Infusing Universal Design for Learning into Physical Education Professional Preparation Programs

Universal design for learning in physical education: Overview and critical reflection

“…Given the perceived value of UDL in educational contexts, it is not surprising that it has gained considerable attention in PE circles (Hutzler, 2020;Lieberman et al, 2020) and is starting to branch into other related contexts like outdoor recreation (Kelly et al, 2022). Though UDL's position is most firmly established in PE practice and scholarship in the US, it also features and is advocated for in many European countries as part of calls for better 'inclusion', including England, Ireland, Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands, Scotland, Slovakia, and Spain, as evidenced by Marron et al (2023).…”

“…That is, while scholarship pertaining to UDL in these contexts has emerged in the past few years, the majority of this literature is comprised of practical application papers (Brian et al, 2017;Gilbert, 2019;Grenier et al, 2017;Kennedy and Yun, 2019;Lieberman and Grenier, 2019;Lieberman et al, 2008) or textbooks (Lieberman and Houston-Wilson, 2018;Lieberman et al, 2020), which 'merely cite examples rather than present data or scientific evidence recommending this model as an approach to including [disabled students] in the context of [PE]' (van Munster et al, 2019: 361). Highlighting this, Lieberman et al (2020) recently asserted that 'UDL's effectiveness in PE has yet to be extensively studied' (p. 9). Indeed, the lack of evidence to support UDL in PE has been discussed by several scholars (Block et al, 2021;Hutzler, 2020;Maher and Haegele, 2022) who have also noted that, while the concept of UDL may have merit, we know little from an empirical standpoint about its application.…”

“…Proponents of UDL will likely point to teacher education programmes as a means to transform the thinking and practice of pre-service teachers (Lieberman and Grenier, 2019). While a standard refrain of many practitioner-based articles, the likelihood of such programmes' widespread adoption of UDL training, which must achieve the quality and quantity necessary to be meaningful, is low.…”

“…These articles largely illustrate how practitioners could 'utilise multiple means for (a) recognizing the content and the tasks addressed during practice, (b) expressing knowledge while engaging in sport tasks, and (c) enhancing motivation, and eventually adherence' (Hutzler, 2020: 105-106) to support inclusion in PE. According to Lieberman et al (2020), UDL 'employs an array of instructional strategies and activities that allow learning goals to be attained by individuals with wide differences in their abilities to see, hear, speak, move, read, write, and engage with peers' (p. viii). Further, UDL principles suggest that it is through equipment, instruction, and environmental variations students are helped to learn intended skills and knowledge in PE spaces (Lieberman et al, 2020).…”

“…According to Lieberman et al (2020), UDL 'employs an array of instructional strategies and activities that allow learning goals to be attained by individuals with wide differences in their abilities to see, hear, speak, move, read, write, and engage with peers' (p. viii). Further, UDL principles suggest that it is through equipment, instruction, and environmental variations students are helped to learn intended skills and knowledge in PE spaces (Lieberman et al, 2020).…”