My name is Maribel Campo and I am
a teacher collaborator at the University of Salamanca
in the field of disability.
This video is entitled Training for all,
inclusive education and universal design
for learning, UDL (DUA in Spanish).
In it, we will justify why and how
we should train all people, including the student
in a situation of disability.
In addition to updating terminology and offering resources,
we will encourage the teacher to use training
strategies and teaching innovation on inclusion, such as
universal design for learning and reasonable adjustments with
the aim of achieving inclusive education.
UNESCO defines inclusion and equality as the general
principles that must govern all policies, plans and
educational practices.
Inclusion is defined as the process that helps
to overcome the obstacles that limit the presence,
participation and achievements of all students.
Equality is ensuring that there is a concern
for justice so that everyone's education is considered
of equal importance.
According to Duque and Murillo, the message of
inclusive education is simple, but its implementation is complex.
Let's see solutions.
Inclusive education implies understanding inclusion as a process
whose goal is to reach all students by
eliminating barriers and training the educational community, but
not all teachers have received training on inclusive education.
The teacher needs to learn to be inclusive.
In the words of the expert Mel Ainscow,
the key is in the teachers.
UNESCO proposes six actions as a path to
follow and one of them refers expressly to the teacher.
It is the third action, to ensure that
teachers are supported in their action in favor
of inclusion and equality.
But how can teachers be more inclusive?
With specific training, for example, with resources such
as training tools for curriculum development published by
UNESCO, using inclusive didactic strategies such as collaborative
learning, cooperative learning,
project learning or service learning.
They can also react with adaptations to specific
situations or be proactive and anticipate those possible
situations using universal design for learning.
Universal design for learning is the reflection of
universal design in the educational field.
It was defined in 1984 by the Center
for Applied Special Technology and is based on
three principles and nine guidelines.
The first principle is to provide multiple forms of representation.
With what guidelines?
Giving options for perception, options for language, symbols,
mathematical expressions and also options for understanding.
The second principle provides multiple forms for action and expression.
How?
Providing options for physical interaction, for expression and
communication or for executive functions.
And finally, the third principle is to provide
multiple forms of participation, that is, how to
capture interest, options to maintain the effort or
persistence, options for self-regulation of the student.
All these principles and guidelines are associated with
three networks that intervene in the learning process.
The recognition network, which explains the what of
learning, the strategic network, which explains how we
learn, or the affective network, which relates to
the why of learning.
These three networks are activated or not depending
on the activities that the teacher poses and
therefore it is very necessary that the curriculum
is flexible enough to apply universal design for
learning, that is, to be able to flexibilize
the ways of presenting information, the ways in
which the acquired knowledge is shown and the
way in which the student can participate in
their own learning.
Universal design for learning is a good strategy
to support diversity from an inclusive approach that
allows us to recognize these needs and individual differences.
However, regardless of the fact that the teacher
uses universal design for learning or contemplates flexibilizing
the curriculum to eliminate the barriers to learning
and participation that students face in situations of
disability, the option of providing individual support is
also considered with the aim of seeking equality,
that is, the same opportunities of participation in
their learning process.
We refer to reasonable adjustments.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities defines reasonable adjustments as follows.
They are the necessary and adequate modifications and
adaptations that do not impose a disproportionate or
undue burden when required, in a particular case,
to guarantee people with disabilities the enjoyment or
exercise, in equal conditions with others, of all
human rights and fundamental freedoms.
In educational matters, it recognizes
that reasonable adjustments
must be made according to individual needs, such
as providing the necessary supports to facilitate their
training with the aim of their full inclusion.
Some examples of these supports are facilitating access,
facilitating location in the classroom, the use of
support products, the presence in the classroom of
the sign language interpreter, a personal assistant or
even their guide dog, anticipating our materials, having
extra time for the performance of activities and
alternative formats in the tests, etc.
Reasonable adjustments are reactive and personalized strategies in
the face of limitations in the student's functioning.
The idea is that a good use of
universal design for learning reduces the need for
reasonable adjustments.
As resources, the Guide for Ensuring Inclusion and
Equality in Education, published by UNESCO in 2017,
helps government teams to incorporate inclusion and equality
in the educational policy of their countries.
If you are a manager in the educational
field, you are interested in this resource, as
it analyzes educational policies of inclusion and equality,
focusing on four dimensions.
Concepts, statements on policies, structures and educational systems,
as well as good practices.
And if you want to know how inclusion
and equality have reached this point, this publication summarizes it.
Towards inclusion in education, status, trends and challenges,
25 years after the declaration of Salamanca by UNESCO.
As a summary, in this video we have
spoken of the need to train all people
and we have introduced how to do it.
We have highlighted the relevant role of the
teacher and the need to offer resources in
terms of inclusive education.
We have described universal design for learning as
a proactive strategy to achieve equality and inclusion,
as well as reasonable adjustments.
And finally, we have spoken of the Guide
to Ensuring Inclusion and Equality in Education, by UNESCO.
All children and all girls matter.
All of them matter equally.