Slides from December 16 presentation at 17th International Conference on the Quality of Education and Training (CIMQUSEF17)

1. Tackling the elephant in the room
Using Universal Design for Learning to examine how
poor pedagogy exacerbates school dropout
Wednesday December 16th, 2020
17th International Conference on the Quality of Education and Training (CIMQUSEF17) – Leaving
School Early: Causes, consequences and preventive policies
Dr. Frederic Fovet, Associate Professor, School of Education and Technology

2. Personal introduction and relevance to the
presentation
• Personal introductions (frederic.fovet@royalroads.ca)
• Assistant Professor at UPEI for three years and Associate
Professor at Royal Roads University for two.
• Consultant on Universal Design for Learning at national
and international level in both the K-12 and post-
secondary sector
• Program Chair and Instigator of the first three Pan-
Canadian Conferences on UDL (2015, 2017 and 2019)

3. Context
• Returning to one of the concepts I discussed in my Keynote.
• Much of the literature on the school drop out is based on a deficit model: we
create paradigms and typologies that identify students who drop out as
missing essential competencies or as being affected by exceptional variables.
• An ecological lens encourages to look not just at the students who drop out
but outwardly at what may be at play in school itself as an institution.
• Pedagogy is often responsible for the disengagement of students but rarely
appears in the literature on the drop out phenomenon.
• This session will explore the role of pedagogy in this process, and examine
how UDL can remedy these shortcomings which are observed globally.

4. Objectives of the session
• Examine the way pedagogy often plays a role in why students
leave school
• Explore some of the pitfalls of pedagogy in 21st century
• Examine the potential UDL has of addressing this shortcomings
• Reflect shortly on the challenges of UDL implementation in
schools

5. Current issues with pedagogy in schools
• Failure to integrate constructivism in classroom practices (Zhu,
Ennis & Chen, 2011)
• Warping impact of neo-liberal theory on teacher mindsets
• School stratification (Singer, 2020)
• Challenges of Inclusive Education (Bemiller, 2019)
• Hurdles in adapting to 21st century priorities (Dintersmith, Wagner
& Whiteley, 2015)
• Notion of teaching to the ‘bell curve’ (Rose, 2015)

7. Impacts of bad pedagogy
• Direct repercussion on drop out rates (Robinson, Down & Smyth, 2018)
• We also see disengagement play a part in school exclusion in the form of challenging
behaviour (Hennig Manzuoli, Pineda-Báez & Sánchez, 2019)
• Public schools increasingly channeling students with disabilities into alternate
education (TES, 2016)
• Increased tension between teachers and students in terms of expectations (Cassady,
2011)
• Increased attrition in the teacher profession (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond,
2019)

8. What is UDL?
• UDL has it origins in Universal Design
• This emerged in the 1970s within the field of Architecture. (Trent, 2019)
• Challenged the focus on aesthetics at the detriment of user preferences.
• Led to the emergence of user experience (UX) in inclusive design.
• CAST was instrumental in transferring this reflection to the classroom: focusing on the
learner experience had not before that been the focus of literature (CAST, 2017).
• Translates the social model of disability into classroom practices: disability is not an inherent
feature of students. Instead it is conceived as the friction that exists between individual
embodiments and the design for environments and experiences.
• Inclusion is as a result no longer a matter of making exceptional learners fit into the
classroom environment. Instead it is about educators designing inclusively (Rose, Meyer &
Gordon, 2014).

9. Implementing UDL in classroom practices
• This reflection around inclusive design break down into three principles which
reflect neuro-specialists identify as the three dimension of learning: output (they
way we provide information to learners), input (they way learners contribute,
participate, and are assessed), and affective connection to learning (the way learning
connects to leaners’ lived experience) (Ok, Rao, Bryant & McDougall, 2017).
• Multiple means of representation, multiple means of action and expression, multiple
means of engagement.
• These principles are used to guide teachers as they inject as much flexibility as
possible into their design of delivery and assessment
• This does not lead to a prescriptive list of actions; instead it acts as a lens on
practice.
• Leads to a progressive redesign over time. No overnight transformation.

10. How does UDL remedy some of current
challenges of pedagogy in schools
• Shifts educators towards genuine inclusion vs. mainstreaming.
• Moves the onus away from the learner to fit into the system and instead places the focus on
the educator’s role as a designer
• Prepares them for the fact inclusion is a slow, progressive, life-long process.
• Places schools and teachers into a growth mindset, and prepares the landscape for change
• Enables educators to integrate student-centered, constructivist, and social constructivist
theories into their classroom practices.
• Educators focus on engagement from a design perspective, and not from a teacher-centric
stance.
• Shifts institutions away from a deficit model view of students, which in turn avoids
stigmatization and marginalization.
• UDL has a good potential to integrate culturally responsive pedagogy.
• UDL does not restrict inclusion to just disability and impairment. Allows the inclusion of the
full spectrum of diverse learners: second language learners, immigrant students, Indigenous
students, first generation students, students facing socio-economic challenges, LGBTQ2S+
students, racialized students, etc.

11. Remaining questions

12. Resources
• Alliance for Inclusive Education (2020) The Social Model of Disability. Models of Disability. Retrieved from:
https://www.allfie.org.uk/definitions/models-of-disability/social-model-disability/
• Al-Azawei, A., Serenelli, F., & Lundqvist, K. (2016) Universal Design for Learning (UDL): A Content Analysis of
PeerReviewed Journal Papers from 2012 to 2015. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 16(3),
39-56.
• Alberta Inclusion (n.d.) Making Sense of Universal Design for Learning. Retrieved from:
https://education.alberta.ca/media/464638/video-discussion-guide-4-making-sense-of-universal-design.pdf
• Basham, J. D., Gardner, J. E., & Smith, S. J. (2020). Measuring the Implementation of UDL in Classrooms and
Schools: Initial Field Test Results. Remedial and Special Education, 41(4), 231–243
• Bemiller, M. (2019). Inclusion for All? An Exploration of Teacher’s Reflections on Inclusion in Two Elementary
Schools. Journal of Applied Social Science, 13(1), 74–88.
• Buyrn, C., & Murray Stowe, M. (n.d) Understanding the Basics of Universal Design for Learning. School of
Education - Training & Technical Assistance Center. Retrieved from:
https://education.wm.edu/centers/ttac/resources/articles/assistivetech/understanding_the_basics_of_UDL/i
ndex.php
• Carver-Thomas, D., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2019). The trouble with teacher turnover: How teacher attrition
affects students and schools. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 27(36)
• Cassady, J. M. (2011). Teachers' Attitudes Toward the Inclusion of Students with Autism and Emotional
Behavioral Disorder. Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education, 2 (7)

13. Resources (contd.)
• CAST (2017). UDL Tips for Fostering Expert Learners. Wakefield, MA: Author. Retrieved from
http://www.cast.org/publications/2017/udl-tips-fostering-expert-learners
• Craig, S., Smith, S., & Frey, B. (2019) Professional development with universal design for learning:
supporting teachers as learners to increase the implementation of UDL. Professional Development
in Education
• Dhoundiyal, N. (2019, August 26) Inclusive Design: An Overview of Current Thinking. UX Matters.
https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2019/08/inclusive-design-an-overview-of-current-
thinking.php
• Dintersmith, T., Wagner, T (Producers) & Whiteley, G. (2015) Most Likely to Succeed [Motion
Picture], Vimeo: NYC
• Hennig Manzuoli, C., Pineda-Báez, C., & Sánchez, A. (2019). School Engagement for Avoiding
Dropout in Middle School Education. International Education Studies, 12(5), 35.
• Kieran, L., & Anderson, C. (2019). Connecting Universal Design for Learning With Culturally
Responsive Teaching. Education and Urban Society, 51(9), 1202–1216
• Novak, K. (2014). UDL now: A teacher’s Monday morning guide to implementing the common core
standards using universal design for learning. Wakefield, MA: CAST Professional Publishing.
• Ok, M., Rao, K., Bryant, B., & McDougall, D. (2017) Universal Design for Learning in Pre-K to Grade
12 Classrooms: A Systematic Review of Research. Exceptionality, 25(2), 116-138

14. Resources (contd.)
• Rao, K., & Meo, G. (2016). Using Universal Design for Learning to Design Standards-Based Lessons. SAGE
Open.
• Robinson, J., Down, B., & Smyth, J. (2018). ‘Shaking up’ neoliberal policy in schools: Looking for democratic
alternatives in Jacinta’s satchel. Global Studies of Childhood, 8(4), 392–403
• Rose, T. (2013) The myth of the average. TEDxSonomaCounty. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eBmyttcfU4
• Rose, D. H., Meyer, A., Gordon, D. (2014). Reflections: Universal design for learning and the common core. The
Special EDge, 27(2), 3-5
• Schaffhauser, (2016, November 4) Report: Blended Fits Nicely To Re-Engage Dropouts. THE Journal.
Retrieved from: https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/04/11/report-blended-fits-nicely-to-reengage-
dropouts.aspx
• Scott, L. (2018). Barriers With Implementing a Universal Design for Learning Framework. Inclusion, 6, 274-286
• Singer, J. (2020) Student Stratification among a Combination of School Choice Policies in Detroit. Journal of
School Choice, 14(1), 122-153
• TES (2016) Loophole allows schools to 'discriminate against autistic children’. News. Retrieved from:
https://www.tes.com/news/loophole-allows-schools-discriminate-against-autistic-children
• Trent, J. (2019) Building Access: Universal Design and the Politics of Disability. Journal of American History,
105(4), 1042–1043
• Zhu, X., Ennis, C., & Chen, A. (2011) Implementation challenges for a constructivist physical education
curriculum. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 16(1), 83-99

15. Contact Details
• Dr. Frederic Fovet
• Frederic.fovet@royalroads.ca
• @Ffovet