Individual differences is the uneven rate of development and improvement among people, it is in fact a foundation branch of knowledge in modern day psychology. It is that branch of psychology that is referred to as the psychology of the person, this is so because this type of psychology differentiate amongst individuals and their similarities.
The basic truth is that no two people are precisely similar. All individuals existing today differs from each other, whether they are conceived of same parents. Even identical twins are not alike. The special qualities and characteristics of an individual emerges from childhood stage thereby passing from one stage to another. The rate of development is never the same for all people, while some develop and learn quicker than the others, others does same at slower pace. Individual thinking, feeling and conduct differs.
There are physical types of individual differences as observed in
Height
Skin colour
Strength
Intelligence
Accomplishment
Interest
Attitude
Skills
Every individual has his/her own particular ability through which he/she picks up understanding and learning as observed in slow and fast learners.
Each individual has the emotion of
Fear
Love
Pains
Feelings of joy
Sadness
Joy
Disgust
Surprise
There are different elements that are responsible in realizing individual differences and there as follows :
HEREDITY:
Heredity characteristics brings about a change starting with one individual then onto the next. People inherit nearly all that we require for development and advancement ranging from a person's size, height, shape, shade of hair, shape of face, skin colour, infact the whole body structure of an individual is determined by the heretical qualities. Intellectual differences are likewise to a huge extent influenced by inherited factor. How about we examine a couple of this heredity in details.
Intelligence (mental capacity): a few people are more intelligent than the others and on account of this basic realities, the individuals who are more intelligent tend to progress and grow faster in academics and other aspects more than those who are less intelligent. People differ in intellectual capacity like thinking and considering, creative expression, focus, creative energy and so forth. That is the reason why it is fundamental for a classroom teacher to have a clear picture of the intellectual abilities of his/her students.
Physical differences : individual vary in size, height, weight, colour of skin, colour of hair and eyes, size of hand and head, length of waistline, structure and functioning of inner organs, outward appearance, way of discourse and the way one walks, size of nose, mouth and other physical attributes.
Disposition : there are those that are easily irritated and quick to temper, others are tensed with trival things. In a few people, positive emotions like love, friendship and entertainment are more visible, while some the negative emotion like temper are the more powerful. People likewise demonstrate their feelings in various ways, while some demonstrate theirs in a developed and stable way, other demonstrate theirs in an unsteady and juvenile way.
ENVIRONMENT:
Environment brings about in individual differences and conduct. Environment does not refer just to one's physical surroundings, it goes a long way to refer to the diverse kinds of individuals, society, their way of life, traditions, customs, social heritage and thoughts. Let's look at some environmental factors that brings about individuals differences in details.
Family foundation : the level of education and value orientation of parents affects the kids, if the parents suffers from ignorance and wrong value, same traits will be exchanged to the kids and if the parents are knowledgeable with great values then the children will develop at a faster rate. Also wealth affects the children because children from affluent family can pursue higher education while those from poor family are usually denied this due to poverty.
Community background : it is remarkable that children of individuals coming from squatters and ghetto territories/crime infested zones have an extremely remote possibility of developing continuously because of the bad influence of their neighborhood. While children who live in urban communities are exposed to modern conveniences such as phones, TVs, travels, libraries, technology and shopping centers are probably going to develop more logically. This two set of children originating from the two various communities I mentioned above will differ in their qualities, conduct, action and thinking.
School : this is a vital factor in learning and improvement. Great and modern day schools can develop students better than the less modern ones. How would one review a decent school from a terrible one? Simple the difference is the kind of Teachers that educates in the school, Facilities in the school and the Location of such school. If a teacher is effective in the real sense of it, then the students will learn remarkably well and if it is the other way round then the students will suffer setbacks. If the facilities in the school is adequate and serviceable, then the students will catch up quickly and progress will be rapid, if not then the students will be hindered in learning. Finally if the location of the school is calm and conducive for learning, then studying will be much simpler and quicker.
APTITUDE AND SPECIAL TALENT:
A few people are gifted with extraordinary talents in music, painting, acting, arithmetic and science. These set of individuals frequently shows brilliant performance and strength in their particular fields of specialization far above the ordinary individuals.
SEX:
Due to differences in sex, one individual differs from another. Men are stronger in mental power, they are expected to be aggressive, courageous and can do heavier works. On the other hand, women are expected to be inactive, shy and demure. Men show greater superiority over women when it comes to memory and language sense but ladies exceed expectations more than men when it comes to shouldering social responsibilities.
AGE:
Age is another factor which is capable in bringing individual differences. Generally older learners have more physical quality and more elevated amount of understanding than the younger ones. Development and readness are vital in learning and so mature students have the greater capacity to receive instruction. Additionally when one develops in age such individual acquires better control over his/her feelings and better social duties.
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES:
It isn't right to expect success at the same rate in a field from a particular group of students. On the account of knowledge, absence of appropriate interest and disposition, a few students will lag behind in one or two areas of accomplishment.
A teacher ought to be sensitive to individual differences.
Techniques used for educating ought to be connected with individual differences putting into thought the distinctive abilities and qualities of individuals.
Different method of teaching ought to be adopted by a teacher considering the individual distinction as related to interest and need.
Class room teachers should utilize certain specific teaching aids which will attract the attention of the students so that learning will be less demanding and quicker.
Some co-curricular exercises for example, Drama, music, artistic exercises ought to be appointed to students according to their interest.
Different method of teaching such as playing method, project method, story telling method are to be utilized to find how extraordinary children react to a task or problem.
Sitting arrangement in class should be done by the teacher in such a way that the brilliant ones ought to sit at the back while the less brilliant ones should sit in front for proper monitoring, the short ones should sit in front while the taller ones ought to sit at the back.
A teacher's task is to acknowledge and celebrate the differences among children and work to maximize the growth in each child.
References
http://teaching.about.com/od/pd/a/Qualities-of-an-effective-teacher.htm
http://www.wilderdom.com/personality/L1-1Introduction.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2529190/
https://www.personality-project.org/revelle/publications/ids.html
https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/JonalynManalili/individual-differences-53828338