Recently, I watched the documentary A Football Life- Doug Flutie with my husband. It really got me thinking. I began to see connections between Doug’s experience, our education system, and UDL.
If you grew up in the 1980’s in New England, you know the name Doug Flutie. You know- the quarterback who won the Heismann? The quarterback who made that Hail Mary in the Orange Bowl? The quarterback that had a 20 Something year career in the USFL, CFL, and the NFL? Flutie Flakes?
Throughout his career, people would say that Doug was too short. At 5 foot 9 and 3/4 inches, everyone discounted Doug Flutie. Everyone doubted Doug Flutie. These doubts and discounts were solely based on his height. Not on what he could do. Doug could scramble out of the pocket, evade defenders that seemed to be twice his size, and hurl the ball half the length of the field right into the arms of his receiver. Doug Flutie had many talents and skills that benefitted any football team.
Yet due to his height he was told he wasn’t enough. Some would say this would fuel his fire (I’m sure it did). But come on-to judge someone’s performance based on one data point (in this case, it was Doug Flutie’s height) is absurd, right?
It’s a common occurrence in our society to do that. However, it’s unfair. Especially when we do this in education. We place emphasis on standardized test scores. One attribute. One ability. One measure. We quantify things into “average” “meeting” “not meeting” and other labels that really make me wonder how valuable they are. We overlook the whole child due to some mandate or construct that tells us we have to, when we know it’s counter- intuitive to do so.
The reality is, we don’t have to. We have the power to look at multiple ways that someone accesses, engages, and expresses learning. We can use this information to design materials, methods, and assessments that are in alignment with where a learner is, and supports them in where they need to be. Think about teaching and learning as a playbook in football.
This playbook is not a one size fits all set of plays. This playbook contains a variety of plays. Plays that are flexible and can be adapted based on what is presented on the field. This playbook doesn’t come out of a box, but comes from understanding the variability of learners. This playbook doesn’t say that someone is “too short” or “too low” to access. This playbook throws out the concept of “average”. This playbook, friends, is Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
How does Doug Flutie connect to UDL?
In the case of Doug Flutie, his height was perceived as a barrier to his success as a quarterback. Supposedly, there is some statistic somewhere that lays claim to the notion that in order to be a successful quarterback, one must be a particular height, which Doug Flutie was not. As I watched his Football Life and thought more about this concept, I realized that the barrier wasn’t his height. It was everyone’s RESPONSE to his height. Barriers were put up to make sure he wouldn’t play- whether it was being benched, the media calling him awful stereotypes of perceived shortness. Throughout his career, the message of inaccessibility was loud and clear. What people didn’t understand is that Doug Flutie found places where the barriers could be removed (or removed then himself) and continued to play. He continued to make an impact. I kept thinking while watching his documentary about he faced these barriers and devised supports with the mindset to recognize and remove them.
This mindset was not just limited to the football field, In honoring his son, Dougie Jr. who has Autism, Doug says:
So many people want to look at children with disabilities and point out the shortcomings and what’s wrong and the way that parents look at it is to look at the abilities of the child and accent THOSE abilities. Dougie lights up a room when he walks into it. He’s always happy. He’s very affectionate. He doesn’t know any different from anyone else. I think that’s a blessing. And there is just so much more if people would look a little closer.
Looking past limitations and accentuating attributes is something that has been prevalent in Doug Flutie’s football career and experience as a parent. This mindset is all too familiar in a Universally Designed classroom. We are aware of challenges, and provide supports. We celebrate strengths and use tools such as Growth Mindset to engage learners. We actively involve all learners in the process of LEARNING for LIFE. Learning is so much more than answering a worksheet or solving a math problem. It’s a lifelong journey that goes beyond the classroom. As educators, instilling a love of lifelong learning is our job.
You have the power as an educator to recognize and remove barriers to learning for ALL learners. You have the ability to provide options, choices, and flexibility to your learners by actively teaching beyond the boxed curriculum. You have the power to make learning fun and meaningful for all. You have the power to look past the limitations of your learners and accentuate their attributes. You can support and honor differences by proactively planning for disability FIRST.
We need more Doug Fluties in this world. We need more UDL in this world.
