IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/h/elg/eechap/21119_27.html
   My bibliography  Save this book chapter

Universal design for learning: a challenge and an opportunity for Spanish universities

In: Handbook of Higher Education and Disability

Author

Listed:
  • Ingrid Sala-Bars
  • Anabel Moriña

Abstract

In Spain over the last few decades, the need to move towards inclusive universities has become apparent. The steady increase in the number of students with disabilities together with the development of both national and international legislative frameworks in favor of inclusive education have acted as catalysts for change. Recently, Spain has once again ratified its commitment to the goal of a more inclusive education by associating with the Incheon Declaration (UN, 2015) and its Framework for Action to realize Sustainable Development Goal 4 “Ensure inclusive, equitable and quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” The term “lifelong” has directly challenged the university as an institution and made the challenge of building an inclusive university unavoidable. The research shows there are still barriers that hinder the inclusion of the entire diverse range of students in the Spanish university setting. These obstacles are prompting a rethinking of the traditional pedagogy in university classrooms. In this sense, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is presented as one of the pedagogical models that meets this need for change. Specifically, Spanish law promotes its application in all educational programs, including at universities. This has generated a framework that has made it possible to analyze conceptual sources and their application in Spain, as well as their consideration as the foundation of innovation and research practices in the university environment. This chapter addresses UDL by contextualizing inclusive education and diversity at Spanish universities and introducing a series of future challenges and opportunities for further progress in the implementation of UDL.

Suggested Citation

  • Ingrid Sala-Bars & Anabel Moriña, 2023. "Universal design for learning: a challenge and an opportunity for Spanish universities," Chapters, in: Joseph W. Madaus & Lyman L. Dukes III (ed.), Handbook of Higher Education and Disability, chapter 27, pages 365-376, Edward Elgar Publishing.
  • Handle: RePEc:elg:eechap:21119_27
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781802204056.00040
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:elg:eechap:21119_27. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Darrel McCalla (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.e-elgar.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.