Photo Credit: Cincinnati Recreation Commission
Group swim-lesson participants are becoming increasingly more diverse—in ability, language, learning type, age, etc. It is becoming the norm rather than the exception of yesteryear. Using the strategies that school-based educators are using to teach academic courses, swim instructors can maximize what is achieved in lesson sessions for all swimmers.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach that combats the primary barrier for many students: inflexible one-size-fits-all curricula. Learners with disabilities are most vulnerable to such barriers, but many students without disabilities also find that curricula are poorly implemented and fail to meet their needs. The Red Cross Learn to Swim Program and other curricula were designed to meet the needs of the broad middle of the “learn-to-swim” participants. This, unfortunately, is sometimes at the exclusion of those with different abilities, learning styles, backgrounds, and even preferences.
UDL helps meet the challenge of diversity by suggesting instructional materials that are flexible, techniques that are individualized, and strategies that empower instructors to meet these needs, as varied as they may be. During the lesson-preparation stage, instructors can plan higher-quality lessons by thinking about ways to incorporate the principles of UDL and implement those in the water. The key to UDL is to provide options—the more options and choices that can be offered to swimmers, the higher the chance that effective learning will occur.