The Hero's Journey in Every Classroom: How UDL Reflects Our Deepest Human Nature
What if the three pillars of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), engagement, representation, and action & expression, aren't educational constructs but fundamental aspects of human nature itself?
In episode 139, principal Juan Gallardo's insights revealed a new way to think about UDL: UDL mirrors the ancient Greek concepts of pathos (emotion), logos (logic), and ethos (character). Just as every hero's journey begins with reluctant engagement, progresses through mentorship and learning, and culminates in purposeful action, every student's learning experience follows this same archetypal pattern.
Consider your own classroom. When students first encounter new material, they need that spark of engagement. That's the pathos that makes them care. Without emotional investment, learning remains surface-level. This isn't about entertainment; it's about creating authentic connections between learners and content that honor their individual passions and purposes. Need some deeper information? Need some help getting started? Check out the guideline, Welcoming Interests and Identities.
Next comes the logos. That come through the representation of knowledge through multiple means. Students need mentors, guides, and varied pathways to understanding. Variability means we all need visual representations, support with auditory processing, and hands-on exploration depending on the context. The key isn't finding the “right” way to teach, but recognizing that there are as many right ways as there are learners in your classroom. Where can you turn to get started? Start by making your lessons and learning environment fully inclusive by checking out the guideline of Perception.
Finally, students must express their learning through action. That's ethos. Learners demonstrate their character and understanding. This isn't just about assessment; it's about giving learners agency to show what they know in ways that feel authentic and meaningful to them. You can find some great starter ideas under the guideline of Expression & Communication.
The beauty of the UDL framework lies in its non-linear nature. Students don't move linearly from engagement to representation to expression and we don't teach that way. We need to design opportunities so our learners can naturally cycle through all three continuously, sometimes simultaneously. A student might express their understanding in ways that engage their peers or find a representation that sparks new emotional connections to the material.
When we recognize UDL as reflecting the way we feel, think, and act (identified by the Greeks as our deepest human nature), we stop seeing it as another educational strategy to implement. Instead, we begin to understand it as a mirror of who we are as learners and human beings. Every student in your classroom is the hero of their own learning journey and UDL simply honors that truth.