Dr. Kari Muente Shares Her Expertise in UDL
American classrooms are growing more and more diverse. In the face of this blessing—and challenge—Dr. Kari Muente MLC ’99 is ready to share an instructional framework that can help teachers reach all their students: Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
Dr. Muente is sharing her knowledge of UDL in the MLC graduate course she team-teaches with Dr. Rachel Renno: EDT5010 Technology and Universal Design for Learning. This course, she says, will help teachers “engage all learners, both with and without disabilities, in the general education classroom. The course breaks down the learner, the UDL framework, and the evidence-based instructional strategies desired for ensuring all learners have equal access to the school’s curriculum.”
What’s unique about the course, she says, is its foundation in assistive technology. “The course centers around using technology to open multiple pathways for students to engage in meaningful learning while proactively designing instruction to address learner variability and overcome predictable barriers found within the curriculum and instruction.”
That’s where Dr. Renno comes in. As MLC’s director of Academic Computing and Online Learning, Dr. Renno shows teachers enrolled in the course how to use technology to harness the tools of UDL.
The principles of UDL can benefit any classroom teacher at any level. And Dr. Muente is uniquely qualified to teach it. UDL has been the cornerstone of her scholarship since her graduate work at the University of Missouri.
“I’ve centered my scholarship around improving universal support in a general education classroom,” she says. “I believe our WELS general education classroom can be the least restricted environment for all students if properly supported. UDL is a framework designed to help teachers provide essential student support. I have also published and presented in this area several times.”
Dr. Muente has served at MLC for eight years as a professor in the social science/history division and for several years as the chair of the middle and secondary education division and an elected member of the Curriculum Oversight Committee. She teaches several social science courses and also the social studies method courses for all levels—for students preparing to teach in early childhood, elementary, middle, and high school classrooms.
“My passion has always been teaching teachers how to teach,” she says. “I’ve been blessed at MLC to collaborate with my colleagues and to offer my scholarship to improve our school’s mission and vision.”
This summer, she’ll be moving to Appleton, Wisconsin, where she’ll begin her new ministry as director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment for Fox Valley Lutheran Schools. There, she says, she’ll address the varied needs of the preschools and elementary schools in FVL’s federation, advancing gospel ministry with a focus on PreK-8 student learning that aligns with the FVL’s 9-12 program.
AT MLC, we’re grateful that moving to Appleton will not prevent her from continuing to teach our graduate course in UDL. She’s excited to continue teaching it as well. “I love working with teachers in the field,” she says. “Most of my teaching at MLC has centered around preparing pre-service teachers, so there is more theory over practice. But this graduate course provides a vehicle for me to introduce UDL to classroom teachers and to hear how they apply the principles in their classrooms.”
It’s an important course—perhaps now more than ever, she says. “As our WELS classrooms become more academically, culturally, and linguistically diverse, the UDL framework helps teachers proactively design their curriculum, instruction, and assessment around meeting the needs of all learners.”
Meeting the needs of all learners—that, finally, is what teaching is all about.
Meet Dr. Muente
Family: Kari is the oldest of four kids. She lost her dad when she was 19. She lost her mom to cancer 10 years ago and her baby sister, Kellyn, to cancer eight years ago. She has a younger brother, Kam, and a younger sister, Katie.
Education
- B.S. Elementary Education – Martin Luther College 1999
- M.Ed. Learning, Teaching, and Curriculum (emphasis on social studies education) – University of Missouri 2013
- Ph.D. Learning, Teaching, and Curriculum (emphasis on social studies education) – University of Missouri 2017
Ministry/Vocation
- Martin Luther College 2017-2024
- Ohio State University at Lima 2016-2017
- University of Missouri 2013-2016
- Rocky Mountain LHS 2009-2013
- Luther Preparatory School 1999-2009
Presentations & Publications
Dr. Muente has presented at many regional and national conferences. She has published many peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in four different books.
Professional Memberships
- National Council for the Social Studies
- College University Faculty Assembly/Small College and University Faculty Forum
- Council for Exceptional Children
Hobbies/Interests
Kari is an amateur photographer, having photographed several former students’ weddings, senior pictures, and other subjects. She’s a fan of Jane Austen, and she loves reading books, drinking coffee, and snuggling with her pup, Mr. Knightley. Since graduate school, however, her tastes run more toward professional development than fiction. She also likes most kinds of music, classic movies (Casablanca is her favorite), and musicals from MGM’s Golden Age.
