By: Tiffany Owens, Program Director
How we talk to students, how we respond to their needs and who they are as people, and how we listen with an ear for their lived experiences as much as our own comfort zone as educators, has a tremendous effect on learning outcomes. Make no mistake about it. We must be interpersonally conscientious and willing to hold space for everyone if we want to reach everyone.
I’m constantly in conversations about pedagogical frameworks like Social Emotional Learning (SEL), Arts Integration – of course! – and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). These frameworks are not curricula. They are approaches to teaching. They are ways of thinking about educational practice. P.S. ARTS is thinking, talking about, and putting into practice this concept of inclusivity. It lives in our teaching and our work is ongoing.
A friend at Antioch University’s Academic Technology Department sent me some great resources including this video from cast.org which simply and clearly explains what UDL is and how it can be used to guide our approach. It helps us, “focus on changing the learning environment to meet the students’ needs, not changing the students or blaming them for not fitting into the learning environment that has not been designed for their needs.” That’s part of inclusivity and access.
Thank you, Tiffany! To read other blog posts from her experiences in the field click here.
