Abstract
AbstractThis chapter introduces a study carried out in the context of the transformation of the Lithuanian education system towards inclusive education, with the aim of revealing the educational factors that contribute to students becoming knowledgeable and resourceful expert learners in the universal design for learning (UDL) approach. The UDL framework was chosen as a systematic reasoning instrument for the teacher and the school, aiding in achieving the development of expert learner qualities in every student in the general education context and ensuring the quality of inclusive education. The chapter briefly introduces the theoretical approach of the research, the context of Lithuanian education and the school where the research took place, which is relevant for the interpretation of the results, and other important methodological aspects. The research data show that applying the UDL approach helped the teachers to modify the educational process in order to develop in students the qualities of knowledgeable and resourceful expert learners. The results, presented in a structured manner in the chapter, reveal the process and contributing educational factors to students’ becoming actively perceiving, self-directed, knowledge-creating and co-creating learners and learners constructing their own deep comprehension. The research data reveal the methods used by the teachers to recognise and overcome the barriers in cultivating these qualities in their students. We also identified the emerging changes in teachers’ dispositions when applying the UDL approach and designing lessons aimed at promoting the qualities of knowledgeable and resourceful expert learners.
Highlights
The concepts and practices of individual inclusion and inclusion for all have been competing in the educational systems of many countries
The collaborative action process was chosen to investigate the educational factors that contribute to developing the qualities of students as knowledgeable and resourceful expert learners by transforming the school practices of inclusive education following the universal design for learning (UDL) approach
The teacher’s belief that every student can become an expert learner in information perception, use of language and symbols, information comprehension, as well as the learning process organised in a targeted way creates conditions for expression and development of qualities and abilities assigned to expert learners
Summary
The concepts and practices of individual inclusion and inclusion for all have been competing in the educational systems of many countries (see Chap. 1). The active and deep processing of new information focusing on meaning and the interconnections of texts, ideas, structures and integral relations, the use of higher cognitive strategies for the analysis of perceived information from different perspectives and its reconstruction, the linking of new knowledge with previous knowledge and reflection on ones’ own learning are typical of expert learners (Marton & Saljo, 2008; Bran, 2014; Golightly & Raath, 2015; Asikainen & Gijbels, 2017; Samuels-Peretz et al, 2017; Peng & Chen, 2019) According to these researchers, the interaction between the strategies of information perception and reorganisation and intrinsic motivation are needed for the creation of personal deep comprehension. –– How do educational factors facilitate the development of knowledgeable and resourceful expert learners by applying the UDL approach?
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