The following is a student blog created by Jacquelyn Taylor, at 10th grader in Maine. She was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 9 and dyscalculia at age 14. Her passions include: spreading awareness about learning disabilities, travel, cooking, and writing. You can connect with her on TikTok: @jacquelyn_elyse
If you haven't heard of "one size fits all" classes, you should really be aware of what they are and how harmful they are. One size fits all classes are based on the assumption that one learning style works for everyone. This strongly affects anyone who has a learning disability, since the usual teaching approaches don't work for us. This class style doesn't cater to my needs since I need multiple different techniques in order to learn. As a result, any student with a learning disability is left behind.
There are multiple different types of learners, such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. I am an auditory learner. Having books read aloud for reading assignments is always very helpful. Taking away the use of audiobooks is like taking away a map from a tourist. It's a lose-lose situation. Teachers should use images, videos, audiobooks, and hands-on activities to showcase different learning styles to students in elementary school. In the long run, this will help students find out which method works best for them as they get older.
So why do teachers believe the one size fits all structure works? My opinion is that teachers may have grown up learning with a one size fits all class and just adopted it. Another possible reason is that teachers don't realize how the standard approach is damaging to a student with a learning disability because they don't experience neurodiversity themselves.
A way to fix this issue is simply to bring awareness to this serious topic. Teachers need resources that explain the harmful effects of the one size fits all class type on students with learning disabilities. The resources should incorporate personal stories that display the hardships that these students face in this environment. If teachers could sympathize and empathize with their students better, the outcome would be a decrease in one size fits all classes.