Readiness of Schools for Including Out of School Children with Disabilities in District Kasur: Adoption of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Authors
IRAM BATOOL ALVI and FAISAL ANIS
Abstract
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach to teaching aimed at meeting the needs of every student in a classroom. This study was about the need assessment for adopting universal design for learning with respect to school improvement for inclusion of out of school children with disabilities in schools of district Kasur. The research design is quantitative by nature. The population of this descriptive study was comprised of special education teachers and head teachers posted in public primary schools. The sample of the study was consisted of 285 head teachers and 570 teachers, selected through gender based stratified random sampling technique. Two self-developed questionnaires on the basis of principles and guidelines of UDL were used to determine the perception of teachers and head teachers. The instruments were validated through expert opinion and pilot tested for reliability which was calculated 0.907 and 0.942 for head teachers and teachers’ instruments respectively. Data obtained were organized, tabulated and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential analyses. Based on analysis, it was found that according to the opinion of head teachers and teachers there were gaps in adopting principles of universal design for learning to include the students with disabilities in public schools. Average perception of the head teachers and teachers about adopting the principles is significantly poor than the given criteria.
Keywords: Inclusive Education, out of school children with disabilities, Universal Design for Learning.