Abstract
Diverse learners are increasingly present in Flemish higher education (Belgium) and represent a significant percentage of the student body. Universal design for learning (UDL) offers a convenient framework to design inclusive classes and services that embrace the needs of diverse learners. This chapter presents the inspirational case study of Odisee University of Applied Sciences, a Flemish higher education institution that increasingly implements universal design principles in its educational policy and practices. The value of implemented measures in the domain of curriculum development, teaching and learning, and assessment will be discussed and analyzed through the UDL lens, as well as focus points and directions to take.
TopIntroduction
The number of students with disabilities in higher education (HE) institutions in Flanders (Belgium) has gradually increased with a notable rise in the proportion of individuals with mental health conditions and developmental disorders (e.g. autism spectrum disorder). On average, students with a declared disability represent 8% of the Flemish HE student population (Support Centre Inclusive Higher Education [SIHO], 2017). Also, an increasing number of working students, students with a migrant or refugee background and mature students with family obligations and caring responsibilities is attending HE. In this context, both access to education and inclusion have become a strategic topic for Flemish institutions. Many of them undertake actions to find new ways to increase the learning opportunities of the diverse student population (Flemish Interuniversity Council, 2018; SIHO, 2017).
As stipulated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), inclusive institutional learning environments should be achieved by proactively implementing Universal Design for Learning (UDL), which is designed to meet the needs of all students. Instead of approaching diversity as a side issue or only on a case-by-case basis, UDL refers to the use of flexible goals, methods, materials, and forms of evaluation to provide effective education for all students. By proactively addressing the barriers experienced by disadvantaged students on the one hand and building in the greatest possible diversity on the other hand, reasonable adjustments to support disadvantaged students are less often required (SIHO, 2017, 2019; UN General Assembly, 2007).
With the ratification of the UNCRPD by Belgium and the installment of the ‘Incentive Fund to embrace diversity’ by the Flemish government in 2009, HE institutions mainly focused on the development of target group policies where granting reasonable adjustments and guidance services to neutralize barriers of disadvantaged students (e.g. students with disabilities) were central (so-called target group policy). The UDL policy track to realize inclusive learning environments by increasingly implementing UDL principles remained less explored (SIHO, 2017, 2019; UN General Assembly, 2007). Rather, diversity was approached in a categorical way (see Figure 1). In this approach, adjustments are reserved for student groups that meet certain predefined criteria (e.g. students with disabilities, students with migration background). Since diversity should not only be the starting point in education, but should also form the starting point in student services, the general term universal design (UD) instead of UDL is put forward in Flanders.
Figure 1. Dual track policy inclusive HE: Categorical approach
Key Terms in this Chapter
Teacher Design Teams: Team of instructors who cooperate in order to renew and redesign their curriculum and develop themselves professionally (at the individual, group and school level).
Future Festival: Event organized by Odisee in which 400 students, employees and experts came together to think, inspire each other and discuss future-oriented strategic choices. The event focused on debating on the building blocks of education.
Dual Track Policy: The policy used within higher education institutions in Flanders, where on the one hand, instructors work on an inclusive education system through universal design and on the other hand they provide reasonable adjustments to neutralize thresholds for students with a disability or students from other disadvantaged groups. Those adjustments are reserved for students groups that meet certain predefined criteria (e.g. students with disabilities, students with migration background).
Co-University: A university that focuses on the development and improvement of products and processes via the co-creation of the curriculum with partners from the professional field, between different disciplines and with other institutions, based on the complementarity in expertise.
UDL Team: An interdisciplinary team of staff members of the central education, diversity, and student services responsible for the implementation and evaluation of the inclusive exam and pedagogical measures at Odisee.
Curriculum Co-Creation: A process of the engagement of instructors, students and the professional field that encourages them to become partners who each have a voice and a stake in curriculum development.
Needs-Assessment: An evidence-based analysis of the needs of an individual in a specific context in view of identifying, adequate and essential educational measures, exam adjustments and support services. It concerns an interactive process where not only weaknesses and support needs are inventoried; the assessment also focuses on the strengths of the individual and the interaction between the individuals and environmental characteristics in the field of academic and personal life.
Modeling: The instructional strategy in which the teacher demonstrates a new concept or approach to learning and students learn or acquire new information, skills, or behavior through observation.
Inclusive Measures: Reasonable adjustments that were previously reserved for students with disabilities and that are now offered to all students.
SIHO: The Support Centre Inclusive Higher Education (SIHO), embedded in HE legislation in Flanders/Belgium, serves both policy makers and institutions in the development and implementation of equity measures for inclusive HE.
Educational Team: The educational team takes up roles related to curriculum design, the development of course units, and learning support. The team divides these roles among themselves or combines them, depending on the existing expertise and talents. Experts from the services support the teaching teams where necessary.
Education Council: An advisory body of the university in the field of education. The Education Council is responsible for the implementation of the university’s educational assignments.