Understanding the Difference Between Differentiated and Adaptive Teaching in the Arena

As adaptive/therapeutic riding instructors, we are constantly adjusting and individualizing our instruction to meet the wide range of needs our students bring to the barn. In order to do this, good instructors use the teaching approaches of BOTH differentiated teaching and adaptive teaching. These terms might be new to you but after reading the following information you might discover that you’ve been doing this all along….and now you have the terms to explain what you are doing!

Differentiated teaching and adaptive teaching are often used interchangeably in education, but they have different meanings—and understanding them can help instructors during lesson planning and real-time decision-making in the arena. Let’s break down each term in a way that our horseperson brains can better understand so we can see how and when it happens in our adaptive/therapeutic riding lessons.

Differentiated Teaching

Differentiated teaching is where the instructor proactively adjusts the content, process, product, or environment to meet the diverse needs, interests, readiness levels, or learning profiles of students.

Key Characteristics:

• Often pre-planned and intentional.
• Based on what the teacher knows about their students ahead of time.
• Focuses on providing multiple paths to learning for a variety of learners.
• Often seen in group settings where the same general goal is pursued in different ways.

Examples of how this might look during a lesson:

• Mounted: You plan a lesson with the activity of “riding a 20-meter circle,” but:
  • Student A rides a full circle independently at a trot.
  • Student B walks the shape with spot markers, verbal prompts, and their leader unclipped but spotting within arm’s reach.
  • Student C walks half the circle while on lead and with physical prompts and visual cues from their support team
• Unmounted: You plan a grooming activity:
  • Student A uses standard brushes and grooms independently.
  • Student B uses color-coded brushes in a sequence with a visual checklist.
  • Student C uses a curry mitt with hand-over-hand assistance and works on brushing one designated spot for a count of five.

In the examples above, you’ve differentiated the same task to meet each student’s unique needs.

Another way to see it: Differentiated teaching is like choosing the right size saddle and stirrup type before your student mounts—intentional prep to set them up for success.

Adaptive Teaching

Adaptive teaching is more dynamic and responsive, adjusting instruction in the moment based on real-time student responses, behavior, and performance.

Key Characteristics:

• Flexible and reactive—not always pre-planned.
• Often involves on-the-spot decisions to scaffold, rephrase, simplify, or enhance instruction.
• Requires deep observation and quick thinking from the instructor.
• Happens during the teaching moment, not just before it.

Examples of how this might look during a lesson:

• Mounted: You begin the lesson with the plan for all students to ride a 20-meter circle at the walk. However, during the lesson:
  • Student A begins confidently at the walk, so you spontaneously challenge them to try trotting the circle independently, based on their strong position and focus.
  • Student B looks confused about the shape, so you quickly set up spot markers and start giving verbal cues to help them visualize and stay on track.
  • Student C seems hesitant and is struggling with balance, so you ask their leader to reattach the lead line and begin giving physical prompts and simplified instructions to help them feel more secure.
• Unmounted: Your plan was for all students to groom their horse using the usual set of grooming tools with guidance. However, during the activity:
  • Student A starts grooming independently but begins brushing too firmly, which causes the horse to pin its ears. You intervene with a short horse-behavior discussion and introduce a “gentle hands” metaphor to adjust their technique.
  • Student B becomes distracted and forgets the grooming steps. You respond by grabbing a whiteboard and quickly drawing a visual checklist to support task completion.
  • Student C initially engages, but after a few minutes seems frustrated by the brush slipping from their hand. You adapt by swapping in a curry mitt with a looped grip and reduce the grooming task to just brushing one shoulder for a count of five.

You’re adapting in real time to support success and safety. These are not pre-planned modifications—they’re real-time adjustments to meet the moment.

Another way to see it: Adaptive teaching is like using the correct natural aids while trotting to help your horse keep going when you start to feel them slow down and almost walk—you're making smart, in-the-moment changes to keep things flowing.

The Big Picture Difference

Feature	Differentiated Teaching	Adaptive Teaching
Timing	Pre-planned	In the moment
Focus	Designing multiple paths to learning based on known student needs	Responding to real-time student responses, challenges, or successes
Teacher Role	Planner and designer of varied instruction	Observer and responsive decision-maker
Instructional Changes	Content, process, products, grouping, or environment are varied intentionally	Pacing, delivery, support, or task expectations are adjusted in response to emerging needs
Goal	Proactive support tailored to learner diversity	Responsive support to maintain engagement, safety, and learning progress

How They Work Together:

Differentiation and adaptive teaching are complementary, not competing, approaches.
In adaptive/therapeutic riding, you often differentiate your plan before the lesson and adapt as needed during the lesson.

In a nutshell:

• Differentiation = Preparing the right tools.
• Adaptive teaching = Knowing when and how to use those tools.

Definitions:

• Differentiated teaching is an instructional approach in which educators intentionally modify and deliver content, instructional strategies, learning activities, and assessment methods to accommodate the varying readiness levels, learning preferences, interests, and support needs of individual learners within the same lesson or learning environment. The goal of differentiated teaching is to provide all students with equitable access to learning by aligning instruction with their unique profiles, while maintaining consistent learning objectives and high expectations.
• Adaptive teaching is a responsive instructional approach that involves making real-time adjustments to teaching strategies, content delivery, pacing, or support structures based on continuous observation and assessment of student needs, behaviors, and performance. Unlike differentiation, which is pre-planned, adaptive teaching occurs dynamically during instruction, enabling educators to address emerging learning challenges and opportunities as they arise, while maintaining high expectations for all students.

External Resources & Sources:

• Differentiating learning
• Differentiated Instruction | Center for Teaching and Learning
• Adaptive teaching: What is it anyway?
• What is Differentiated Instruction? – School of Professional Studies at Wake Forest University
• Practical Adaptive Teaching Examples

Instruction Theory

Student Case Studies