Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Written by Melissa Emler, Universal Design for Learning Statewide Systems Coach
Let’s start with a distinction. The distinction leads us to a “both and” scenario which our statewide Universal Design for Learning (UDL) team is becoming quite fond of in the work.
Let’s draw a distinction between designing learning and lesson planning.
Designing learning and lesson planning are two different actions. Both are important, and both are necessary.
The distinction boils down to the end user of each.
When designing learning, the end user is the learner. The teacher is focused on what the learners will experience. Teachers must consider the potential barriers for learners and design in ways that eliminate as many barriers as possible. To do that, a clear learning goal must be defined.
Employing the principles of UDL when designing learning experiences means creating multiple means of representation and multiple means of expression. In common language, that means offering a variety of delivery and assessment options all in service of getting the learners closer to the learning goal through engaging the learner in the option they choose to engage with.
Once the learning experience has been designed, the lesson planning happens. The end user of the lesson plan is the teacher. The lesson planning is what the teacher must do or create in order to execute the design. The plan may be a series of tasks necessary in order for the environment to be conducive for the learning design. The lesson plan anticipates everything related to what happens for every learner during the time of a lesson. The plan accounts for seating configurations, number of copies needed, practice opportunities, recordings of directions, materials placed in the learning management system, and so much more.
What does this distinction mean for coaches?
It’s a matter of prioritization. Prioritize the design over the delivery.
As a UDL coach, I always like to start the coaching process at the design phase. In the design phase, the coach can collaborate with the teacher to clarify the learning goals and anticipate the barriers learners may experience.
This process is not fast. It is very individualized. This coaching is an in depth process that supports the educator in building their design muscles. The coach constantly asks questions that support finding clarity in the goal and aligning assessments to the goal. The coach is the voice of the learners, all of them, in the design phase. It is in the design phase that the variability of learners is taken into account.
Once the design feels ready for learners, the coach and the teacher work together to determine what supports and scaffolds need to be created in order to support all the learners as they engage in the learning experience. Bringing the design to life will take a considerable amount of planning. The task list will feel long at first, but as I used to say to my middle schoolers, “Proper prior planning prevents poor performance.”
Coaching begins before the lesson.
I’ve observed a lot of classrooms. In the past, I used to spend most of my coaching time with the teacher after I observed a lesson. We’d discuss what I saw and specifically what I saw the students doing. Many of the strategies and tactics I suggested throughout the coaching conversations could have been identified and implemented in the design phase. When we coach before the lesson and reflect after it, teacher learning comes full circle and what is learned compounds and grows over time.
Our UDL Statewide team of coaches can be heard saying, “Kids don’t need to be fixed. Barriers to learning are in the environment.”
We believe the same is true about teachers. Teachers don’t need to be fixed. Teachers benefit from collaboratively designing learning experiences. The coach provides perspective and expertise during their coaching session, and that perspective helps teachers design learning experiences that have an impact.
To learn more about UDL and how you can support it with coaching, visit DPI’s UDL website here.