Inclusive Learning and Educational Equity 5
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. Vilnius: Publishing house of the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences. https://www.vdu.lt/cris/bitstream/20.500.12259/98800/1/ISBN9786094710995.pdf vi researchers from Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania), the University of Vienna (Austria), the University of Lapland (Finland) and Krakow Pedagogical University (Poland), in turn, included one school that implements inclusive education in their country and is willing to develop its education system. As the educational system that is based on scientific evidence focuses on all learners’ success and provides specific guidelines for its implementation, the UDL approach was chosen for improvement of inclusive education. Before planning of the research, the group of project participants held a meeting with specialists from CAST organisation. The mission of this non-governmental organisation is “to trans- form education design and practice until learning has no limits”. 3 This idea was very much in line with the goal of the project participants to search for educational meth- ods that are favourable to the success of all learners. During the meetings of educa- tional researchers, teachers implementing inclusive education and UDL specialists, the specifics of the UDL approach was analysed. The participants also shared ideas about implementing this approach in different educational, cultural and educational practice contexts. Later, the national teams made up their decisions regarding actu- alisation of the educational component and its development applying the UDL approach in the context of their own country. The group from Krakow Pedagogical University and the school “Zespol Szkol Ogolnoksztalcacych nr 9 w Krakowie” decided to enrich the process of education in the classroom. The team from Vytautas Magnus University and Vilniaus Balsi ų Progymnasium put emphasis on the per- spective of the pupil’s becoming an expert learner. The group from the University of Lapland and the school of Aleksanteri Kenan koulu chose to focus on the problem of developing teacher competences while applying the UDL approach. The group of researchers from the University of Vienna and teachers from Schulzentrum Donaustadt arrived at a decision to re-interpret the educational system applied in the school in the context of the UDL approach, as well as to identify the areas to be improved in the educational system and to distinguish the elements of UDL to be developed, seeking to better apply this approach in various educational contexts. The method of action research, which is considered to be favourable for the analysis and development of existing practices, was chosen for this research. In the introductory chapters of this book, the reader will find the insights sup- ported by the results of previously conducted research, which relate to the processes of inclusive education transformations, interpretation of the UDL conception and discussion about a new attitude towards uniqueness of pupils, the analysis of differ- ences in education differentiation approaches, and peculiarities of formulating goals and their achievement within the UDL approach. The book presents a comprehen- sive overview of the methodology of action research and its application while con- ducting research on educational processes according to the approaches suggested by different authors. Analysing the results of the empirical research, the reader will find two direc- tions in the insights. On the one hand, the results of the research carried out in 3 CAST website: http://www.cast.org/about/about-cast Preface vii different educational and cultural contexts approaching the problem from various perspectives allow for a deeper learning of inclusive education experiences and con- textualised realities in the four European countries. On the other hand, evaluation of possibilities for applying the UDL approach while improving the already function- ing educational practices makes it possible to identify and acknowledge valuable elements of this approach, favourable factors for its integration into the operating systems and system transformations, as well as encountered obstacles. The analysis of educational practice while implementing the UDL approach in Poland disclosed the phasing of change mechanisms in the transition from routine, learning difficulties-centred teaching to flexible, reflective teacher-moderated learn- ing that emphasises coping with barriers. The research showed the transformative effect of pupils’ experienced success on the change in the teachers’ attitudes, moti- vation and dispositions. The results of the research conducted in the chosen Polish school highlighted the impact of collaboration of the researchers’ tutoring on stron- ger teacher motivation and self-efficacy, engaging in the change processes and implementing new experiences in own practice. The mastered methodology of the UDL approach increases the confidence of teachers and pupils in the success of changes and helps them to move from the status quo and to cope with challenges provoked by unexpected circumstances. The results of the research on the pupil becoming an expert learner showed that the UDL guidelines, their structure and recommendations for implementation pro- vide pupils with an educational direction while gaining qualities that are significant to an expert learner. The research results allowed for differentiating the factors that predetermine the pace and quality of this process development. This also contrib- uted to determining the important components of this becoming, which manifest themselves differently in various contexts of educational experience. The underre- searched pupils’ abilities were revealed: to understand how emotions support think- ing, to participate in the process of creating collective understanding and to become co-creators of a universal learning environment. The research on the development of teacher inclusive competences in Finland was conducted through teachers’ implementation of UDL principles in the school’s educational practice, at the same time reflecting on their own competences needed for this process. The Multidimensional Adapted Process Model of Teaching (MAP), acknowledged in Finland, was applied for reflection on competences. This enabled the participants to approach the development of inclusive competences from two perspectives: UDL and MAP. It was established that the teacher competences included in the MAP were in line with the practices based on UDL, defining the concept of competences necessary for inclusive education. An innovative Austrian approach to applying the UDL principles for the devel- opment of well-established inclusive education practice highlighted opportunities for the school community to identify “blind” spots of coping with educational bar- riers as well as new variants of interpreting the applied means and methods oriented towards the goals of school’s sustainable development. The ways to apply the UDL approach for re-interpretation of the existing problems, finding a solution to the problem of balancing the successful functioning of all learners in the common open Preface viii environment are discussed. The ways to encourage pupils to be co-authors of their own learning environments and navigators of their own learning process were dis- closed. Re-interpreting the inclusive education practices that already exist in their schools, teachers approach them from two perspectives, that is, through the prism of differentiated instruction and the creation of a universal education environment. In the summary, the reader will be provided with a holistic model for UDL appli- cation. It is designed to consider the results of research on applying the UDL approach in different educational cultural contexts while analysing different UDL perspectives and aiming at identifying factors that are significant to the development of inclusive education. Vytautas Magnus University, Educational Aacademy Alvyra Galkien ė Vilnius, Lithuania Ona Monkevi čienė Preface |
