scholarly journals The implementation of inclusive education in South Africa: Reflections arising from a workshop for teachers and therapists to introduce Universal Design for Learning

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. Dalton ◽  
Judith A. Mckenzie ◽  
Callista Kahonde
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Education Policy ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Curriculum Differentiation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
Inclusive Education Policy

South Africa has adopted an inclusive education policy in order to address barriers to learning in the education system. However, the implementation of this policy is hampered by the lack of teachers’ skills and knowledge in differentiating the curriculum to address a wide range of learning needs. In this paper we provided a background to inclusive education policy in South Africa and a brief exposition of an instructional design approach, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) that addresses a wide range of learning needs in a single classroom. We reported on a workshop conducted with teachers and therapists in South Africa as a first attempt to introduce UDL in this context. Knowledge of UDL was judged to be appropriate and useful by the course participants in the South African context as a strategy for curriculum differentiation in inclusive classrooms. Furthermore, knowledge of the UDL framework facilitates dialogue between teachers and therapists and provides a relatively simple and comprehensive approach for curriculum differentiation. We therefore conclude that there is potential for this approach that can be expanded through further teacher training.

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 Universal Design for Learning: Is It Gaining Momentum in Irish Education?

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 341
Author(s):  
Margaret Flood ◽  
Joanne Banks
Keyword(s):  
Education Policy ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
National Level ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Student Diversity ◽  
Education Systems ◽  
Design For Learning

Responding to student diversity has become a key policy priority in education systems around the world. In addition to international and national institutional policies, major changes are underway in instructional practices and pedagogy in many national contexts. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has become a key pedagogical approach used in education systems which seek to promote inclusive and equitable education in response to student diversity. In Ireland, the use of UDL is gaining momentum in recent years with a growing interest among educators in engaging in conversations about this framework. Despite Ireland’s policy commitment to inclusive education, UDL has been traditionally focused on the higher education sector with little discussion about the role UDL can play at primary and second-level education to achieve inclusion. Furthermore, there has been no research to date on the extent to which education policy reforms are introducing part, or all, of the aspects of the UDL framework. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which UDL is gaining momentum in Irish primary and second-level education through an analysis of curriculum policy. This paper examines the development and evolution of UDL in Irish education policy over the past decade by exploring the use of UDL in national educational curriculum frameworks. The paper highlights how UDL is slowly and implicitly emerging in education policy at a national level but suggests further momentum could be gained from its inclusion in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and professional development programmes. By exploring the development of UDL within existing policy contexts, the paper argues for a more explicit commitment to UDL as part of ongoing curriculum reform at the primary level, the review of Senior Cycle, and Ireland’s broader inclusive education agenda.

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 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.

Enhancing Instructor Capacity Through the Redesign of Online Practicum Course Environments Using Universal Design for Learning

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Jennifer V. Lock ◽  
Carol Johnson ◽  
Noha Altowairiki ◽  
Amy Burns ◽  
Laurie Hill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Field Experience ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Design Based Research ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
Bachelor Of Education ◽  
Recommendations For Practice

A current trend in practicum or field experience programs is online and blended learning approaches being implemented alongside traditional classroom experiences. Principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) should be integrated in the design of these online environments in order to better support learning needs of all students. Instructors must also have confidence and competence in designing and facilitating learning within technology-enabled environments. This chapter reports on research conducted using design-based research to support instructor capacity development within field experience in a Bachelor of Education program. Three strategies are identified and discussed to enhance instructor's capacity: scaffolded support, modeling UDL practice in the online environment, and coaching to foster developing capacity using UDL. The chapter concludes by reporting on a new study that emerged as a result of this work, along with recommendations for practice.

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.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document