There is no such thing as an average learner. Every person has a unique mix
of strengths and weaknesses, or what we refer to as variability, and the sooner we embrace it, the quicker we can change the way we educate our learners. Whether you are an educator in the classroom, boardroom, home, or business, it’s important for you to understand that in order to create purposeful, motivated, resourceful, and strategic thinkers you cannot use a one-size-fits-all methodology of teaching.
Embracing Variability to Enhance Learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL), an education framework endorsed in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), provides options to learners in the way that we motivate them, present information to them, and allow them to express what they have learned. By doing this, we embrace diversity and learner variability.
The ultimate goal of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is to create expert learners, or individuals who are purposeful, motivated, resourceful, and strategic. In order to do so, we must activate three areas of the brain: the affective network, the recognition network, and the strategic network. If they all aren’t turned on, learning cannot occur.
Mastery-oriented feedback is an integral part of learning for both the teacher and the student. Small changes in how we provide and take feedback can make all of the difference when it comes to learning.
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