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Theme: Adaptive Cognition and Relational-Environmental Regulation
Theme: Adaptive Cognition and Relational-Environmental Regulation
Focus: Predictability, Cognitive Flexibility and Load. Celebrating Differences
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.
UDL is a framework 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. The UDL Guidelines inform the design of learning environments to support learner agency that is:
Purposeful - internalised self-efficacy, acting in ways that are personally and socially meaningful.
Reflective - self-awareness and metacognition to identify internal motivations and external influences that support learning and make adjustments when necessary.
Resourceful - understanding and applying assets, strengths, resources, and linguistic and cultural capital.
Authentic - increasing comprehension and deepening understanding in ways that are genuine.
Strategic - setting goals and monitoring learning with intentionality and planfulness.
Action-oriented - self-directed and collective action in pursuit of learning goals.
Affect represents a crucial element to learning, and learners differ markedly in the ways in which they can be engaged or motivated to learn. There are a variety of sources that can influence individual variation in affect including neurology, culture, personal relevance, subjectivity, and background knowledge, along with a variety of other factors. Some learners are highly engaged by spontaneity and novelty while others are disengaged, even frightened, by those aspects, preferring strict routine. Some learners might like to work alone, while others prefer to work with their peers. In reality, there is not one means of engagement that will be optimal for all learners in all contexts; providing multiple options for engagement is essential.
Learners differ in the ways that they perceive and comprehend information that is presented to them. For example, those with sensory disabilities (e.g., blindness or deafness); learning disabilities (e.g., dyslexia); language or cultural differences, and so forth may all require different ways of approaching content. Others may simply grasp information quicker or more efficiently through visual or auditory means rather than printed text. Also learning, and transfer of learning, occurs when multiple representations are used, because they allow students to make connections within, as well as between, concepts. In short, there is not one means of representation that will be optimal for all learners; providing options for representation is essential.
Learners differ in the ways that they can navigate a learning environment and express what they know. For example, individuals with significant movement impairments (e.g., cerebral palsy), those who struggle with strategic and organizational abilities (executive function disorders), those who have language barriers, and so forth approach learning tasks very differently. Some may be able to express themselves well in written text but not speech, and vice versa. It should also be recognized that action and expression require a great deal of strategy, practice, and organization, and this is another area in which learners can differ. In reality, there is not one means of action and expression that will be optimal for all learners; providing options for action and expression is essential.
Questions to Guide Planning
Additional Resources
References
https://www.cast.org/resources/courses/?_course_open_closed=open
Ministry of Education: https://vimeo.com/220717678
TKI: https://inclusive.tki.org.nz/guides/universal-design-for-learning/
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