Empowering Educators as Designers Through Universal Design for Learning

• In Event: Cultivating Teacher Knowledge for Engaging a Range of Learners

Abstract

This paper shares findings from a study of 517 educators’ participation in the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Innovation Network, a multi-year professional learning opportunity launched across a state in New England. The Network supports educators to leverage UDL, a framework for designing learning environments that reduce barriers and expand opportunities for all learners. Three years into the Network, findings reveal that the emphasis on educator as designer is empowering participants. Although today’s reform context often stifles educators’ sense of agency, the data suggest that supporting educators to apply UDL is a promising way to reinvigorate educators’ professional identities: educators are developing mindsets as designers and gaining a sense of “permission” to teach in ways that resonate with their beliefs.

Authors

• Jenna Gravel, CAST

• Melissa Sanjeh, Cast

• Susan Shapiro, Cast

• Bill Wilmot, Cast

• Rohan Menon, University of Pennsylvania