Step one: don’t assume they’re ready for step five

Start Where They Are. Build Toward Who They Want to Be.

A trauma-informed, science-backed approach to designing learning for incarcerated adults

Step one: don’t assume they’re ready for step five

Imagine asking someone to sprint up ten flights of stairs with no handrail, no warning, and no place to rest, then blaming them when they stop halfway up.

That’s what poorly scaffolded learning feels like.

When digital courses assume too much, learners don’t disengage because they “don’t care.” They disengage because the task exceeds what their brain, emotions, and context can handle in that moment.

And in correctional learning environments, where stress, fatigue, academic trauma, and uncertainty are often part of the background, learning capacity fluctuates. That’s not a character flaw. It’s neuroscience.

Learner-centered design doesn’t mean making things easier.

It means making learning possible so growth can actually happen.


Notes

What this article covers

  • What “meeting learners where they are” really means in learning science

  • How trauma-informed design supports cognition, not just comfort

  • Practical strategies for reducing cognitive load without lowering rigor

  • How to design Edovo courses that build momentum, confidence, and transfer

Design like today is the hardest day

On Edovo, every learner arrives with a story—and often, that story includes barriers few educators see. One person might be energized and eager to grow. Another might be battling self-doubt, shame, or simply exhaustion from a hard day behind the walls. Most are somewhere in between.

That’s why effective course design starts not with what you want to teach, but with what they can carry.

Before content, before outcomes, before standards—ask this:

If a learner opened your course on their hardest day—tired, anxious, or unsure—would it still feel possible? Would it still feel like a win?

If the answer is yes, that’s the beginning of good design.

One of the most consistent findings in learning science is this: learning is fragile.

Attention, working memory, and executive function are all affected by stress, uncertainty, and emotional load. The six principles below aren’t about preference or style. They’re about how learning actually works, and how to design experiences that respect both the brain and the person using it.

1. Write for the nervous system, not just the brain

Learning is not just a cognitive process. It’s an emotional one.

When learners feel tense, rushed, or unsure, cognitive load increases—and working memory shrinks. That means even strong content can become inaccessible.
Learner-centered design starts by reducing unnecessary friction. So before you throw the quiz at them, give them a handrail:

  • Start with a calm tone and predictable structure

  • Use headers and section titles to reduce the “Where is this going?” anxiety

  • Add low-stakes engagement early: simple questions, visuals, check-ins

  • Avoid time pressure or phrases like “test your knowledge”—say “try this” instead

Learning is emotional regulation in disguise. Design like someone’s nervous system is part of the classroom. Because it is.

2. Normalize not knowing

Ever walked into a new job where everyone else knew a dozen different acronyms but you (IYKYK)? Remember how fast you questioned your place there? Learners feel that too.

(IYKYK may be confusing, it was to us too! It means…”If You Know You Know.” See how encouraging that framing made you feel?)

One of the fastest ways to lose adult learners is to treat confusion as failure.

Incarcerated learners are often navigating:

  • New content

  • New platforms

  • Old academic wounds

If uncertainty feels like exposure, learners protect themselves by disengaging. Instead, design for intellectual humility and safety:

  • Use language like “You might be new to this” or “Let’s walk through it together.”

  • Introduce terms with explanation, not assumption

  • Explicitly reassure learners that confusion is part of learning, not evidence they don’t belong

A classic design error is jumping straight to precision language without anchoring meaning. But prior knowledge is the strongest predictor of learning. When it’s missing, we build it—slowly and clearly.

3. Design for pacing, not perfection

Every learner brings a different rhythm. Some want to move fast. Others need to stop and reread. But when a lesson assumes one “correct” pace, it sets up a lose-lose.

So build in natural breathers:

  • Insert pause screens: “Want to recap before moving on?”

  • Let them try a low-risk practice activity before asking for a deep response

  • Use title headers and micro-summaries to close out each section clearly

  • Add gentle reminders: “It’s okay to reread. That’s part of learning.”

  • Provide optional materials: a glossary, quick video recap, or ‘need a break?’ attachments learners can skip if they want or take on if they crave more.

A common mistake is mistaking speed for mastery.
But learning science is clear: fluency builds through spaced exposure and retrieval, not rushing.

Good pacing doesn’t slow learning down.

It prevents drop-off. 

4. Start wide, then narrow

When you don’t know where someone is starting from, you don’t begin with the most abstract version of the idea.
You start with something recognizable.
Wide entry points might include:
  • Real-life scenarios
  • Emotional experiences
  • Common challenges learners already understand
Then—and only then—you narrow toward terminology, frameworks, or models.
This avoids a common instructional trap: presenting polished expert thinking to novice learners and expecting them to keep up.
You can do this by:
  1. Asking broad, relatable entry questions first
  2.  (“What’s one thing that helps you stay calm when things get heated?”)
  3. Using images or real-life scenarios to ground abstract terms
  4. Occasionally, let learners choose how they want to reflect—without feeling tested. Try: “You can write it down in your notebook, think it through on your own, or just sit with the question for a minute. Nothing to submit, nothing to grade—just for you.”
5. Make the lesson about them, not the content

Adults learn best when content feels relevant to their lives. That doesn’t mean abandoning rigor. It means anchoring abstraction in reality.Here’s how to shift the frame:

  • Instead of: “Today we’ll learn about communication styles…”

  • Try: “Ever been misunderstood and had no idea why? Let’s dig into how that happens—and how to change it.”

Or:

  • Instead of: “Let’s define budgeting terms…”

  • Try: “You’ve got $50 left for the week. Where’s it going—and why?”

Relevance opens the door. Learning walks through it.

6. Keep the bar high, but the steps small

Meeting learners where they are does not mean lowering expectations.
It means breaking big skills into manageable steps, and supporting learners as they move through them.

  1. Instead of asking for a full life story, start with one concrete moment.
  2. Instead of a five-year plan, start with one decision they’ll face this week.

That’s chunking: reducing cognitive load so learners can focus on one thinking task at a time.
That’s scaffolding: offering structure and guidance until learners are ready to carry the weight themselves.

Learning science shows that complex thinking doesn’t appear all at once. It’s built through supported practice that gradually increases in challenge.

High standards and humane design aren’t in conflict. They’re how real learning becomes possible.

Notes

TL;DR: Real growth starts from real life

  • Learner-centered design begins with emotional and cognitive readiness

  • Trauma-informed structure supports learning, not avoidance

  • Scaffolding is how rigor becomes reachable

  • Start with the learner’s world, then guide them forward

  • Empower first. Challenge next. Shame never.

References

Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. National Academies Press.

CAST. (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, Version 2.2.

Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. Corwin.

Hendrick, C., & Macpherson, R. (2017). What Does This Look Like in the Classroom? John Catt Educational.

Immordino-Yang, M. H. (2015). Emotions, Learning, and the Brain. W. W. Norton & Company.