#DeleteDeficitThinking

2022 ◽  
pp. 127-143
Author(s):  
Rachel Lambert ◽  
Quinn Greene ◽  
Vanessa Lai

In this chapter, the authors propose that Universal Design for Learning can be a way to resist and reframe pervasive deficit thinking in exceptional education. While UDL is based on a radical framework, it has been taken up in practice in a diluted way, de-emphasizing the radical conception of learners at its core. In this chapter, the researchers argue that in order to eliminate deficit thinking in UDL, users and scholars alike will need to 1) interrogate gaps and erasures in UDL professional development that affect its anti-racist and anti-ablest potential and 2) provide professional development that can challenge deficit thinking. This chapter describes findings in two studies working towards these goals. The first preliminary study investigates gaps in the conceptualization of the “user” of UDL in professional texts on UDL. The second study reports on how a professional development course on UDL actively disrupted deficit thinking about disability.

Author(s):  
Aisha S. Haynes

Students with and without disabilities are enrolling in online courses. Universal design for learning (UDL) and accessibility strategies should be implemented proactively when designing and developing online courses. Quality assurance and accessibility standards, university support, professional development, and instructional designers are important for instructors to successfully design online courses and teach online. The purpose of this chapter is to provide educators with strategies for implementing UDL and accessibility in online courses.


Author(s):  
Carl D Westine ◽  
Beth Oyarzun ◽  
Lynn Ahlgrim-Delzell ◽  
Amanda Casto ◽  
Cornelia Okraski ◽  
...  

This study investigated online faculty familiarity, course design use, and professional development interest regarding universal design for learning (UDL) guidelines. The researchers surveyed all 2017 to 2018 online faculty at a large university in the southeastern United States. Findings included 71.6% of faculty reporting familiarity with at least one UDL guideline, with most respondents indicating familiarity with guidelines relating to perception, expression, and communication. Faculty reported the highest implementation of UDL guidelines was for those suggesting options for comprehension as well as expression and communication; the lowest implementation was for those suggesting options for physical action as well as language and support. Survey results also indicated high to moderate interest in learning more about all UDL guidelines, with emphasis on comprehension, persistence, and expression. This study suggests that faculty members desire UDL training and offers possibilities for planning and implementing such professional development in areas targeted to best meet the needs of online faculty.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-451
Author(s):  
Mary Dane F. Leonardo ◽  
Jeongho Cha

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has led teachers in the Philippines to rely on technology to provide and support continued education for K-12 students. However, it is not only technology, but also the interactive online learning environments crafted by teachers that impact student science learning. To support teachers to cope with pandemic teaching, the government provided professional development in the form of teacher-training webinars. This study evaluated the webinars using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to understand the impact these professional development sessions had on science teachers’ self-efficacy for delivering science instruction during the pandemic. The study found that webinars including UDL design elements improved science teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching science and there were no significant differences in teacher perceptions relative to gender or teaching experience. Implications for the use of UDL to design long-term professional development offerings beyond the pandemic are discussed.


Author(s):  
Frederic Fovet ◽  

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has gained momentum in K-12 education over the last decade. It enables educators to go beyond deficit model approaches to inclusion, and offers sustainable practices for the inclusion of diverse learners through intentional design for instruction and assessment. Promotion of UDL has taken many forms, from provincial projects to school communities of practice. A challenge remains, however, when comes time to widen implementation efforts. There remain specific challenges with regards to the scaling up of implementation strategies across schools and school boards. The process of management of change towards wider UDL buy-in is complex and leads to a necessary questioning of current professional development practices for in-service teachers, and of pre-service teaching in its present format. This chapter will explore these contemporary issues, as well as the wider reflection around leadership that must accompany this process.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lora Lee Smith Canter ◽  
Laura H King ◽  
Jennifer B. Williams ◽  
Debbie Metcalf ◽  
Katheryne Rhys Myrick Potts

How can education change to meet the demands of effectively educating an increasingly diverse student population with the skills, knowledge, and abilities they need to be productive and successful citizens in the 21st century? One possible solution is to create classrooms, teachers, and schools that embrace the progressive and inclusive practices espoused by Universal Design for Learning (UDL). In addition to being rooted in UDL pedagogy, classrooms designed to meet the challenge of 21st century education need to substantially integrate and utilize advances in technology. The vanguard of literature to date in UDL could be characterized as rhetorical advocacy. That is, UDL literature is in the early stages of introducing and promoting UDL pedagogy, but to date there is not a research base strong enough to establish UDL as a scientifically validated intervention (Edyburn, 2010). UDL might sound like a good idea, but until the research base turns the corner from advocating to assessing and measuring UDL outcomes, the promise of this approach will not be realized. This article describes a study exploring effects and outcomes of a professional development program on the perceptions and practice of UDL principles in K–12 public school inclusive classrooms, and could be one step toward bridging the gap from a good idea to a solidified best practice. Specifically, this study investigated a professional development program’s effect on teachers’ perceptions, conceptualizations, and implementation of UDL principles and practice in their classrooms.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Callie Mady

AbstractAs of late, French immersion (FI) teachers have been encouraged to adapt their instruction to support the inclusion and success of students with learning difficulties. In particular, pedagogical concepts such as Universal Design for Learning (UDL) (National Center on Universal Design for Learning, 2014) and differentiated instruction (Tomlinson, 2004) have been promoted as means to do so. This study used observations of nine FI teachers’ classes with the view to exploring their adaptations for students with learning difficulties in hopes of identifying future professional development directions. The observations revealed that the FI teachers were aptly adapting their instruction for the class as a whole whereas they were less apt to modify for individual students. In order to further their inclusive practices, the FI teachers in this study would benefit from future professional development opportunities that focus on differentiating instruction for individuals and conversations about if and how teacher language choices can provide additional means of differentiation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Patricia Kohler-Evans ◽  
Chayla D. Rutledge ◽  
Candice Dowd Barnes

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is based on the architecture and industrial design paradigm, universal design. The UDL framework provides guidelines for teachers when they create, instruct, and assess the delivery of content. Based on three underlying principles: multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement, UDL targets the needs of every learner in the classroom. Although much has been written about UDL in the K-12 classroom, the principles apply equally to higher education. Most faculty are well versed in the delivery of content through a traditional lecture format, yet few consider applying UDL principles. It is not enough that an instructor provide knowledge. He or she must also ensure that critical content is accessible to all students entering the university classroom. Faculty members recognized for their excellence in teaching include teaching strategies that are aligned to UDL principles. These strategies include creation of positive learning environments, use of humor, active engagement vs passive engagement, and explicit structure. The primary purpose of the article is threefold: to discuss the importance of using a UDL approach in higher education, to help faculty begin using a UDL approach through professional development, and sharing strategies for students in the higher education classroom.  Recommendations are made for providing professional development to faculty to increase their use of universal design for learning principles with questions for consideration. Additional recommendations are made for teaching students through the UDL lens. By using a UDL framework, all students have access to curriculum in ways meaningful to each individual.


Author(s):  
Frederic Fovet

This chapter examines active blended learning and universal design for learning in context within the lived professional experience of the author. The tension between both of these approaches to teaching and learning is first analyzed and explored through a series of vignettes. In the second stage, an analysis is carried out to identify ways in which the tension between both paradigms can be resolved by practitioners in higher education. The final stage of the chapter conceptualizes this empirical reflection and offers a model that can be used in professional development activities with faculty to guide them seamlessly as they attempt to reconcile these 21st century imperatives of teaching and learning in one progressive, cohesive, and coherent discourse.


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