The universal design for learning in teacher training: from investigation to inclusive practices

Abstract

The pedagogical practices carried out in the schooling of students who are the target audience of Special Education in regular classes are designed through individualized adaptations of the curriculum and flexibility. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL), however, allows for the creation of accessible means of teaching for barrier-free learning. Thus, this study consisted of investigating whether a teacher training program based on this theme would result in practices that achieve greater participation and learning of the target public student of Special Education in the regular class. As a methodology, the collaborative research was chosen to produce knowledge and provide teacher training. Ten basic education teachers and seven teaching undergraduate students participated in the study. The program resulted in eleven meetings, involving various training tools, such as fictional and real teaching cases, case discussion scripts and preparation of lesson plans based on the UDL. The collected data were organized, synthesized and presented in order to illustrate the results of the training program, based on three cases, selected by the in-service teachers and due to the difficulty they had to promote the participation and learning of a particular student. The classes were collectively designed, implemented by the teachers and recorded in a field diary. The results pointed to convergent and divergent elements between the findings of this investigation and theoretical studies on the subject. It was concluded that the training strategies based on the assumptions of the UDL and collaboration proved to be potentiating tools in the development of teaching actions consistent with diversity, as well as in the initial and continuing education of the participants.