An Overview of Universal Design for Learning

Students working together on the classroom floor

 A growing issue within the American education system is that the general education classroom is serving less and less students effectively. Rather, it is becoming increasingly common to have to offer more accommodations or even modifications for students to appropriately access the curriculum. This is because our education system is founded on the special education model in which supports are offered to students not succeeding in the generalized plan created for the majority of students. It seeks to make our students fit into the original plan by "fixing" the students' academic struggles via interventions and services. This special education model is a reflection of the medical model of disability that views disability as a disfunction caused by someone's own body or brain. The underlying connotation this particular model forces onto disability is that it is something that needs to be "cured." 

Our education system could become a more positive program for students if we shifted the system's medical model paradigm into a social model. The social model of disability blames the environment rather than the person for their struggles. The social environment is posing a barrier, not the disability itself. This outlook allows for society to hold the community accountable for accessibility and inclusivity as opposed to blaming a diagnosis. 

How can we provide a more accessible and inclusive environment within the classroom to support this model? The answer is Universal Design for Learning, or UDL. UDL is an educational framework that offers multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression to support all students' learning as outlined in the CAST's UDL guidelines. Rather than waiting for a student to struggle to offer interventions, this design allows for differentiation ahead of time to prevent underachievement. UDL focuses on lessons including multimodal elements to allow for student understanding no matter their learning style. 

UDL can be accomplished by offering multiple ways of interacting with content. This could be achieved by using stations that utilize different auditory, kinesthetic, and visual components or offering group or

Classroom divided into activity stations

individual work opportunities to explore a lesson. Student choice can be an impactful tool when it comes to implementing UDL principles within the classroom. 

Another important factor of UDL is allowing students different manners to demonstrate their understanding. This could be supported by student projects, essays, visuals, graphic organizers, oral reports, or even experiments. Creativity and interaction are key components to offering multiple methods of expression of content knowledge. 

Utilization of Universal Design for Learning can greatly increase educational equity for all students by limiting the boundaries of typical lesson structure and assessment onto the student. Rather than making learners fit into the mold of the American education system, educators should strive to make the classroom environment fit the needs and talents of the students they are serving. In the future, I hope to make a series of posts based on activities and programs free for teachers to use in order to implement UDL. Let me know in my "Email Me" section of the front of my blog page of any resources you want me to explore and elaborate on.