SFHS Facilitators Engage in UDL with Dianne Blackburn

July 24, 2025

“There is no average learner,” said Todd Rose in his now-famous work The End of Average, a declaration that
has reverberated across postmodern educational discourse. In a world increasingly aware of complexity—of
identity, cognition, and experience—such a statement challenges us to unlearn centuries of one-size-fits-all
instruction. At SFHS, we have always welcomed that challenge.

Here, we believe that the act of teaching is inseparable from the act of learning. Our educators—more aptly, our
learning facilitators—carry within them not just the responsibility to deliver content, but the curiosity and humility to
evolve alongside the learners they serve. It was in this spirit of lifelong learning that we welcomed educational
consultant Dianne Blackburn, whose two-day session on 13th and 14th July on Universal Design for Learning
(UDL) invited us to radically reconsider how we design learning for the full range of human experience.

Today’s classrooms are mosaics of culture, language, emotion, and story. Each learner enters with their own
internal landscape shaped by background, belief, family, trauma, and joy. The Universal Design for Learning
framework acknowledges this truth not as an obstacle but as a foundation. Rooted in neuroscience and
educational equity, UDL offers a guiding question that shifts the center of instructional design: not “How do I teach
the average student?” but rather, “How do I create a space where all students can learn?” This was the question
answered by Ms. Blackburn over the course of two days at SFHS.

Dianne began her session with an invitation not to study pedagogy, but to feel it. A simple question, “How are you
feeling today?”, prompted a collective pause. In that moment, our attention turned inward, recognizing that
feelings are not distractions from learning, but the ground on which it stands. Emotional check-ins, she reminded
us, are not mere warm-ups; they are vital forms of data. A student’s emotional state informs their availability for
learning, and planning with empathy must become a non-negotiable norm.

Ms. Vineet Gill, our Inquiry and Research Lead shared: “As an educator who believes every learner deserves to
move ahead, this UDL workshop with Dianne struck a deep chord. Thoughtfully curated and guided with clarity, it
offered rich interactions and a tapestry of content formats that sparked meaningful dialogue. What resonated
most was how simple shifts in lesson design—paired with a responsive mindset—can lead to profound
transformation. With the learner as the shining center, the framework invited us to reimagine our practice with
purpose, and to rediscover the quiet joy that blooms when teaching meets every learner right where they are.”
Our facilitators engaged in crafting Essential Agreements for themselves, not as rules but as shared values.
Around each table, there emerged norms of care, respect, and voice, affirming that when learners co-author the
classroom culture, they are more likely to inhabit it fully.

Dianne then drew us into the roots of UDL, beginning not in the classroom but in architecture. She traced its
lineage through the principles of inclusive design, curb cuts and ramps intended to provide access for people with
disabilities, but ultimately used by everyone.

Similarly, UDL is not an intervention; it is an anticipatory act. It calls upon educators to design flexibly, to offer
options from the beginning, and to create multiple entry points into knowledge. She reminded us of the persistent
myth of the “average learner,” an illusion that continues to shape curricula and expectations. UDL demands we
break free from this fiction and embrace learner variability as a strength, not a problem to solve.

In a story drawn from a UK classroom, Dianne recounted a moment where a group of high school girls disengaged
from a lesson on developing a game about pirates. When asked why, they simply said: “We’re not interested.” This
anecdote served not as an indictment of student motivation, but as a wake-up call for educator adaptability. Learning
cannot thrive where learners see no relevance. The solution lies in voice and choice, cornerstones of UDL.