Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has many followers with much academic writing and conferences about the topic. Indeed, Google searches on “universal design” usually bring up more items on UDL than any other topic.
Matt Capp provides an Australian perspective in “Is your planning inclusive? The universal design for learning framework for an Australian context”. The paper published in Australian Educational Leader can be downloaded from Informit, but it will require institutional access for a free view. UDL can be applied across all learning situations and people of any age.
Capp’s key message is similar to the built environment: design at the beginning – don’t try to add it in later. It’s too messy and time consuming.
From the abstract
In June 1994 the Salamanca Statement called for inclusion to be the norm for students with disability. Goal one of the Melbourne Declaration aims to provide all students, including students with disability, access to high-quality schooling. The Declaration seeks to reduce the effect of disadvantage. Unfortunately, this is not always the reality in Australian schools.
One solution to addressing the needs of diverse learners, such as students with disability, is the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework.
The principles of UDL allows teachers to develop inclusive lessons by planning to the edges of a class, rather than to a core group of learners. Supports and scaffolds are proactively built into the instructional methods. Learning materials enable all learners’ full participation in the curriculum (Hitchcock, 2001).
Retrospectively fitting lesson plans with adjustments based on flawed assumptions about a core group of students consumes time, and money, with little effectiveness. These retrospective adjustments are only the first step towards inclusion. By being ‘smart from the start,’ UDL allows classroom teachers to develop lesson plans that are inclusive for all students.