Improving inclusive education through universal design for learning

The research presented in this book links the application of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach with research on possibilities for enriching the already existing educational practices of inclusive education, thus providing teachers with more tools for achieving the efficiency of education. The research was carried out in the contexts of the same aforesaid countries that participated in the research. The researchers from Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania), the University of Vienna (Austria), the University of Lapland (Finland) and Krakow Pedagogical University (Poland), in turn, included one school that implements inclusive education in their country and is willing to develop its education system. As the educational system that is based on scientific evidence focuses on all learners’ success and provides specific guidelines for its implementation, the UDL approach was chosen for improvement of inclusive education. Before planning of the research, the group of project participants held a meeting with specialists from CAST organisation. The mission of this non-governmental organisation is “to transform education design and practice until learning has no limits”. This idea was very much in line with the goal of the project participants to search for educational methods that are favourable to the success of all learners. During the meetings of educational researchers, teachers implementing inclusive education and UDL specialists, the specifics of the UDL approach was analysed. The participants also shared ideas about implementing this approach in different educational, cultural and educational practice contexts. Later, the national teams made up their decisions regarding actualisation of the educational component and its development applying the UDL approach in the context of their own country. The group from Krakow Pedagogical University and the school “Zespol Szkol Ogolnoksztalcacych nr 9 w Krakowie” decided to enrich the process of education in the classroom. The team from Vytautas Magnus University and Vilniaus Balsių Progymnasium put emphasis on the perspective of the pupil’s becoming an expert learner. The group from the University of Lapland and the school of Aleksanteri Kenan koulu chose to focus on the problem of developing teacher competences while applying the UDL approach. The group of researchers from the University of Vienna and teachers from Schulzentrum Donaustadt arrived at a decision to re-interpret the educational system applied in the school in the context of the UDL approach, as well as to identify the areas to be improved in the educational system and to distinguish the elements of UDL to be developed, seeking to better apply this approach in various educational contexts. The method of action research, which is considered to be favourable for the analysis and development of existing practices, was chosen for this research