Inclusive Learning and Educational Equity 5

Participatory Action research include the following:
1. Making UDL more relatable
The teachers articulated a need to be provided with a comprehensible and digest-
ible interpretation and translation of the complex concept of UDL in order to be able 
to apply it in their daily teaching context without having to spend an excessive 
amount of time analyzing it themselves. This suggests that findings in the context of 
individualized instruction and the provision of adequate learning environments in 
the context of inclusion need to be further elaborated on and transferred into prac-
tice. Understanding UDL in CAST’s interpretation demands a lot of advance knowl-
edge. Some terms and contexts are hard to grasp for people who are not accustomed 
to an academic context.
M. Proyer et al.

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2. Team effort
“It is important to recognize that both within the core group and the wider group 
of colleagues involved there were potential tensions and dilemmas, similar to those 
referred to by Elliot (1991) as ‘a clash of professional values’ between traditional 
pedagogy and reflective practice.” (Simpson, 
2019
, 66) This quote highlights the 
fact that in the course of this research it became clear that not all members of the 
school community were in favor of the research efforts and were not really inter-
ested in learning about a new approach to shaping learning environments. As previ-
ously mentioned, the mere act of engaging in a reflective discourse as such seems to 
have had some impact on questions related to the new direction the school is taking, 
and this in itself can be considered highly promising. Nevertheless, it also shows 
that the introduction of new approaches to teaching are best embedded in collabora-
tive research or at least developmental processes in order to enable sustain-
able change.
3. Personal engagement
It should also be strongly underlined that the willingness to engage on the part of 
the three collaborating teachers has been truly remarkable. Considering that their 
own teaching practices were being assessed, such an eagerness to take on board 
critical reflections on these practices, albeit for their further development, does not 
seem very common. Ongoing support and questioning, as well as the desire to gain 
insights and shape the research process, are key to a properly functioning research 
process aimed at changing teaching practices and the way they are being researched 
(Armstrong & Tsovoka, 
2019
). Similar respect is also due to the teacher trainees 
who were involved in the project. Despite a rather critical position regarding UDL 
among teacher trainees in the area of inclusive education due to its links to