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| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Design_for_Learning |
More educationese, as if we needed more! Same 'ole, same 'ole Marxist "redistribution of brains" semantic deception to keep the public in the dark. This is exemplified by the following statement by major change agent, Prof. James Block in “Mastery Learning: The Current State of the Craft,” Educational Leadership, November 1979:
One of the striking personal features of mastery learning, for example, is the degree to which it encourages cooperative individualism in student learning as opposed to selfish competition. Just how much room is there left in the world for individualists who are more concerned with their own performance than the performance of others. One of the striking societal features of mastery learning is the degree to which it presses for a society based on the excellence of all participants rather than one based on the excellence of a few. Can any society afford universal excellence, or must all societies make most people incompetent so that a few can be competent?
Researchers should focus on this new Universal Design of Learning (UDL) label, which basically covers what has been going on in education since ESEA 1965, with a strong emphasis on performance (workforce training education) designed to accommodate all kinds of learners, which results in the redistribution of brains, explained by Professor James Block (above) and supported by Professor Benjamin Bloom in All our Children Learning. Bloom said "The purpose of education is to change the thoughts, actions, and feelings of students," and defined good teaching as "challenging the students' fixed beliefs."[1]
From Wikipedia: Universal Design for Learning -
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework based on research in the learning sciences, including cognitive neuroscience, that guides the development of flexible learning environments that can accommodate individual learning differences.
Origins of UDL
The concept and language of Universal Design for Learning was inspired by the universal design movement in architecture and product development, originally formulated by Ronald L. Mace at North Carolina State University. Universal design calls for "the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design”. UDL applies this general idea to learning: that curriculum should from the outset be designed to accommodate all kinds of learners. Educators have to be deliberate in the teaching and learning process in the classroom (e.g Preparing class learning profiles for each student). This will enable grouping by interest. Those students that have challenges will be given special assistance. This will enable specific multimedia to meet the needs of all students.
...such as human learning environments, researchers at CAST looked to the neurosciences and theories of progressive education in developing the UDL principles. In particular, the work of Lev Vygotsky and, less directly, Benjamin Bloom informed the three-part UDL framework.[links removed, text aberrant in the original]
For more information on Lev Vygotsky click on the Lev Vygotsky Archive http://www.marxists.org/archive/vygotsky/
Lev Vygotsky Archive
1896-1934
“‘Marxist’ psychology ... is developing before our eyes, ... it does not yet have its own methodology and attempts to find it ready-made in the haphazard psychological statements of the founders of Marxism, not to mention the fact that to find a ready-made formula of the mind in the writings of others would mean to demand ‘science before science itself.” Consciousness as a problem in the psychology of behavior.Also read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Vygotsky. For more information on UDL, read the rest of the Wikipedia entry HERE. For more info click on: http://www.cast.org/udl/
Endnote:
1. These quotes from Bloom and Block can be found in my booklet Back to Basics Reform or... OBE *Skinnerian International Curriculum? available at amazon.com
