Universal Design for Learning: Addressing the Barriers

Abstract

Inclusive education provides opportunities for children with disabilities and non-disabled children to receive education together. The New Education Policy 2020 also promises equal and inclusive education for all. Various teacher-training courses have been recognised by the National Council for Teacher Education and the Rehabilitation Council of India to prepare teachers for providing education to children with disabilities in special and inclusive schools in the country. These courses nurture the skills of future teachers to create an inclusive learning environment, use inclusive teaching strategies, select learning materials according to the needs of the learners, plan and assess children with disabilities, etc. At present, there is a lot of emphasis on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to create an inclusive learning environment. But the trainees in special education and general teacher education do not have good printed study material available on this topic. The editor and all the authors believe that this book will fill the literary gap and will be helpful for all trainee-teachers and teacher-educators to learn the concept, principles of UDL, lesson planning for UDL, problems in implementation, the role of ICT, and assessment options, etc. All the chapters in this book are useful for special teachers, general teachers, research scholars, trainees of D.Ed., B.Ed., M.Ed., and other teacher training courses in special education & general education. Many enthusiastic and renowned professionals contributed their chapters to this book. Their great contribution made this book worth reading for trainees, teachers, and researchers. This book includes sixteen chapters i.e., Historical Perspective of Universal Design for Learning, Economic Perspectives of Universal Design for Learning: Challenges and Solutions, How Universal Design for Learning is Gaining Momentum in Indian Education System: A Review of Educational Policies and Initiatives, Universal Design for Learning: Theory and Praxis, Guidelines for Implementing Universal Design for Learning, Scope of Universal Design for Learning in Inclusive Education, Universal Design for Learning and Lesson Planning, Using Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education: An Approach towards Inclusion, Universal Design for Digital Age, Universal Design for Learning Based Learning Resources, Challenges and Issues in Implementing Universal Design for Learning, Implementation of Universal Design in India: Challenges and Issues, Accessibility Problems in Educational Institutions, Critics and Remedial as Implementation in Universal Design for Learning Approaches in India, Emerging Pedagogical Options and Universal Design for Learning, Universal Design for Learning and its Role in Holistic Effective Learning and Assessment. This book is a very useful resource in inclusive education. The editor acknowledges the great contribution made by the authors. Critical feedback and suggestions by all readers will be appreciated for further improvement in the content and other aspects of the book.