Ask LUDIAActivity
Barrier or Important Factor?
An interactive card sort
The Barrier Is in the Design, Not in the Learner
When we notice something getting in the way of learning, it helps to know the difference between a barrier in the design and an important factor.
Barrier in the design
Something in our design or environment we can choose to reduce.
- Never in the learner.
- Always in the design.
- We can reduce them.
Important factor
A real condition of the learner, the family or the wider context. Often beyond our direct control.
- Valued parts of identity and context.
- We do not design them away.
- We design for them.
A note on variability: Many, but not all, important factors are aspects of learner variability we can anticipate and embrace in our design process. Variability is the rule, not the exception.
Try the Card Sort
The card sort needs JavaScript. You can still read all 20 cards, sorted, below.
There are 20 cards. Each round shows 10 of them. Where does each one belong?
You sorted 10 cards.
Now try it with something you have noticed in your own classroom or school.
See all 20 cards, sorted
Barriers in the design (10)
- Success criteria that are absent, vague, or not written in accessible language.
- Grading practices penalise risk-taking and rough drafts.
- A formative assessment with one prompt, one format, and one timeline.
- Participation norms reward extroversion and quick verbal processing.
- Large, complex tasks presented without chunking, stages, or checkpoints.
- Reflection, individual or collective, is not built into the learning experience.
- Learning tasks that assume prior knowledge without activating or scaffolding background concepts.
- Time limits applied without considering whether time pressure serves a learning purpose.
- New vocabulary introduced without pre-teaching or scaffolding.
- Group work designed without clearly defined roles, processes, or timeframes.
Important factors (10)
- A learner speaks two or more languages or dialects at home.
- A learner processes information at a slower, more deliberate pace.
- A learner who thinks out loud, and whose understanding develops through talking it through.
- A learner whose thinking strengthens when they work alongside one trusted peer.
- A learner carries shame-inducing experiences from earlier schooling.
- A learner experiences significant anxiety in high-pressure situations.
- A learner grasps new material very quickly and is ready for greater depth.
- A learner is deeply motivated by one particular interest or passion.
- A learner is quietly capable and rarely asks for help, so their needs stay invisible.
- A learner’s attention and energy shift noticeably across the school day.
Barriers and important factors vary with context. These cards are examples.
Keep Going
- The Barrier Is in the Design: A Sample: one barrier example, the clues that point to it, and ways to reduce it through design.
- Download the full resource and ready-to-use slides, with three facilitation formats for your next meeting.
This activity was created by Beth Stark, Inclusive Learning Systems. Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.