Switch course ▾
Session 2. Universal Design for Learning in an Ordinary Classroom
Objective. Redesign a textbook lesson with universal design for learning: one clear goal, flexible options for engagement, information and ways to show learning.
Differentiation usually starts after the plan is written: three worksheets for three groups. Universal design for learning starts earlier. It asks, while you plan, how pupils will get the idea, stay interested and show what they know, and builds two or three options in for everyone. With 38 pupils and one board, this is often the only realistic route. The goal stays fixed; the roads to it multiply.
Key ideas
Same goal, flexible means
- Universal design for learning (UDL) starts from the fact that pupils differ and plans options for this variety from the beginning, instead of fixing each problem afterwards.
- The learning goal stays the same for everyone. What becomes flexible is how pupils get information, stay interested and show what they know.
- Design for the edges: an option added for one pupil, such as a picture, a spoken instruction or a word bank, usually helps many others.
The three principles
- Engagement (the why): choice of topic or partner, a real purpose such as a Navruz poster for the corridor, and the right level of challenge.
- Representation (the what): show the idea in more than one way, such as text with a picture, a spoken explanation, an example and a model.
- Action and expression (the how): let pupils show the goal by writing, drawing, speaking or building, with a checklist so they know what 'done' looks like.
Making UDL realistic in a large class
- You do not need new equipment. Choose one or two options per lesson, for example a visual summary on the board and a choice of two ways to answer.
- Keep choices few and clear. With 38 pupils, two or three options are easier to manage than six.
- Check that every option still reaches the goal. If a poster can be made without explaining the key idea, add a line to the checklist that requires it.
Try it in your next lessons
- Action: add one option per principle to a lesson you already planned, and teach it twice to different classes or in different weeks.
- Evidence: an exit ticket with two lines: 'Which option helped you?' and 'Show or tell the main idea.' Count how many pupils reach the goal, and note which options they chose.
- Bring the counts to Session 3.
Three UDL questions to ask while planning
Why
Engagement
- Choice
- Real purpose
- Right challenge
What
Representation
- Text and picture
- Spoken and written
- Key words first
How
Action and expression
- Write, draw or say
- Checklist of 'done'
- Time to plan
Engagement, representation, expression: what each asks of you
Engagement is about the why. Ask: does the task have a purpose a pupil can see, is there a choice (of topic, partner or order), and is the challenge right, neither boring nor frightening? A Navruz poster for the school corridor often does more than a worksheet on the same words. Representation is about the what: can the idea be seen, heard and tried in more than one way? A picture, a spoken example and a short written summary reach more pupils than any one alone.
Action and expression is about the how. If the only way to show learning is a written page, you measure handwriting and spelling along with understanding. Offer two or three ways to show the same goal, and give a checklist so pupils know what 'complete' looks like: 'two reasons, one effect, one example'.
Designing at the edges
A useful habit is to imagine three pupils while planning: one who reads slowly, one who has missed last week, and one who is ready for more. Ask what each would need to take part, and add the options that serve all three. A four-line summary helps the slow reader and the absent pupil. An open 'why' question serves the pupil who is ready for more. Plan the options once and reuse them across lessons.
Keep options few. With a large class, two clear choices are easier to manage than six. Practise the routine first: show how to choose, set a time limit, and require that every pupil can name the goal. Over several lessons, observe which options pupils choose and why; the pattern tells you which barriers were real.
Examples from the classroom
Water-saving posters
Scene. Malika's Grade 6 class in Bukhara must show two ways to save water. Five pupils write nothing and two copy the textbook. She keeps the goal and offers three routes: a half-page, a labelled poster, or a 1-minute talk to a partner, all with the checklist 'two ways, a reason for each'. The next lesson, 31 of 36 pupils meet the checklist.
Insight. Same goal, three ways to express it, with a checklist that protects the goal.
The history summary
Scene. Aziz teaches Grade 7 history in Fergana. Before the text on Amir Temur he writes six key words on the board with a small picture each, and gives a 4-line summary on a half-page. Pupils then read the full text. In the exit ticket, 24 of 34 pupils give two correct reasons, compared with 15 the week before with the text alone.
Insight. Multiple means of representation: words and pictures before the full text.
Choice of partner and purpose
Scene. Dilnoza, Grade 4 in Samarkand, asks pupils to write sentences with the new adjectives. Instead of a worksheet, pupils choose a partner and write three sentences for a Navruz postcard to a class in Khiva, then swap postcards and check. Quiet pupils write more than usual, and the class corrects each other's adjectives for 10 minutes without being asked.
Insight. Multiple means of engagement: choice and a real audience.
Common pitfalls
- Adding options but dropping the checklist, so some options no longer reach the goal.
- Offering too many choices to a large class and losing control of time.
- Letting the same pupils always choose the easy option without discussing why.
- Thinking UDL means a new lesson for each pupil.
Redesign a Textbook Lesson with UDL
- Read the sample lesson plan in your Activity Kit (Grade 6 natural science, the Aral Sea, one 45-minute lesson). Underline every place where all pupils must do the same thing in the same way.
- Alone (10 min): write the learning goal in one sentence, then add ONE option for each principle in the UDL grid.
- In pairs (15 min): check each option against the goal, estimate the minutes it adds, and decide what the teacher says or writes on the board. Cut anything that does not fit in 45 minutes.
- As a group (15 min): swap grids with another pair. Each pair names one option they would copy and one place where the goal could be lost. Write the exit ticket you will use in your own class.
Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.
Questions to discuss
- Which option added the least time and helped the most pupils?
- Where could the goal be lost, for instance a poster without the key idea? How will your checklist prevent that?
- What did the observation note from Session 1 tell you about which option to try first?
Reflect
- In your last lesson, how many different ways could pupils show they had understood?
- Which option do you already use that you have never called UDL?
- How will you stop an option from turning into an easy way out?
Try it tomorrow
- Add one representation option (a picture or four-line summary) to tomorrow's lesson.
- Offer two ways to show the same goal and write the checklist on the board.
- Use a two-line exit ticket and count how many pupils reach the goal.
Further reading and links
Keep the goal, make the means flexible, and build the options in before the lesson starts.