Polina Spakovsky was the Communications Assistant for the UDL Fellows Program as a 2024 summer Work Learn student. In her proximity to the program and the people in it, she gained a greater insight into universal course design at UBC. Here, she shares her thoughts about how UDL is changing the way we view accessibility, the importance of reciprocity, and the impact that a student perspective can make.
I’ve always been fascinated by the impact that a teacher could have on the core of a person. From making a student love something they thought they hated to shaping the ways they interact with others; I sincerely believe that an educator’s power is not spoken about enough. When I was accepted for this position with the UDL Fellows Program, I was excited to work closely with educators and gain a greater insight into the ways we learn and teach, but I never could have expected just how meaningful this experience would be.
As a student with a skeptical disposition, I’ve often felt rather insignificant in the grand scheme of such a large institution. While I have taken many wonderful courses, I have also unfortunately been no stranger to those shaped by monotone delivery, black text on white slides, and two exams dictating 90% of my grade. By the time the student evaluation is rolled out, I resign myself to the thought that it’s all just for show – what impact could I really have? Do my professors actually care what I think?
I didn’t intend on participating in the UDL sessions or sharing my thoughts. During the first session I attended, I kept my head down and my camera off, just looking to learn more about the program. When one of the participants in my breakout room asked if I wanted to weigh in on a topic, I said “I’m just a Work Learn student here to listen, not a Fellow,” expecting the conversation to move on. To my surprise though, the Fellows expressed genuine enthusiasm at the idea of hearing my student perspective. They made me feel like their equal, considering my words seriously and asking more questions. This was what kickstarted my intentional participation in all the subsequent UDL sessions. Suddenly, the faculty and staff members who seemed so far out of reach were right there having conversations with me about how to make things better for students. They wanted to hear what I had to say; they actually cared about my experiences and those of my peers.
It got to the point where I was offered to speak on a student panel at one of the sessions. I was delighted at this offer and accepted it quickly. At first, I was hesitant to share my true opinions and talk about my experience being in classes that lacked any engagement. I was worried that if I expressed my frustration with the education system, I would upset people. Eventually, I reasoned that I had been invited onto this panel because my opinion was wanted, so I owed them just that: my honest constructive opinion. Thankfully, my answers were received very positively, the day filling me with a feeling of empowerment that I had not yet experienced at UBC. My student perspective was making an impact. What started out as a way for me to learn more about UDL for the context of my job ended up as an avenue for me to make valuable connections and express myself as a student.
This is not to say that learning about UDL did not impact me on its own. In fact, after every session, I was struck by just how much UDL was expanding my perspective about the world. For example, I hadn’t previously considered the importance of formatting conventions when building a website; out of order headings may look completely normal to a person navigating the site on a visual basis while being confusing to someone using a screen reader. Another moment that stuck with me was during a UDL presentation on colorblindness and fieldwork. A woman in the audience raised her hand to weigh in on the topic, citing her colorblind son’s experience. They had gone on a wildlife tour and her son was able to spot dozens of camouflaged animals that even the tour guide couldn’t see, as his eyes were finely tuned to pick up on differences in movement and pattern instead of colour. This fact was incredible – I had only ever been taught about the difficulties of colour blindness. Nobody ever seemed excited about how much we could learn from people who saw the world through different eyes. It got me thinking about the ways we view disability and how UDL is changing the way we handle different types of learning.
Much of the accessibility conversation is taken up by people who are able-bodied or neurotypical acknowledging their privilege and expressing a desire to help those who experience barriers that they do not. While privileges and barriers must be addressed, it creates a very one-sided relationship of “I have things that you don’t have – let me help you.”
As someone who is able-bodied but also neurodivergent, I’ve experienced both sides of the coin. I’m “privileged” in one category yet have so much to learn, and “disadvantaged” in another yet have so much to share.
Although I require no physical accommodation, these comforts have made me closed-minded and more willing to accept disorganization. In my earlier example about website-building, I learned that by making my pages orderly and labelling items correctly, I not only improve the experience of people using screen readers, but also that of editors on my team including myself – this thing that is done in the name of accessibility benefits everyone.
Conversely, though my ADHD has given me some trouble in the classroom, it has made me more creative and expressive, giving me an incredibly valuable perspective to offer. I feel it is a disservice to offer me accommodations out of a desire to be charitable to someone who is a burden to the current system. Often, people claim that we pursue accessibility because everyone is equal yet continue to act as though those who struggle in our education system are deficient in some way. I do not want a hand up for the sake of getting a hand up, I want a hand up so that I may give you a hand up in return.
What I appreciate about UDL is that there is an emphasis on providing as many options to learn and express yourself as possible without separating learners into “normal” and “other.”
For the first time, I’m seeing a system that really does treat everyone as an equal.
Students are given different avenues to take in information and reflect on their learnings, without there being a “correct” way to do so. I’ve spoken to Fellows who have told me that they’ve seen a dramatic decrease in the amount of accommodation letters, confused emails, and extension requests that they’ve received from students because of UDL practices that they’ve implemented. This is a system that works and even my skeptical disposition cannot deny that.
I believe shifting the perspective from “one group helping another group” to “different groups learning from and helping each other” is the only way that we can see change in our education system, and UDL is without a doubt helping us move in that direction.
We do not have to resign ourselves to an environment where we are expected to learn in the same way as hundreds of other students or be forced to disclose our personal information for any hope of accommodation. I can only say that I’m proud to have gotten to work with the incredible people that have made this program a reality. As they continue to push for change in the academic world every day, I find myself incredibly excited for the future.