Inclusion and the Principle of Good Design
A walking tour of Aberdeen would include architectural marvels such Marischal College, the Art Gallery or St Machar's Cathedral. On such a tour, you would, every 100 metres or so, pass a wonder of good design that most guides would fail to point out: a wonder so integrated into our urban experience that we rarely stop to wonder at it at all. The Pelican crossing.
Most of us see Pelican crossings, but the blind feel them through the soles of their feet, the pavement adjacent having tactile paving. Most hear when it is safe to go; the deaf see the lights change. Most pedestrians stride confidently into the road; wheelchairs will use the accessible slope where the curb is cut at the crossing. And if no-one is around to use it, the Pelican isn’t activated, allowing cars to drive by, unmolested by the possibility of another stop.
It is an example of designing for everyone. It is not just the blind that appreciate the beeps, but also anyone deep in conversation or distracted by a text message. The curb cut was originally created with wheelchair users in mind, but pram-pushing parents, young kids on scooters and laden shoppers with trollers equally benefit.
Schools can follow the same design principles for lessons. Let’s say a student struggles to read because they are dyslexic. Yes, there are specific things schools should do to help improve reading, but it does not have to be a barrier to other learning in the meantime: for example, if a teacher wants students to know about the structure of a flower - they could offer the choice of reading about it or watching a youtube video. Like listening out for the beeps or watching for the green man. Afterwards students can write down their understanding or create a short podcast.
Universal design for learning has three principles. 1. Engagement - if possible tap into existing passions through choice: when teaching poetic devices in English let the students choose the poem or song lyrics; if teaching about revolutions in history, let them look for examples from their own country. 2. Representation - allow choice in how students engage with subject content from books and magazines to short films and podcast. Expression - there are a variety of ways students can express their knowledge or understanding; let them play to their strengths. Of course, the teacher will also work to improve weaknesses, but this no longer dominates every academic activity.
On Monday 18 November, teachers have a training day. Universal Design for Learning is simple in principle, more challenging in practice, so we will spend the day building on work done in May and August during previous training. The first Pelicans were introduced in 1969 - decades after the first cars and it took decades more to accumulate all the features that now make them so inclusive. A lot of thought went into making them so easy to use. The more inclusive our lessons, the more all students benefit. Hopefully it won’t take us decades, but it will take us a lot of thought.
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