By: Lara El Khatib
Date: October 29th, 2023
Welcome to the third and final article in the inclusion series of the MEPLI Usable Knowledge articles.
In Part 1, we made the argument for inclusion, and hope to have made it clear that every student belongs, and that the immense diversity and variability of human beings that is celebrated in almost every aspect of our lives should be celebrated in all of our classrooms as well. In order to do so, we must view disability through a variability lens. Disability should not be seen as a deficit, rather, it should be seen as simply another aspect of the immense variability and complexity that constitute human beings. In Part 2, we discussed the power of language, and how children can be empowered by improving their language and communication skills. In this third and final article, we make the argument that one of the best ways to create welcoming and inclusive classrooms is through Universal Design for Learning, or UDL.
As a framework, UDL can be used with all types of curricula, all grade levels and all subjects. Based in neuroscience, UDL stipulates that there are three main networks in the brain that are responsible for learning. The affective network pertains to the why of learning, which corresponds with UDL’s principle of multiple means of engagement. The recognition network relates to the what of learning and corresponds with UDL’s multiple means of representation. And the strategic network pertains to the how of learning, corresponding with UDL’s multiple means of action and expression. Each of these three pillars has multiple checkpoints that can help teachers and school personnel create lessons that are accessible to all types of learners. Here is an example:
When teaching the present progressive in an English language class a teacher could ensure that students have the opportunity to learn in a multitude of ways (representation), by providing options to watch a video, listen to a lecture, or read or listen to a book chapter. To ensure that all students are interested in this topic (engagement), even those who don’t much care about it or about grammar in general, the teacher needs to find a way to “engage” these students. The teacher could allow the students to, for example, conduct their own research in any way that they like (watch a video, interview someone, search the web, use AI) about anything that they like. When it is time for the students to report their findings to the teacher, this teacher would ensure that students are able to do so in the way that works best for them (action and expression). At the core of all this is choice. Students choose how they wish to learn and how they wish to show their teacher what they have learned. This could include writing a report while using the present progressive, creating an infographic about the present progressive, or creating an audio file in which they are discussing a certain topic while using the present progressive. They may initially make mistakes, but that is fine, as it is part of the learning process and becoming an expert lifelong learner (see below).
It should be evident then, that UDL strongly urges against the creation of lessons for “average students”, because, as we saw in Part 1, the average learner simply does not exist. When we create lessons with the three pillars in mind, we achieve (hopefully) two huge goals of UDL. Goal number one is the removal of barriers. In UDL, one does not ask if the student is ready for the lesson, rather, one asks if the lesson is ready for the student. And if it is not, then this is a barrier that we, as educators, will need to remove.
Goal number two is the creation of expert lifelong learners. In UDL, we want our students to master learning itself, so that they want to learn and continue to learn long after they have left school. Learning then becomes a journey, rather than a destination. Here is UDL rockstar Katie Novak, discussing the issue of being an expert lifelong learner in one of her many videos. Becoming an expert lifelong learner is an extremely important skill to have, for all students. Those who are neurotypical will develop 21st century skills (needed to be an expert lifelong learner) and this will allow them to hopefully be ready for the jobs of tomorrow, many of which have not been invented yet. As for neurodiverse learners, being an expert lifelong learner would help them reach two important goals: they would learn how to generalize what they’ve learned, from one setting to another, and they would learn how to be independent autonomous learners. These are two skills with which many neurodiverse students struggle.
An expert learner is someone who knows how to learn and knows how they learn best. –Katie Novak
So, we end this series of articles hoping that we have made the argument that inclusion is the way of the future, that it is not that difficult to achieve, and that it is what we should all want: classrooms that are welcoming of and accessible to all learners. After all, we want to live together in one world, so why not start this process in the classroom?
Resources:
https://udlguidelines.cast.org/
https://udlguidelines.cast.org/engagement
https://udlguidelines.cast.org/representation