In this post you will find…

• “Way of thinking and being” that supports developing a UDL mindset

Confessions of a Learning Support Teacher

Confession time! I have alway been very passionate about education providing opportunities for all learners to succeed in life. In doing so, I have found that I have naturally gravitated towards roles where I support learners who are struggling in traditional education. As a result of my deep passion and belief about education, I have not always had an UDL mindset. Or even enacted inclusive practices for that matter. I’ve always had the best of intentions but not the impact.

Let me explain. As a support teacher, my belief was that if students could not access the curriculum because of their reading ability, I would remove them and teach them to read so they could access the curriculum… every time. I’m not saying that sometimes students do need intensive one-on-one instruction at times but not every time. But this was my practice. I had the best intentions but found that even though I got results, this was a constant rotation of learners who would come in and get results and this be spat out for a bit until they became disengaged and struggled and back in they would come. It became frustrating. Until I discovered UDL. 

That’s not to say that as soon as I found UDL I started being more inclusive. No! It took time and it is still a working progress but I have slowly changed my belief about how learners learn and my practices as an educator. I still wake up in the middle of the night and regret past practices. 

UDL is not just a framework that you just do. In fact, I believe that you don’t truly “do” UDL until you think and believe the UDL way. You need to have a UDL mindset.

A UDL Mindset

Along my journey with UDL I have found that there are a number of “ways of thinking and being” that make up a UDL mindset. This “way of thinking and being” is a continual cycle of reflection, learning and enacting. These are the “ways of thinking and being” that I have found to help me.

Checking Assumptions

We all have assumptions. Most of the time we don’t realise we are making them. Assumptions are what we think about things based on data we receive. Sometimes that data is bias in nature. It is important that we are checking and challenging our assumptions daily. Particularly our assumptions about our learners or groups of learners. We can ask ourselves: what assumptions am I making right now? What makes me think that? What evidence do I have? Is the evidence fact or option? Do I really know?

Recognise and Celebrate Diversity

We all are all different with different needs and dreams. In traditional education we are led to believe that we are all meant to be the same or “average” but really we are all very different and that is fantastic! Diversity is not the barrier, it is the opportunity.

All Learners First

Education is all about learners! Sometimes we get so caught up in the systems and processes we are required to adhere to that we forget why we are really here – our learners! In a UDL mindset we put our learners first. It is a learner centered mindset. We get to know them as humans and then we connect the curriculum to them based on their needs and experiences.

All Learners Can Succeed

Everyone can achieve when given the right tools and support. We believe that all students can be successful because we support them to do so. Our environments will have barriers and we need to ensure that we are constantly questioning what barriers are there for our learners and how we can ensure that we are removing those barriers.

Our Actions Matter

Our behaviour or practices do influence our learners positively or negatively. Really our actions or behaviours really are all we can control. Not the learner, not the curriculum. How we engage with the learner or curriculum is what matters. Sometimes our actions have the best of intentions but are a barrier for our learners.

We Are All Learners

Having a UDL mindset is being aware that we don’t have all the answers and we need to become learners ourselves. We need to be open to new learning about ourselves, our learners and UDL. I also believe that this also gives us permission to have a go and fail. When we fail we learn.

Small Steps

We know that we can’t implement anything overnight. We know that new learning takes time. It takes trialing and revising practices over time. But if we endeavour to take small steps to change our practice or behaviour we will be forever improving.

Reflection

Any great teacher reflects but this is so important in having a UDL mindset. We need to constantly reflect on our intentions and their impact on our learners. We all have the best intentions. Remember I did when I was removing learners from the classroom to teach them to read because that is what they needed but I was not reflecting on the impact my intentions had on those learners. They felt excluded and in fact they were missing out on subjects that they might have enjoyed or been successful at. Without reflection, we continue to do what we have always done and therefore get the results we always have got. We need to be reflexive. Meaning we need to reflect on how our behaviour contributes to the problem and how we can do better next time.

Therefore…

A UDL mindset is truly a way of thinking and being. As we learn and grow as learners ourselves, we learn more and our thinking evolves. For now this is my thinking based on my experiences myself and working with other educators and leaders. But for now this is where my journey is in my UDL mindset. Which ones of these resonate with you and which ones would you benefit from if practiced more. Have I missed any? 

Until next time,

Happy educating,

Sam

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