Removing Barriers

Barriers make learning difficult for some. Barriers are where students are impeded, or get stuck in their learning. These barriers are unique and individual for each student and can vary from subject to subject and even from activity to activity. Context, environment, mood, interest, all play into barriers to learning, which all comes back to learner variability.

Todd Rose, in his work on 'the myth of the average learner" introduces the idea of learners having jagged profiles. Every learner has their own set of strengths and needs which can vary within context. Understanding the variability that exists in our learners (what their jagged profile looks like) will help identify the barriers that may exist in any given lesson. Instead of giving students labels, we give them what we need. Understanding this variability, we can provide our learners with what they need, providing options for their learning and the varying levels of support to overcome the barriers in learning.

Some of these barriers are predictable and with careful planning in anticipation, all learners can be successful. Identifying and removing these barriers in planning, assessment and delivery and use of materials can help students gain skills and confidence to become expert learners.

Examples of barriers can include:

• lack of interest and seeing the relevance of the topic

• lack of previous knowledge

• vocabulary

• learning challenges (reading, listening, processing, writing, spelling...)

• environmental

• SEL

Setting clear goals will make it easier to identify the barriers learners may have to successful attain the goal. Using backward design where you think clearly identify what the successful attainment of this goal looks like (the final destination) will guide your decisions on ways to provide multiple ways of engagement, multiple ways to represent the material (how students can learning the material) and multiple ways for action and expression, or how students show their learning. For each part of the lesson, think about what students need to focus on and be able to do, then think about the different options and pathways students can engage in to achieve that part. It is this flexibility that removes barriers in student learning.

Ask yourself

• What are some of the barriers my learners may have to attain this goal?

• What materials, tools, strategies, technology can I use to help reduce the barriers to this lesson?

• How can I make all of these tools available to all learners in my class?