Universal Design For Learning

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an architectural philosophy that has been adopted by education. In architecture the philosophy of Universal Design is basically making all buildings    accessible to the widest population of people as possible. By doing this from the start it prevents         stereotypes or biases from being created but it also has its economic benefits because the building will not have to be modified in the future. Educators have started adopting this philosophy by considering the needs of all learners when developing their curricula, methods, and materials. This approach eliminates the need to redesign the materials developed for the “typical” to fit the needs of the “atypical” student. 

Teachers who approach education using UDL must carefully consider their goals of instruction. For example, if teachers want to quiz a student on what they have learned on a history unit, rather than assigning the students to write a paragraph about an event in history, they should ask them to demonstrate a knowledge of the event by writing about it, creating a play, setting up a time to discuss it orally, or creating a power point. By offering this flexible, varied, and diverse approach the students who struggle with writing have other ways of displaying their understanding of the subject.

I believe that UDL is an important philosophy for schools to adopt. By incorporating UDL schools can service a more diverse group of students and decrease barriers that might limit their access to materials and learning. All student have the right to feel safe, comfortable, and included in their schools. UDL can help us accomplish this.