Curriculum and pedagogical differentiation as a strategy to promote the democratization of education

Curriculum and pedagogical differentiation as an educational requirement and need has been the source of reflections and practices that tend to emphasise, above all, the need to respect the cognitive and cultural singularities of students as a crucial factor in the management of their teaching-learning process. In this sense, the present study aims to understand the implications of the process of curriculum and pedagogical differentiation in contemporary school contexts, emphasing the role of the teacher as the professional of curriculum innovation per excellence. The work is the result of some reflections on curriculum and pedagogical differentiation, whose organisation is based more on the disciplinary matrix and less on the interests and learning capabilities of students. To support this and inspired by the qualitative approach, priority was given to surveying the theoretical and bibliographic apparatus on the theme studied in this research. Being so, we have read the findings of: Roldão, Sousa, Tomlinson and others who discuss curriculum and pedagogical differentiation. Our analyses showed, among other aspects, that curriculum and pedagogical differentiation acts as a strategic driver of a whole process of global and democratic education in which the students, in all their manifestations, are the driving force behind the actions and activities carried out in school.