What is an equal learning opportunity? Is giving the same lesson or assigning the same project to all students considered fair? Every student is unique with different prior knowledge, background, preference, and many more. Moreover, they come into our classrooms with highly diverse learning needs. An effective lesson for student A might not be useful for student B. I created a short video below to help educators in designing curriculum and lessons that offer equal opportunities of learning to all students. The two topics included in the video are Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and intersectionality. UDL is a framework created based on scientific insights into how humans learn in order to improve teaching and learning. While researching on the topic, I found some guidelines teachers could use to support students to be motivated, resourceful, as well as strategic and goal-directed. Intersectionality is a metaphor for understanding multiple different categories of potential discrimination or oppression that may compound and interplay in one’s life. Being knowledgeable about these topics, educators would be able to optimize learning opportunities for all students in our classrooms. Now that I know about UDL and intersectionality, my next challenge was to think about how I would use them to design lessons. UDL and intersectionality are particularly helpful to me as I teach English Language Learners (ELL) who have diverse learning needs. Also, there is a potential for discrimination since ELL students are usually a minority. This week, I had the chance to peer review two lesson plans and to apply what I’ve learned. Through this experience, I learned that having UDL and intersectionality lenses allows teachers to have a broader perspective. It is definitely not easy to provide equal learning opportunities to all students every lesson. However, by trying our best and making small changes in light of UDL and intersectionality, I believe that we can make a difference. Resources:
CAST (2011). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.0. Wakefield, MA: Author National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). (2018, June 22). Kimberlé Crenshaw: What is Intersectionality? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViDtnfQ9FHc Unless otherwise noted, the video presented on this blog is the property of the blog owner.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
|