What is Universal Design for Learning?

The Millard Instructional Model guides our practice. UDL is a lens we can apply to support the needs of students.

Universal Design for Learning will guide us in looking at the Millard Instructional Model through a different lens to identify ways to increase the opportunities for all students. As our students' needs change, we have to consider how we adapt our instructional practices to meet the needs of our learners today.

In MPS, we have consulted many organizations and research related to UDL. We aren’t going to align ourselves with any one organization, as we have an effective instructional model that will guide us in this work. We will consider the research around UDL to take a look at domains of MIM with an additional lens. Our Millard Instructional model will guide our work related to Universal Design for Learning.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is based on principles that empower everyone to have agency over their own learning. It allows educators and learners to set clear goals, anticipate environmental barriers, create meaningful options, and fully embrace human variability.

UDL is based on what we know about the human brain. Each brain is made of billions of interconnected neurons that form unique pathways. Like fingerprints, no two brains are alike. Educators face daily challenges in planning for diverse learners. However, learner variability is predictable, and we’ve developed prompts and principles to support educators – UDL Principles.

The UDL Principles and supporting guidelines help educators address the diversity in learning in three main categories:

Engagement (the why of learning): recruiting interest, sustaining effort and persistence, and self-regulation.
Representation (the what of learning): perception, language and symbols, and building knowledge.
Action & Expression (the how of learning): interaction, expression and communication, and strategy development.

These beliefs are at the core of Universal Design for Learning.

All students can reach the high expectations we set
Barriers to success exist in the system, not the students
Learner variability is the norm
Continual self-reflection leads to lifelong, expert learners

UDL Practices Include:

Proactive Planning: Design lessons that anticipate and address the diverse needs of all students.
Flexibility: Offer multiple ways for students to access, engage with, and demonstrate learning.
Accessibility: Remove barriers to ensure every student can participate fully.
Learner Agency: Empower students to take ownership of their learning journey.

The Goal of UDL: Learner Agency

UDL is an approach to guide the design of learning environments that are accessible, inclusive, and challenging for every learner. Ultimately, the goal of UDL is to support learner agency, the capacity to actively participate in making choices in service of learning goals.

Learner agency, which involves self-regulation and active participation, is influenced by both individual capabilities and the structure of the learning environment; therefore, fostering agency requires educators to challenge power dynamics, value diverse voices, address bias, and design inclusive environments that remove barriers, enabling all learners to engage meaningfully.

UDL aims to change the design of the environment rather than to situate the problem as a perceived deficit within the learner. When environments are intentionally designed to reduce barriers, every learner can engage in rigorous, meaningful learning.

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