Part 2: Why UDL

Start with the Goal

In Part 1 you met the goal of UDL: learner agency. The Why UDL? poster connects that goal to how we learn.

• The affective networks are the “why” of learning. Multiple Means of Engagement helps learners become purposeful and reflective.
• The recognition networks are the “what” of learning. Multiple Means of Representation helps learners become resourceful and authentic.
• The strategic networks are the “how” of learning. Multiple Means of Action & Expression helps learners become strategic and action-oriented.

UDL asks us to design so that every learner can grow in these three ways.

There Is No Average Learner

In 1945, a newspaper in Ohio ran a contest to find the woman whose body matched Norma, a statue built from average measurements. Thousands of women entered. None of them matched.

My article Who Is Martha Skidmore? tells that story. It then traces where the idea of the average came from, how it shaped schooling and special education, and why UDL starts with variability instead.

UDL starts from a different place. Every learner varies, so we plan for that variability from the start.

What We’re Really Talking About

When I talk with schools about UDL, these are the five ideas I mean. They come from my poster What We’re Really Talking About When We’re Talking About UDL.

1. Creating the Conditions for Belonging
2. Believing In, and Empowering, Every Learner
3. Embracing Variability
4. Understanding that Barriers Exist in the Design of Learning Experiences and the Environment, Not the Learner
5. Engaging in the Iterative Design Process

You will come back to the fourth idea in Part 5.