Toward More Inclusive Education: An Empirical Test of the Universal Design for Learning Conceptual Model Among Preservice Teachers

2020 ◽  
pp. 002248712096552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Júlia Griful-Freixenet ◽  
Katrien Struyven ◽  
Wendelien Vantieghem
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Growth Mindset ◽  
Educational Environments ◽  
Design For Learning

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) holds considerable promise to create inclusive educational environments. Nevertheless, the most recent theoretical UDL model, which includes both teachers’ philosophy and praxis of teaching, has never been tested empirically. Therefore, this study aims to validate the UDL model as a “whole” among preservice teachers. Results show that the three philosophical constructs of UDL predict the performance of preservice teachers’ practices associated with UDL. These constructs are growth mindset about learning, self-efficacy to implement inclusion, and self-regulation and motivation for teaching. Results also show that preservice teachers think and reason about UDL not as three separate principles (i.e., engagement, representation, action, and expression) but in an interrelated way as the analysis shows them to be a unidimensional factor. Finally, this article discusses the implications of a validated model on UDL for teacher-educators, practitioners, and researchers.

Exploring Preservice Teachers Engagement With Live Models of Universal Design for Learning and Blended Learning Course Delivery

2020 ◽  
pp. 016264342097321
Author(s):  
Denyse V. Hayward ◽  
Amin Mousavi ◽  
Michael Carbonaro ◽  
Amanda P. Montgomery ◽  
William Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
Day Of The Week ◽  
K 12

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Blended Learning (BL) formats, are widely adopted across K–12 learning environments. Upon graduation, preservice teachers may be expected to implement UDL and BL practices. The present study was motivated by the need to provide preservice teachers with live modeling of UDL and BL concepts. Learning analytics data from 197 preservice teachers was examined for engagement with UDL/BL Access features (location, day-of-the-week, time-of-day, and regularity), Content features (screencasts and quizzes), and to determine if there was a relationship between engagement and achievement. Examination of the learning management system login data revealed regular access to the digital content across differing locations, week days, and time of day. Associations were significant between academic performance and all features. Designing the BL digital course components following UDL principles appears to have served as a self-regulation enabler for preservice teachers themselves while providing exemplars to adopt in their future practice.

scholarly journals VALUES SUPPORTING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN DIFFERENT PRACTICES

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 192-202
Author(s):  
Alvyra Galkiene
Keyword(s):  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Educational Practices ◽  
Scholarly Literature ◽  
The Real ◽  
Real Existence ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
Fundamental Values

This article analyses how fundamental values underpin educational practices that have emerged in the development of society and create the preconditions for the sustainability of inclusive education. Through the analysis of the scholarly literature, the expression of inclusive values in the application of approaches to integrated, individualised inclusive education and Universal Design for Learning is analysed. It has been established that the effectiveness of inclusive education is substantiated in practices which are based on real existing inclusive values: equity, equality, communality and respect for diversity. Based on the results of the study, it is concluded that the sustainability of inclusive education coincides with the real existence of inclusive values in practice, equally applying to all students.

scholarly journals Reimagining Disability and Inclusive Education Through Universal Design for Learning

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Doolittle Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
White Male ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Regular Classroom ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Design For Learning

In 1975, Congress enacted a law eventually known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which ensures that children with disabilities receive a free, appropriate, public education. Since then, scholarly and popular debates about the effectiveness of inclusive education have proliferated and typically focus on the ability or inability of students with disabilities to succeed in so-called regular classrooms. These debates reflect widespread assumptions that the regular classroom is rightly the province of nondisabled students and a neutral, value-free space that students with disabilities invade and disrupt via their very presence and their costly needs for adaptation. But as many scholars in the field of Disability Studies in Education (DSE) have argued, these discussions often fail to recognize that the space of the regular classroom, far from neutral, is constructed for a nondisabled, neurotypical, white, male, middle-class "norm" that neither reflects nor accommodates the wide range of diverse learners within it, regardless of whether these learners have been diagnosed with a disability. A DSE perspective sees the educational environment, not students with disabilities, as the "problem" and calls for a Universal Design for Learning approach to education, or the design of instructional materials and activities that allows the learning goals to be achievable by individuals with wide differences in their abilities and backgrounds. Agreeing with this DSE perspective, this article uses an autoethnographic approach to reexamine inclusive education and to consider how university classrooms, pedagogy, and curricular materials can be improved in order to accommodate all students, not just those with disabilities. Ultimately, the article argues that Universal Design for Learning has the potential to radically transform the meaning of inclusive education and the very concept of disability.

scholarly journals The Goal of the Universal Design for Learning: Development of All to Expert Learners

2021 ◽  
pp. 23-57
Author(s):  
Julita Navaitienė ◽  
Eglė Stasiūnaitienė
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Personal Learning ◽  
General Education Curriculum ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
Learning Development

AbstractOver the past 10 years, every learner’s ability to achieve the highest level of learning success has become quite an important topic. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) sets a goal to allow all learners to achieve their optimal learning experience that matches inclusive education. Learners who can assess their own learning needs set their personal learning goals, and monitor their progress are termed the expert learners (McDowell. Developing expert learners: a roadmap for growing confident and competent students. Corwin, 2019). This chapter focuses on theoretical backgrounds for expert learners’ paradigm. It starts from fundamental constructivist theories and moves towards the theory of self-regulation and cognitive neuroscience approach. It concentrates on the theory of self-determination, which, in our opinion, validates in the best way the nature of the expert learners’ development. Implementation of the Universal Design for Learning allows all learners to access, participate in, and progress in the general-education curriculum. This chapter presents the specific profile of the expert learners covering their main characteristics and qualities and revealing the essence of the UDL framework. Educators could use the profile as the educational guidelines conductive to understand how the process of becoming the expert learner proceeds.

Universal Design for Learning in Today’s Diverse Educational Environments

2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Kathleen Bastedo ◽  
Jessica Vargas
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Stepping Stone ◽  
Design Learning ◽  
Barriers To Access ◽  
Educational Environments ◽  
Diverse Learning ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
Made In

Learning can be difficult for a myriad of reasons and not just for those with disabilities and for those dedicated to teaching in its many forms. It can be next to impossible to accommodate the variety of students encountered in today’s diverse learning environments. This is where the principle of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can be successfully applied. This chapter explores the strides made in creating content that brain-based research supports as a way for not only motivating students to learn, but also for allowing those with disabilities a way to learn that meets their specific needs. Although there is no one surefire way to design learning that teaches everyone, UDL is a stepping-stone to that pursuit. If implemented to its fullest potential, it can be a panacea to reducing many barriers to access and learning.

Universal Design for Learning

2017 ◽  
pp. 38-59
Author(s):  
James Cressey
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
State Standards ◽  
Curriculum Materials ◽  
Instructional Planning ◽  
Elementary Teacher Education ◽  
Unique Position ◽  
Design For Learning

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for curriculum and instructional planning through which educators can maximize accessibility and minimize barriers that are often experienced by learners. Teacher educators are in a unique position to introduce UDL to future elementary teachers and support them in developing inclusive pedagogical methods early on in their careers. While Common Core State Standards can guide educators in what to teach, UDL provides a framework for how to teach. Education technology tools are used extensively within UDL to make curriculum materials more accessible and engaging. In this chapter, the UDL framework will be described along with many specific applications within elementary teacher education.

Universal Design for Learning

2020 ◽  
pp. 137-158
Author(s):  
James Cressey
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Culturally Responsive ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Instructional Planning ◽  
Elementary Teacher Education ◽  
Culturally Responsive Practices ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
Structural Inequities

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for curriculum and instructional planning through which educators can maximize accessibility and minimize barriers that are often experienced by learners. Culturally responsive practices strengthen and complement UDL by framing accessibility as an equity goal and prompting educators to examine ableism, racism, and other structural inequities. Teacher educators are in a unique position to introduce UDL to future elementary teachers and support them in developing inclusive pedagogical methods early on in their careers. Education technology tools are used within UDL to make curriculum materials more accessible and engaging. In this chapter, the UDL framework will be described along with culturally responsive applications within elementary teacher education.

Pedagogy for Inclusive Education

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Loreman
Keyword(s):  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Pedagogical Approach ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Inclusive Learning ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
Inclusive Pedagogy

A number of different pedagogical approaches have been presented as being helpful for teachers working with students in inclusive learning environments. These approaches were developed in the late 20th century and were largely derived from models of special education. Many of them are still evident in classrooms around the world today. Based on approaches that appear to have been effective, a set of principles for the development and implementation of inclusive education pedagogy, as identified in the academic literature, can be discerned. These principles, however, are best viewed through a critical lens that highlights cautions for teachers engaged in inclusive teaching. Examples of inclusive approaches that align with some basic principles of inclusive pedagogy include but are not limited to Differentiated Instruction, Universal Design for Learning, and Florian and Spratt’s (2013) Inclusive Pedagogical Approach in Action framework.

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