The COVID crisis is a crucial time to consider the implementation of Universal Design for Learning in schools to avoid the marginalization and exclusion of diverse learners

Posted: December 8, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has rapidly gained in popularity, in the K-12 sector, over the last decade.

UDL stands as a distinct and resourceful recipe for inclusion in the sense that it avoids over-reliance on diagnostic information, and instead encourages teachers to consider the needs of diverse learners from a ‘whole class’ perspective and a design mindset.  UDL indeed translates the social model of disability into classroom practices; it embraces a construction of the concept of disability as an interaction between individual needs and the expectations of the environment, rather than an individual label.  UDL is therefore extremely powerful in the sense that it shifts the focus away from the exceptionality of the learner, and instead places the teacher’s role in designing learning for the needs of all learners at center stage.

An exceptionally opportune time to implement UDL in schools

2020 has been exceptionally challenging for teachers, schools and school leaders, and the COVID-19 crisis has required all stakeholders to be constantly flexible, innovative, creative, and resilient.  While the second wave of COVID demonstrates the sector’s ability to adapt, develop best practices within a health crisis, and integrate technology, the situation has also highlighted monumental concerns around accessibility and inclusion.  Emergency measures in schools in this global health crisis often prioritize immediate, urgent, and mainstream outcomes, but are sadly usually ignoring the needs of the full spectrum of diverse learners.  Online and blended teaching developed during the COVID crisis has rarely been fully accessible; certain solutions like the ‘learning pods’ have exacerbated social inequities; schools generally over-rely on parental support and make assumptions as to the capacity of all parents to take on pedagogical roles.   Social justice issues are, as a result, of great concern in this pandemic landscape and UDL offers immediate hands-on tools and strategies.

Join us in Thursday December 10th, for a panel to discuss the pressing relevance of UDL in schools in the COVID landscape: https://www.royalroads.ca/info-sessions/webinar-universal-design-learning-k-12-sector-urgency-implementation-covid-context

Please note there is no cost involved to attend the webinar but registration is required.

The panelists present will be the following:

Andrea Prupas, B.Ed, M.A.

@AndreaPrupas

Assistive and Accessible Technology Consultant at English Montreal School Board and co-founder of inov8 Educational Consulting.

In her current role, Andrea works with K-11 students, teachers and families with both specialized assistive technologies and universal solutions. Andrea’s past experiences as a UDL and Accessible Technologies project coordinator with the Ministry of Education in Quebec, as well as a teacher and consultant in both inclusive and specialized settings has given her a hands-on perspective on the implementation of UDL and assistive technologies. Andrea has been a frequent presenter at Technology and Education conferences, including the Assistive Technology Industry Association and the Council of Exceptional Children.

Dr. Margaret Flood

@magsflood

Education Officer for Inclusive Education and Diversity, National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, Ireland

Dr Margaret Flood is the Education Officer for Inclusive Education and Diversity at the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in Ireland. Her experience in inclusive and special education includes teaching, teacher professional learning -design and delivery-, policy development and curriculum design. Margaret’s research interests include contextual dimensions and the role of teachers in inclusive policy and practice enactment, teacher engagement with professional learning for inclusion, interpretations of educational language, student voice, the understanding of equity, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Margaret received a Fulbright Scholar Award in 2020 to continue her research into UDL, particularly to identify system requirements for UDL enactment in Ireland.  She recently created #UDLchatIE on Twitter, Ireland’s first dedicated space for chatting about all things Universal Design for Learning.

Christina Bosch

@ChristinaABosch

College of Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Christina A. Bosch is a candidate to the Ph.D. in Special Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her work, broadly speaking, involves inclusive classroom practices with respect to high incidence disabilities, comparative special education, and Universal Design for Learning. As a publicly-engaged academic, she seeks to understand treatment and discipline within the school-prison nexus in order to advance the radically inclusive education espoused by a constellation of minoritized activist groups—from (queer) people with disabilities and the Black Panthers in the 1970’s Bay Area, to today’s #M4BL and #BLM policy platforms. Her Fulbright-funded dissertation, Defining Inclusive Education: Educator Perspectives and Practices in Chile, investigates participants’ pedagogies related to the inclusion of youth with special education needs in one of the oldest democracies in Latin America through Transnational Feminism and Disability Justice framings.

Dr. Frederic Fovet

@Ffovet

Associate Professor, School of Education and Technology – Program Head for the MAELM Program

Frédéric Fovet is the program head for the Master of Arts in Educational Leadership and Management program. Fovet is an inclusion specialist with a specific interest in emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD), critical pedagogy and universal design for learning (UDL). Fovet also has a strong grounding in Disability Studies, and has served as a teacher and principal in schools with a focus on the successful inclusion of students with EBD.  Fovet taught at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) for three years, where he was an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education. He previously served as director of the Office for Students with Disabilities at McGill University, where he was responsible for the campus-wide promotion of UDL. Fovet consults nationally and internationally in the area of UDL and was the founder and program chair of the first two pan-Canadian conferences on UDL, held at McGill (2015) and UPEI (2017). Fovet has served on the editorial of the journal Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties since 2012, and as occasional editor for the journal Disability & Society through 2018-19. He is also a member of the editorial board of the newly launched (2020) International Journal of Disability and Social Justice (IJDSJ).  Fovet’s interest in inclusion is rooted in a dual professional perspective. He holds a Bachelor of Laws from King’s College London (1989), and a Master of Laws (1990) and Master of Philosophy in Criminology (1991) from Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University. He practised as a solicitor in the United Kingdom before refocusing his career on differentiation, inclusion and access.