Barriers to Learning – Materials

In this section, we will explore how materials used for teaching may act as barriers to learning.

Look at the stairs in the image below.

The famous circular staircase in the Louvre Museum in Paris has an elevator in the center to accommodate visitors with disabilities ^[1]

Most stairs actually present barriers to many individuals. The stairs pictured here in the Louvre were designed to accommodate all visitors.

Just like stairs, many of the materials used in lessons present barriers to learning for some students. All materials require the user to have certain skills in order for him or her to make meaning from them. For example, text requires a person to be able to decode the text. The skills required by materials can present barriers for some students.

Select the link to return to the CAST Module 2 webpage and complete the section Identifying Barriers in Materials.

Think about what kinds of skills these materials require in order for students to make meaning from them. Consider how each of the materials listed in the table below might actually be a barrier to learning for students.