Inclusive Learning and Educational Equity 5

Keywords Participatory action research · Reassessment of practice · UDL 
localization · UDL
11.1 Introduction: UDL from an Established 
Pedagogical Perspective
Considering Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a strategy to supply individ-
ual approaches to facilitate teaching and learning environments in regard to specific 
learning needs (see Chap. 
3
), it is important to assess its local contextualization. As 
appropriate individualized ways of learning already existed before the development 
of UDL, the authors aim to use UDL-based perspectives to reassess the existing 
pedagogical and instructional practices. All of the above will be elaborated on and 
discussed in order to underline the importance of teacher engagement (also related 
M. Proyer (
*
) · G. Kremsner · G. Biewer 
University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
e-mail:
 [e-mail]
;
 [e-mail]
;
 
[e-mail]

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to research processes as well as theory-practice-transfer) and the individualized 
design of learning environments that considers the societal background of students.
The main questions guiding the research process are:
How can existing elaborate practices in inclusive education be reinterpreted under a UDL 
perspective?
How can UDL enrich these existing practices?
How can contrasting perspectives help to highlight gaps in current teaching and thereby 
add to an even more child-centered practice?
The principles of UDL are rooted in empirical education research, developmen-
tal psychology, and cognitive neuroscience, and stem from the history of school 
research in North America. On the other side of the Atlantic, the European reform 
pedagogy movement of the twentieth century was a source of numerous develop-
ments for innovation in school teaching (Flitner, 
1992
). Especially in German- 
speaking countries, reform-oriented pedagogues referred to these theories and 
practical suggestions for inspiration and further development. The introduction of 
integrated education of children with and without disabilities was combined with 
the rediscovery of reform pedagogy at the beginning of the twentieth century. 
Reform pedagogy (with differentiated instruction [DI] as a current term) as opposed 
to UDL is embedded in different educational traditions. Both applications address 
the same phenomenon in existing school practices with different scientific terms. In 
line with this, this chapter highlights the fact that some of the underlying ideas of 
UDL already form part of well-established teaching practices, which have other 
historic and/or systematic roots but might hint toward further ideas for innovative 
developments. Thus, it will be used to reinterpret current teaching practices and 
contrast them with established perspectives in order to promote child-centered 
holistic approaches.