One lesson I learned in the professorate that followed me into my career as an administrator and executive in higher education is that we have an obligation to create diverse and differentiated learning communities where everyone can engage, learn and transform; we have an obligation to create environments that privilege brilliance, excitement, enthusiasm, and growth. In the classroom this means paying close attention to the way students learn. Paying attention to what they need to feel empowered, excited and engaged. Given the right tools, students transform themselves. Without them, they languish. In higher ed leadership it means helping employees connect to the mission of the university or program and giving them space to excel, to grow, to find the pure joy in creating amazing learning experiences—in all their inconveniences, extra work, and messiness. And it means co-creating an academic culture that embraces reflexive innovation, calculated risk taking, experimentation, and empathy.
During faculty office hours, too many students came to my office carrying the burden of guilt and shame because they did not learn the way teachers taught. They thought they were flawed when in reality—it was us. The assumptions we made about learning, and about demonstrating learning, and the rules emanating from those assumptions, were flawed. My work with them was focused on how to craft discourse that articulated what they needed and to try to make space for those needs in an intransigent academic system.
As a junior social work faculty, I worked with a Native student who was by all measures gifted. She was articulate, insightful, incisive and had a gift for working with large groups of people. In her role as an active member of a Native American social work organization, I watched in awe as she crafted and conducted experiential workshops on hidden bias, racism in film and the media, and the lived experience of Native students. Her workshops were attended by crowds of faculty, students and community members who experienced these issues in ways they never had before. This was social work, and she was astounding at it.
She also struggled with writing. Perhaps it was because she came from an oral tradition, perhaps it was an undetected learning disability. Perhaps it was a combination of both. When it came time to take her final comprehensive social work exams, I asked that she be allowed to take them orally. I advocated, lobbied, pushed, confronted, argued—that she be allowed to take the exam orally. After weeks of my consistent onslaught, I was told definitively no. Rules were rules. The rules would not budge. My student asked me, “what do we do now?” The answer had two parts. The immediate, was to support her so she could pass the written exam. The long-term answer for me was to move into administration where I had a better chance of changing the rules.
What she and I were asking for was an educational system that was responsive and differentiated. A 2024 Hanover Research survey reveals that this is what our future students want and need: flexible, responsive learning environments that acknowledge their complex lives. When asked about their ideal college experience, students consistently emphasized the need for accessibility, faculty engagement, and learning environments that adapt to their circumstances. But most telling were the students who couldn’t imagine what an ideal learning environment looked like – perhaps because they had never experienced one.
This failure of imagination isn’t just a student problem. It’s an institutional one. Our rigid academic structures, designed for a different era, are increasingly misaligned with both student needs and emerging pedagogical research. Jørgensen and Brogaard’s (2021) study demonstrates that differentiated teaching in higher education leads to “better fulfillment of intended learning outcomes” and creates “a more inclusive learning environment.” Yet many institutions resist this evidence-based approach.
Resistance comes at a cost. As student populations become more diverse in their preparation, learning styles, and life circumstances, the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to university teaching becomes increasingly untenable. We must evolve.
For Faculty the role of professor must shift from sage on the stage to learning architect. Course design must begin with student readiness assessments rather than content delivery. Teaching excellence must include the ability to create multiple pathways to learning and multiple ways of assessing it. Professional development must emphasize pedagogical innovation alongside subject matter expertise.
For Academic Leaders resource allocation must prioritize teaching support and faculty development. Promotion and tenure criteria must recognize the scholarship of teaching and learning. Institutional structures must become more flexible to accommodate diverse learning needs. And success metrics must expand beyond traditional measures to include learning engagement and accessibility.
As my experiences taught me, sometimes the most gifted learners don’t fit our traditional molds. Our challenge isn’t to force them into those molds but to reshape our institutions to serve all learners effectively. This challenge isn’t just pedagogical – it’s cultural. We must move from a system that prizes uniformity to one that celebrates diversity in teaching and learning. Central to all culture shifts are issues and questions of identity. How will we think about ourselves and our obligations as educators; who will we become as we meet the emerging needs of our students? How will we change higher education?
This isn’t just about better teaching – it’s about fulfilling higher education’s fundamental promise of transformation through learning. The future demands this transformation. Our students – with their diverse backgrounds, complex lives, and varying learning needs – deserve nothing less. The question isn’t whether higher education will change, but whether we will lead that change or be forced to follow it.
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Hanover Research. (2024). We Asked 1000 U.S. High Schoolers About their Ideal College Experience https://www.hanoverresearch.com/insights-blog/higher-education/we-asked-1000-u-s-high-schoolers-about-their-ideal-college-experience/
Jørgensen, T.J. & Brogaard, L. (2021). Using differentiated teaching to address academic diversity in higher education. Empirical evidence from two cases. Learning and Teaching Volume 14, Issue 2, Summer 2021: 87–110.140206 ISSN 1755-2273 (Print), ISSN 1755-2281.
daniellewozniak 