Page 234 - Resources and Support for the Online Educator

Part 2: UDL and You

with colleagues, you may encounter assumptions and beliefs that are
deeply held, slowing down and even halting the change you know your
school and learners need.

Assumptions and beliefs are deeply ingrained. They filter how we perceive
the world, influence what we see (or don’t see), and determine how we
will act. As educators, our professional reputations are based on our skills
as pedagogical experts, and these skills are on display every day in the
classroom. Examining our assumptions and beliefs, admitting their flaws,
and committing to change, are very private and, at the same time, very
public activities. As such, many educators hold firmly to their beliefs and
resist altering what they do, because it is viewed as integral to who they
are (Owston, 2004). But unless we actively challenge our assumptions and
beliefs, most change is temporary. As Stephanie Hirsh and Joellen Killion
wrote, “When practices change without deep exploration of the principles
that guide them, people will be pulled back to their old ways” (2007, p. 21).

Struggling to change isn’t just an individual problem, but a system one
as well. The call for system change, to transform education, is constant.
Most agree it is necessary, yet it seems little changes. Like individuals,
districts function on assumptions and beliefs. If these are not explored,
challenged, and updated, each initiative becomes just another in a long
line of initiatives—all enthusiastically rolled out then quietly forgotten. In
“The Power of Beliefs and Assumptions” chapter of its Becoming a Learning
System course book, Learning Forward made this clear, “Many educational
change initiatives fail because leaders focus too much on actions and not
enough on their underlying assumptions. New behaviors often are not
sustained over time because people’s beliefs have not been transformed,
and the principles and assumptions needed to sustain the effort are not
deeply embedded in the individuals and organization” (2014, p. 13).

When you’re trying to lead it, this type of change is challenging and messy
work. You want to be action-oriented, so you focus on a plan. You outline
the steps, assign people to be responsible, create a timeline, and determine
metrics to calculate success. All this busyness can ignore the assumptions
and beliefs that should underpin, but are in opposition to, the plan. You’re
placing the action cart before its team of horses: the assumptions and

38 Dive into UDL

Dive into UDL: Immersive Practices to Develop Expert Learners 234