A business-owner friend in a professional occupation recently shared lessons from the field. Laughing as she spoke, my friend commented that it was a good place to be, when now she could look back and laugh at the chaotic, out-of-control experiences from which she learnt. She regaled me with stories of staff members who consistently operated outside of best practice and far beyond the desired culture of her business.
‘But how did it get to that?’ I queried.
With honesty and courage, my friend acknowledged that her business culture was neither explicit, nor regularly referenced, nor was any staff member addressed when breaches were made. She knew what she wanted from her colleagues and business life, but had not developed a strategy to ensure this nor planned for its success.
This intelligent, dedicated, often inspiring friend felt frustration and defeat. The business was floundering.
Think, now, about learners. In a previous post, guidance for student goal-setting was highlighted. For effective learners, after setting their goals, they will formulate a plan or develop a strategy to achieve their goal. But what of students with compromised executive function? Or those who learn a completely new skill or in a new field? Or those who are yet to develop their executive function?
To avoid feelings of being defeated by the goals or floundering trying to work towards the goals, principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) help. By providing phased scaffolding, educators support the development of strategic planning.
Practical Strategies
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- ‘Think alouds’, where the teacher explicitly talks through the strategy they are using, models strategic thinking.
- A ‘traffic light’ prompt, embedded throughout different phases of the learning process guides students as to the pace of their work. Red means stop-and-think. Explain that the students need to plan a strategy to achieve the goal. In this scenario, the orange light signifies action towards the goal that is reviewed regularly to ensure the strategy is appropriate. The green light signifies the plan is moving the students effectively towards their goals, encouraging the student to continue with the plan.
- Scaffolds, templates and checklists support the development of a plan at each stage of the process. Scaffold support for determining the goal or problem. Scaffold support for setting priorities and determining milestones. And, scaffold support for determining each step of the task, the resources required and ways to identify achievement of the step.
As for my friend – with support, she developed a culture and staff strategy and now her business hums – staff who share her vision, clients who benefit from clear and rigorous best practice procedures, and a business owner who feels immense job satisfaction, and who is an effective and inspiring leader. Strategy and planning for the win!
Many more practical, easy-to-implement strategies for supporting executive function and accessing the curriculum are suggested in previous posts from Lizzie’s UDL File. Or check out the CAST UDL framework.
There is more about Universal Design for Learning on this website.