Intentionality
During my conversation with Callie Mulcahy for this episode of UDL in 15 Minutes, she shares how she uses UDL to help her students move through the process of design. She provides them with a process that helps them think through the steps they will from idea generation to the finished product. What she is doing is helping them be more intentional.
Intentionality has become something of a buzz word in popular culture. Oxford Languages for Google defines intentionality as “the fact of being deliberate or purposive.” They clarify the philosophy definition is “the quality of mental states (e.g., thoughts, beliefs, desires, hopes) that consists in their being directed toward some object or state of affairs. Regardless of the definition you lean toward, intentionality is a necessary part of our lives.
Read this list of actions and think about which ones you do intentionally?
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Eat your meals
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Brush your teeth
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Pet your dog or cat
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Clean your house
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Mow your yard
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Prepare your meals
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Exercise
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Talk on the phone
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Text
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Drive
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Post to social media
Of these things, which ones should you do intentionally?
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Eat your meals
-
Brush your teeth
-
Pet your dog or cat
-
Clean your house
-
Mow your yard
-
Prepare your meals
-
Exercise
-
Talk on the phone
-
Text
-
Drive
-
Post to social media
Intentionality is derived from your goal. Dieticians will tell you to prepare and eat your meals with intention to help maintain a positive relationship with food and to prevent overeating. Dentists want you to brush your teeth with intention to ensure you’re cleaning your teeth and gums evenly. Mowing involves a machine and a blade, so you want to be intentional about your use of the machine, but you likely have the goal of mowing in a certain pattern for the look or health of your grass. Physical trainers want you to exercise with intention so you do not pull a muscle and so you are working toward a goal of improved fitness. Whomever you’re talking to on the phone definitely wants you to have the goal of listening or you want them to listen to you. The act of driving…that one should be obvious. And, we’ve all seen the downfall of social media personalities who were not intentional about a post which is usually followed by a post with, “I apologize for not thinking through what I posted.” Their goal was not well thought out. The only thing I left open was petting your dog or cat. Sometimes, your goal is to daydream while petting them, but they probably appreciate it when the goal is to make them happy. I know that’s the case in my household.
So, what does intentionality have to do with teaching? Everything. To intentionally design your environment and lessons means you have a goal to consciously making decisions about the experiences you want your students to have and the resources you’re going to use. Intentionality is a word that is used when we think about the implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) because without that, you cannot truly put the framework into use.
To say that you are implementing UDL means you are intentionally thinking through how you will activate the nine guidelines, you are thinking about the barriers your learners are experiencing or are likely to experience, you are intentionally designing for the variability that is present across your learners, and you are intentionally setting your goals, designing with flexibility in mind, you are guided by inclusive thinking, you actively design in rigor, and your provide opportunities for student-generated choice. That’s a lot of intentionality, but that’s what it takes. UDL is a framework that sets the foundation for change, but change takes intention and that intention is the pathway for your learners to become expert learners.
Interested in a book that specifically talks about teaching with intentionality? Check out Teaching with intention: Defining beliefs, aligning practice, taking action by Debbie Miller. The book is specific to K-5.