Sharing excellence in education practice – Universal Design for Learning 
By Shaelene Craddock

Everybody benefits from Universal Design. It fits so easily into our daily lives that we take it for granted. Universal design has given us ramps, easy access kerbs, high visibility pedestrian crossings, kneeling buses, sound signals at traffic lights, wider doorways and clearer walkways on our streets.  Moving around our towns and cities is made easier because of Universal Design. It is the outcome of the standard for equality that everyone should be able to have access to our roads and buildings.

This Universal Design standard has been applied to teaching and learning and is known as Universal Design for Learning, or U.D.L.  Universal Design for Learning recognises that everyone learns, but that they learn in different ways and show their learning in different ways.

Universal Design for Learning is a way for teachers to meet the individual needs of their students in the classroom and school context.

Each learner brings their own background, strengths, interests and needs.

“Universal Design for Learning is an approach to curriculum that minimises barriers and maximises learning for all students… provide (s) genuine learning opportunities for each and every student.”

You can find an animated explanation of Universal Design for Learning at http://www.cast.org

Earlier this year, an A.C.D. Tasmania member let us know how happy they were with their son Raff’s school, and that the school was using an approach that sounded very much like Universal Design for Learning. I contacted the Primary School Principal, Monique Carter to find out more.

Monique is an enthusiastic Principal who has done personal study on Universal Design for Learning and has inspired the teachers with the principles and benefits of Universal Design for Learning. The teachers have found that not only do the students benefit from Universal Design for Learning, but they do too!

The Department of Education (D.o.E.) in Tasmania uses a universal design process which they call Differentiated Instruction. The Department of Education website has a useful online booklet that you can find at: Supporting all students with disability focus : frequently asked questions (FAQs) the booklet explains:

‘Differentiation fits with Universal Design for Learning because it recognises that learning involves:

Engagement – being interested and motivated to learn.

Representation – how learners respond to new information depends on what they already know. Teachers maximise learning by presenting information in different ways and by allowing learners to find information in different ways.

Expression – learners show what they have learned in different ways.’

Monique explained that learning is the product of the student’s strengths, interests, and motivations combined with their interactions and relationship with the teachers. The Universal Design for Learning philosophy values and promotes the teacher and student partnership, which involves knowing the student well and accepting that sometimes the student may know more about something than they do.

The key to a successful Universal Design for Learning approach is rigorous planning, and as Principal Monique ensures the teachers have sufficient time for detailed and collaborative planning for each student.

At Monique’s Primary School the planning process is guided by a Planning Coach, a strategy which keeps the focus on the student, but also encourages the teachers to reflect on content and tasks, and what works or doesn’t for students. Planning results in a differentiated product that accounts for the student’s personal learning pace; the environment, curriculum content and the learning and teaching process.

Teachers create a Learner profile for each student, and all teachers at the school are involved in the learning of each student, so that transitions and changes are consistent and there is a cohesive flow for all students.

Strong planning enables teachers to be flexible and responsive to changes, innovations and inspirations that students might come up with, without disrupting the learning process. In this way it is the planning that creates a regulated environment which facilitates and guides students to self-regulate and manage their learning and behaviour.

I was treated to a tour of the school and it was noticeable how calm and content the students and teachers were as they carried out their activities. I saw students reading, working independently on computers and part of small groups; in uncluttered, tidy, naturally lit and airy spaces.

Universal Design for Learning and Differentiated Instruction have allowed for an inclusive approach to learning that uses multiple technologies, skills and resources.  Congratulations to Monique Carter and her team.