By: Melissa Emler

This month's theme brings us full circle. In September, our newsletter and community of practice meeting explored the concept of expert learner. Creating expert learners is the goal of UDL.

This month, we'll dig into learner agency. Agency is a term used in education, and like many other terms we use, it is not clearly defined. I'll provide several working definitions of agency, but what is likely more important is understanding how agency relates to Universal Design for Learning.

Here's the tldr (too long didn't read).

The goal of UDL is to create expert learners, and expert learners have agency.

According to Getting Smart, “Student agency is when students of their own volition initiate actions that support their learning within the context of their learning environment. It is fostered through engagement, intrinsic motivation, and relatedness. Agency is a critical goal in its own right in preparing students for career and life, but is also made of building blocks that in and of themselves lead to deeper learning.”

The Raikes Foundation in a study commissioned by Harvard University's Achievement Gap Initiative in 2015 said, "Student agency is the capacity and propensity to take purposeful initiative."

Albert Bandura contributed to Social Cognitive Theory with his writing of An Agentic Perspective. In his writing about agency, he claims that to have agency means for people to be the originators of experiences with intentionality, self-reactiveness, and self-reflectiveness. John Holt says, “The spirit of independence in learning is one of the most valuable assets a learner can have, and we who want to help children’s learning at home or in school, must learn to respect and encourage it [learner independence]."

In all my studying of learner agency, I have come to believe that a learner with agency to act is engaged and driven to learn more. Often people confuse learner agency with having choice and voice, but true learner agency is deeper than that. Learners with agency co-construct learning experiences with adults. Learners determine what they want to learn more about and adults support them in co-constructing a path to that learning.

Some worry that environments rich with student agency lead to a complete free for all among learners. Teachers worry about not having the skills to "manage a classroom" when all the learners are doing their own thing. That doesn't need to be the case. Katie Martin, VP of Leadership and Learning at Altitude Learning, has this to say in response to the fear of a free for all learning environment, "Agency is by definition the power to act, but this doesn’t have to be misconstrued as a free for all. We all operate within constraints but we don’t have to all do things the same way to reach the intended learning targets and goals."

Creating expert learners is the goal of Universal Design for Learning. Expert learners are purposeful and motived, resourceful and knowledgable, strategic and goal-directed. Ultimately, expert learners will thrive in agency-rich environments. Agency is not something that can be given to students. Agency is developed over time in the conditions that support it.

When your school or district commits to Universal Design for Learning, ultimately you're committing to creating expert learners who have learner agency.

Be sure to check out the resources below to explore more about learner agency. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

By: Mary Byrns, CESA 1, UDL Consultant

I’d like to tell you about my first year diving into UDL.

First, prior to joining the team at CESA 11, I was a business education teacher for 11 years. During those years, I attended lots of workshops. I learned about pre-assessments, formative assessments, summative assessments, data analysis, reliability, validity, high quality, etc. There were workshops on unpacking standards, learning goals, differentiation, gradual release, project based learning, personalized learning, individualized learning, self-directed learning, Leading for Learning, technology integration, flipped classrooms, online learning, blended learning –I have lost track of them all, and the point is, I was open to learning.

What was missing? Universal Design for Learning

The most important thing for me as a classroom teacher was that I wanted my students to be engaged because I knew engaged students caused less disruption and there is a correlation between engagement and learning. Strategies and tools I used to foster engagement included using technology and providing choice. I selected my standards, identified the learning goals, created assessments, and designed my lessons.

Spending the year with Wisconsin's statewide UDL Forward! team has taught me so much. I look back on my days in the classroom and wish I knew then what I have learned now. The members of this group don't just speak “UDL language” that is learner focused; they live the language and always consider the learner in the experiences they design.

In my time with the team, several UDL myths have been dispelled for me, and I thought I'd share my shift in thinking, so you can begin to understand the subtle difference between UDL and everything else.

Myth: Differentiation and UDL are the same thing

As a classroom teacher, I incorporated differentiation strategies for my students. When I first learned about UDL, I thought differentiation and UDL were the same. They are not.

Differentiation is a strategy aimed at addressing each student’s individual levels of readiness, interest, and learning profiles. The teacher modifies content and processes to address the needs of each student. The teacher directs students to specific activities to further their learning. (TKI)

UDL is an overarching approach focused on the inclusive design of the whole learning environment at the outset. UDL aims to ensure all students have full access to everything in the classroom, regardless of their needs and abilities. (TKI)

Myth: UDL is just good teaching.

UDL actually focuses on learning, and the emphasis is less on teaching than it is on learning. The teachers role in a universally designed environment is to anticipate the barriers learners face and incorporate the supports and options that will eliminate the barriers. Good teaching in a UDL environment begins with the goals, plans for learner variability, and is flexible. When those teaching pieces are in place, learning happens.

Myth: UDL framework strategies requires using technology

You don’t need technology to incorporate UDL principles. Look for ways to incorporate technology when possible, but it is also possible to have no-tech lessons that support student learning. Take it from me, I had students tell me, “too much tech”.

Myth: UDL is too complicated

When you first look at the UDL framework, it can be overwhelming. What I learned this year is to keep it simple. Pick one area to focus on from the framework and continue to learn and grow in your ability to incorporate UDL principles in your lesson design. Jayne Bischoff, the DPI UDL Consultant, often says, "UDL takes a minute to learn and a lifetime to practice."

Myth: UDL is designed for students who struggle

The biggest thing I learned this year is that the learning barrier does not reside in the student but exists in the design of the environment. UDL aims to shift thinking away from a deficit model. UDL honors the learner variability and celebrates learners being learners. UDL doesn't fix kids; kids aren't broken. UDL strives to eliminate barriers in the environment. A barrier is defined as anything that causes a disruption to student learning. Design your learning experiences to eliminate the disruptions.

As I begin to close out my first year working with UDL, I can say it has been a great learning journey for me, and I invite all teachers and school leaders around the state to embrace the UDL journey because it is the systemic change we need to create a more equitable and just education system in Wisconsin.

Sources:

https://blog.brookespublishing.com/6-udl-myths-and-the-facts-behind-them/

https://www.inclusive.tki.org.nz/guides/universal-design-for-learning/udl-and-differentiation-and-how-they-are-connected

By: Melissa Emler, UDL Statewide Systems Coach

David Rose, founder of CAST and the UDL Guidelines, will headline Wisconsin's UDL Forward! Online Conference that is set for October 7 and October 8.

Other keynote speakers include Mirko Chardin, Jennifer Binis, Will Richardson, and Homa Tavangar. All of the speakers will bring to life the conference's theme UDL: A Principled Approach to Educational Justice.

While the conference will be online, we will be designing to meet attendees various needs. Having said that, we will be encouraging attendees to plan for a sub in order to get the most out of the learning experience.