study habit• It is clearly observable that some students

markedly differ from other students in study habits.

• Some students are studious and study al the subject with interest but other may not.

Psychomotor skills• Is related to some skill acquisition. Some

students in this area also like football, other cricket etc

• Some students easily learn operating machine or some others are not

• A wise teacher should diagnose students psychomotor skills and abilities and encourage them in that direction

Self concept• Difference in self concept is the totality of

attitude ,values and judgment of an individual related to his abilities and behaviour and qualities. so some students have positive self concept and that boost their confidence level and perform better against those who have negative self concept

Causes of individual difference• Individual differences occur due to interaction

of genetic and environmental factors.• The main cause of individual difference are

hereditary(nature) and environment(nurture)

hereditary(nature)• Some heretical traits bring a change from one

individual to other. An individual’s height, size, shape and colour of hair, shape of face, nose, hands and legs so to say the entire structure of the body is determined by his heretical qualities.

• Intellectual differences are also to a great extent influenced by hereditary factor.

Environment• Environment brings individual differences in

behaviour, activities, attitude, and style of life characteristics. Personality etc. Environment does not refer only physical surroundings but also it refers the different types of people, society, their culture, customs, traditions, social heritage, ideas and ideals.

• The environment is responsible as how we are reared, the kind of atmosphere at house, whether it is liberal or strict, the type of education that we get, what we learn from people, around us, books, cultural practices, peers, teachers and media All these aspects refer to ‘environment’ which help in developing our potentials.

• no two individuals are exact duplicates; they differ from each other in some way or the other.

• People develop their unique traits/ characteristics and patterns of behaviour due to their genetic make up and the environment in which they are brought up. Once we know these differences systematically we can utilize the capabilities of people efficiently for their healthy development.

Educational implications of Individual differences

• i. Aims of education, curriculum, method of teaching should be linked with individual differences considering the different abilities and traits individual.

• ii. Curriculum should be designed as per the interest, abilities and needs of different students.

• iii. The teacher has to adopt different types of methods of teaching considering individual difference related to interest, need, etc.

• iv. Some co-curricular activities such as Drama, music, literary activities (Essay & Debate Competition) should be assigned to children according to their interest.

• v. Teacher uses certain specific teaching aids which will attract the children towards teaching considering their interest and need.

• vi. Various methods such as playing method, project method, Montessori method, story telling methods are to be used considering/discovering how different children respond to a task or a problem.

• vii. The division of pupils into classes should not be based only on the mental age or chronological age of children but the physical, social and emotional maturity should be given due consideration.

• viii. In case of vocational guidance the counsellor is to plan the guidance technique keeping in view the needs and requirements of the students.