UDL - Making Learning Accessible for Every Learner

What is UDL? The Dinner Party Analogy

How do you plan for a dinner party? In her book UDL NOW, Katie Novak lays out a wonderful metaphor for explaining what Universal Design for Learning is and why it is so important, which I’ve featured in this UDL resource for teachers.   She goes to explain that when we have guests over and we’ve committed to feeding them, we make sure to find out a little bit of background.  Are they vegetarians? Do they have any allergies? Are there foods they try to avoid or simply don’t like? Sure, we could just put out a casserole, but what about our gluten-free or lactose intolerant friends, or those who simply don’t like casserole. When we create the menu, we create options of getting to the end goal of making sure everyone is full and enjoyed their experience. If the metaphor didn’t spell itself out, UDL is about designing learning ahead of time so that our learners' brains feel “full” and hopefully they enjoyed their experience with having choices to choose from. 

                        

UDL can be a bit of an overwhelming concept for teachers, especially those who have been accustomed to teaching towards the middle.  Sometimes, our thoughts jump to breaking down a skill for 25 different little learners in 25 different ways, and that seems impossible.  However, UDL doesn’t ask us to do that. It asks us to consider the types of learners in our classrooms, the barriers some of them might be facing (like language translation, executive functioning, reading comprehension, etc) and how we might be able to provide multiple access points for those who need it to access the learning in a different way.  When we start to visualize planning like this, we can see that certain supports we are adding in for some students actually might benefit more than just the ones we intended.  

Image Source: Personal Use

Example 1 - If we have two students who have an IEP and require graphic organizers prior to writing, perhaps we offer the graphic organizer printed on the backside of our assignment directions. This way our other students who struggle with executive functioning, who may not have an IEP, have access to it.  A dinner party analog to this could be that the vegetarian lasagna offered probably will attract more takers than just our vegetarian friends.  

Example 2 - We have two newcomer students who don’t speak much English.  If we’re delivering slides of how to complete a science lab, we know we need to adapt our presentation each step along the way, so our non-English speakers can access the lesson to the best of their abilities.  Perhaps we try things like: adding images of each step of the lab, highlighting key vocabulary words in a different color font, and having a final slide that lays out only the most important steps.  Guess what?! Adapting our slide deck like that just provided options for other learners to access the learning as well, not just our EL friends.  What benefits some, may end up benefiting others as well.  

Image Source: Jenn Harth

Differentiation vs UDL

One of the hardest concepts to overcome is how UDL is a slightly different mindset than Differentiated Instruction (DI).  The simplest way to think about it in my head is that UDL happens first and is a proactive approach which puts the learner at the center of the learning process. DI comes after the overarching planning is done and is more “teacher directed.”  When we approach a new skill from a UDL lens, we think about multiple ways for kids to access it (video, reading, podcast, etc) and the multiple means they can show us what they learn, or as CAST puts it, their “expression.” We program the lesson with those options available.  While that learning is happening, we differentiate for small groups of students on a needs basis. We use the data to tell us who might need a small teacher group pulled aside, a leveled text for reading, One is not better than the other, and they both can work in tandem to help students access learning they once may have struggled with. 

Image Source: Jenn Harth

Start Small

In the end, UDL can be a mindset shift for some, so I’ve created a slide deck with adapted materials mainly from CAST, Katie Novak, and Jenn Harth, a former colleague of mine, that help set the stage.  It is my hope to present it to small groups of teams of interested teachers at my school. I completely understand the concept of so much "student autonomy" can be hard to swallow for some who are measured on student learning around very particular standards that they need to make sure students have mastered.  Without proper training and understanding of what UDL is and how it can help our students access learning, it would be easy to cast it aside. 

That being said, my recommendation for those once they’ve learned a bit about the principles of UDL is to start with one lesson or mini-unit.  Experience what it feels like to offer some choices for exploration of new learning to students and see how they react.  If you want to host a dinner party but you don’t know how to cook, try just hosting a few friends first.  Offer one or two extra options.  Over time, skills and confidence will grow.  Great teachers become great over long careers not over night, and UDL is one of the vehicles that can take them there.