UDL is an approach to curriculum design that can help teachers customize curriculum to

serve all learners, regardless of ability, disability, age, gender, or cultural and linguistic
background. UDL provides a blueprint for designing strategies, materials, assessments, and tools
to reach and teach students with diverse needs.

Universal design for learning (UDL) is a set of principles for designing curriculum that provides
all individuals with equal opportunities to learn. UDL is designed to serve all learners, regardless
of ability, disability, age, gender, or cultural and linguistic background. UDL provides a
blueprint for designing goals, methods, materials, and assessments to reach all students including
those with diverse needs. Grounded in research of learner differences and effective instructional
settings, UDL principles call for varied and flexible ways to

● Present or access information, concepts, and ideas (the "what" of learning),

● Plan and execute learning tasks (the "how" of learning), and

● Get engaged—and stay engaged—in learning (the "why" of learning) UDL is different from
other approaches to curriculum design in that educators begin the design process expecting the
curriculum to be used by a diverse set of students with varying skills and abilities. UDL is an
approach to learning that addresses and redresses the primary barrier to learning: inflexible, one-
size-fits-all curricula that raise unintentional barriers. Learners with disabilities are the most
vulnerable to such barriers, but many students without disabilities also find that curricula are
poorly designed to meet their learning needs. UDL helps meet the challenges of diversity by
recommending the use of flexible instructional materials, techniques, and strategies that
empower educators to meet students' diverse needs. A universally designed curriculum is shaped
from the outset to meet the needs of the greatest number of users, making costly, time-
consuming, and after-the-fact changes to the curriculum unnecessary

The term Universal Design refers to a movement in architecture and product development that
aims to make places and things more accessible to individuals with disabilities. Many
adaptations for people with disabilities benefit a variety of users. For example, ramps and curb
cuts make it easier for parents with baby strollers, elderly people, and delivery people to
negotiate walkways and street. Similarly, closed captions on television and movies can be
appreciated not only by the deaf and hard of hearing, but by people who can read them in noisy
environments. They can also be used as support for listening comprehension by viewers learning
the language. The concept that everyone benefits when designs incorporate the needs of every
user has become known as universal design. UDL extends this concept to education by applying
advances in the understanding of how the brain processes information to the design of curricula
that accommodate diverse learning needs.
1. Posted Lesson Goals

Having goals helps students know what they’re working to achieve. That’s why goals are always
made apparent in a UDL classroom. One example of this is posting goals for specific lessons in
the classroom. Students might also write down or insert lesson goals in their notebooks. The
teacher refers to lesson goals during the lesson itself.

2. Assignment Options

In a traditional classroom, there may be only one way for a student to complete an assignment.
This might be an essay or a worksheet. With UDL, there are multiple options. For instance,
students may be able to create a podcast or a video to show what they know. They may even be
allowed to draw a comic strip. There are tons of possibilities for completing assignments, as long
as students meet the lesson goals.

3. Flexible Work Spaces

UDL promotes flexibility in the learning environment. That’s why in a UDL classroom, there are
flexible work spaces for students. This includes spaces for quiet individual work, small and large
group work, and group instruction. If students need to tune out noise, they can choose to wear
earbuds or headphones during independent work.

4. Regular Feedback

With UDL, students get feedback—often every day—on how they’re doing. At the end of a
lesson, teachers may talk with individual students about lesson goals. Students are encouraged to
reflect on the choices they made in class and whether they met the goals. If they didn’t meet the
goals, they’re encouraged to think about what might have helped them do so.

5. Digital and Audio Text

UDL recognizes that if students can’t access information, they can’t learn it. So in a UDL
classroom, materials are accessible for all types of learners. Students have many options for
reading, including print, digital, text-to-speech and audiobooks. For digital text, there are also
options for text enlargement, along with choices for screen color and contrast. Videos have
captions, and there are transcripts for audio.
What is pedagogy? Pedagogy is an encompassing term concerned with what a teacher does to influence
learning in others. As the importance of high quality early childhood education and care services for
children has become more clearly understood, so has the teacher/educator’s role in the provision of
these services. This demands a clear understanding of the meaning of ‘pedagogy’ and how it plays out in
individual educators and services.

Definitions of pedagogy include: The function or work of teaching: the art or science of teaching,
education instructional methods. (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
(DEEWR), 2009a, p.42) ... the instructional techniques and strategies that allow learning to take place. It
refers to the interactive process between teacher/practitioner and learner and it is also applied to
include the provision of some aspects of the learning environment (including the concrete learning
environment, and the actions of the family and community) (Siraj-Blatchford, Sylva, Muttock, Gilden &
Bell, 2002, p.10) Pedagogy is about learning, teaching and development influenced by the cultural, social
and political values we have for children…in Scotland, and underpinned by a strong theoretical and
practical base. (Education Scotland, 2005, p.9)

What are the pedagogical approaches?

The different pedagogical approaches could be broken down into four categories:
behaviourism, constructivism, social constructivism, and liberationist.

1. Behaviourism
A behaviourist pedagogy uses the theory of behaviourism to inform its approach. A
behaviourist pedagogical approach would say learning is teacher centred. It would advocate the
use of direct instruction, and lecture based lessons.

What does a behaviourism pedagogical approach look like in a classroom?

The theory of Behaviourism in a classroom setting came from pedagogical research

by Thorndike (1911), Pavlov (1927) and Skinner (1957). Behaviourist pedagogy is the theory
that the teacher should be the sole authority figure, and leads the lesson. Knowledge should be
delivered in a curriculum where each subject is taught discretely (as opposed to topic based
learning, for example).

In a lesson using a behaviourist pedagogical approach, you could expect to see a mixture of
lecturing, modelling and demonstration, rote learning, and choral repetition. All of these
activities are ‘visible’ and structured, as well as being led by the teacher.  However, during the
course of the lesson, the shift may come where the student is the centre of the activity, and
demonstrates their learning.
Behaviourism is also sometimes described as a traditional teaching style.

2. Constructivism
Constructivism is a theory that people learn through experiences and reflection. A
Constructivist pedagogy puts the child at the centre of the learning, and is sometimes called
‘invisible pedagogy’. A constructivist approach would incorporate project work, inquiry based
learning, and might adopt a Montessori or Steiner method.

What does a constructivism pedagogical approach look like in a classroom?

Constructivism is based on the pedagogical research of Piaget (1896-1890). Piaget wrote

extensively about ‘schemas’, an idea that learners come ready to learn, and the teacher must
build activities to facilitate their learning. Younger children work things through physically,
whereas older children tackle symbolic and abstract ideas.

A lesson might include individualisation, a slower pace, hidden outcomes, the mantle of the
expert, and less teacher talk. Some adopters of this pedagogy would also place emphasis on
being outdoors, and engaging with nature.

Constructivism is also sometimes described as a progressive teaching style.

3. Social constructivism
A Social constructivism pedagogy could be considered to be a blend of two priorities: teacher
guided, and student centred. Cognitive psychologist, Lev Vygotsky developed social
constructivism, building on the work of Piaget, but argued against the ideas of Piaget that
learning could only happen in its social context, and believed that learning was a collaborative
process between student and teacher.

What would a social constructivism approach look like in a lesson?

The teacher would use group work elements, but would use smaller group sizes, and limit the
choice in topics. The teacher might also use teacher modelling, questioning, and a mixture of
individual, pair, and whole class instruction.

4. Liberationism
Liberationism is a critical pedagogy developed by the Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire. Freire
was the Director of the Department of Education, and developed an approach of teaching
where he was able to teach illiterate adults to read in just 45 days. Freire focussed on removing
the two barriers to learning: poverty and hunger. Freire was then imprisoned following a
military coup. Once he was released, he wrote a book called 'Pedagogy of the Oppressed'
where Freire wrote about the dehumanisation of students in schools, and argued for
cooperation and unity. A liberationist approach is one where the student voice is placed at the
centre, and a democracy is put into the classroom. Value is placed on having the teacher as a
learner, and the class discovering subjects together.

What would a social constructivism approach look like in a lesson?

The teacher might use examples of literature that contain non-standard constructions, such as
hip-hop, or graffiti. Students may take on the role of the teacher, and decide upon the topic of
the lesson. The teacher should provide space and opportunity for the students to showcase
their learning, and this can take the form of a performance, speech, or dance.

Causes of Overpopulation
Decline in the Death Rate: At the root of overpopulation is the difference
between the overall birth rate and death rate in populations. If the number
of children born each year equals the number of adults that die, then the
population will stabilize. Talking about overpopulation shows that while there
are many factors that can increase the death rate for short periods of time,
the ones that increase the birth rate do so over a long period of time. The
discovery of agriculture by our ancestors was one factor that provided them
with the ability to sustain their nutrition without hunting. This created the
first imbalance between the two rates.

Better Medical Facilities: Following this came the industrial revolution.

Technological advancement was perhaps the biggest reason why the balance
has been permanently disturbed. Science was able to produce better means
of producing food, which allowed families to feed more mouths. Medical
science made many discoveries thanks to which they were able to defeat a
whole range of diseases. Illnesses that had claimed thousands of lives till
now were cured because of the invention of vaccines. Combining the
increase in food supply with fewer means of mortality tipped the balance
and became the starting point of overpopulation.

More Hands to Overcome Poverty: However, when talking about

overpopulation we should understand that there is a psychological
component as well. For thousands of years, a very small part of the
population had enough money to live in comfort. The rest faced poverty and
would give birth to large families to make up for the high infant mortality
rate. Families that have been through poverty, natural disasters or are simply
in need of more hands to work are a major factor for overpopulation. As
compared to earlier times, most of these extra children survive and consume
resources that are not sufficient in nature.

Technological Advancement in Fertility Treatment: With latest

technological advancement and more discoveries in medical science, it has
become possible for couple who are unable to conceive to undergo fertility
treatment methods and have their own babies. Today there are effective
medicines which can increases the chance of conception and lead to rise in
birth rate. Moreover, due to modern techniques pregnancies today are far
more safer.

Immigration: Many people prefer to move to developed countries like US,

UK, Canada and Australia where best facilities are available in terms of
medical, education, security and employment. The end result is that those
people settle over there and those places become overcrowded. Difference
between the number of people who are leaving the country and the number
of people who enter narrows down which leads to more demand for food,
clothes, energy and homes. This gives rise to shortage of resources. Though
the overall population remains the same, it just affects the density of
population making that place simply overcrowded.

Lack of Family Planning: Most developing nations have large number of

people who are illiterate, live below the poverty line and have little or no
knowledge about family planning. Getting their children married at an early
age increase the chances of producing more kids. Those people are unable
to understand the harmful effects of overpopulation and lack of quality
education prompts them to avoid family planning measures.

Effects of Overpopulation
1. Rise in Unemployment: When a country becomes overpopulated, it
gives rise to unemployment as there fewer jobs to support large
number of people. Rise in unemployment gives rise to crime as people
will steal various items to feed their family and provide them basic
amenities of life.

3. Degradation of Environment: With the overuse of coal, oil and natural

gas, it has started producing some serious effects on our environment. Rise in
the number of vehicles and industries have badly affected the quality of air.
Rise in amount of CO2 emissions leads to global warming. Melting of polar ice
caps, changing climate patterns, rise in sea level are few of the consequences
that we might we have to face due to environment pollution.

4. Depletion of Natural Resources: The effects of overpopulation are quite

severe. The first of these is the depletion of resources. The Earth can only
produce a limited amount of water and food, which is falling short of the
current needs. Most of the environmental damage being seen in the last fifty
odd years is because of the growing number of people on the planet. They
are cutting down forests, hunting wildlife in a reckless manner,
causing pollution and creating a host of problems. Those engaged in talking
about overpopulation have noticed that acts of violence and aggression
outside of a war zone have increased tremendously while competing for
resources.

Save

Conflicts and Wars: Overpopulation in developing countries puts a major

strain on the resources it should be utilizing for development. Conflicts over
water are becoming a source of tension between countries, which could
result in wars. It causes more diseases to spread and makes them harder to
control. Starvation is a huge issue facing the world and the mortality rate for
children is being fuelled by it. Poverty is the biggest hallmark we see when
talking about overpopulation. All of this will only become worse if solutions
are not sought out for the factors affecting our population. We can no longer
prevent it, but there are ways to control it.

High Cost of Living: As difference between demand and supply continues to

expand due to overpopulation, it raises the prices of various commodities
including food, shelter and healthcare. This means that people have to pay
more to survive and feed their families.