Culturally Responsive Design for English Learners: The UDL Approach

Patti Kelly Ralabate and Loui Lord Nelson—both influential early adopters of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)—braid two “hot” frameworks, Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) and UDL, to help teachers address the needs of English Learners in today’s classrooms.

With cultural and linguistic diversity in the classroom on the rise, educators are challenged to address the needs of English Learners “without diluting the focus of their educational goals and curriculum, and potentially sacrificing the progress of other students,” write Ralabate and Nelson.

Culturally Responsive Design for English Learners uses UDL, which addresses the innate brain-based differences of learners, and CRT, a pedagogy that responds to learners’ cultural differences, to design culturally responsive instruction that’s inclusive of all learners. These frameworks are also brought together to specifically address the learning needs faced by English Learners (ELs).

In this essential resource, the authors provide scenarios, reflection questions, and classroom-based exercises to support responsive instruction. Learn to design and craft goals, methods, materials, and assessments that help ELs optimise their educational experience.

Table of Contents

Figures and Tables v

Acknowledgments ix

Part I A Foundation for Culturally Responsive Design: How Culture, Context, and Language Shape Learning

1. Culturally Responsive Design Matters 3
2. Learner Variability and CLD Students/ELs 13
3. Culturally Responsive Teaching and UDL 25
4. The Culturally Responsive Learning Environment 51

Part II Applying Culturally Responsive Design to Second- or Dual-Language Learning

5. Dual-Language Learning and UDL 81
6. Culturally Responsive Representation 101
7. Context Matters 121
8. Culturally Responsive Lesson Design 137
9. The Policy Foundation 161

Glossary 183

References 189

Index 205

About the Authors 215