PN9: Designing for Inclusion (Face-to-Face)

Practice Note 9, Designing for Inclusion in the Face-to-Face Classroom, sets out a practical case for building inclusive teaching into session design from the outset, rather than retrofitting it once individual accommodation letters arrive. Drawing on CAST’s Universal Design for Learning guidelines, Hockings’ synthesis of UK inclusive teaching research, and Tobin and Behling’s practical translation of UDL for higher education, the note organises design around three principles: multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression.

Rather than treating UDL as settled science, the note holds two views in tension: evidence that UDL improves the learning process for all students and more critical readings that question how far some claims outrun what the research supports. A worked classroom scenario shows what proactive redesign looks like in practice, followed by a five-step guide practitioners can apply to a single upcoming session.

A closing FAQ addresses common objections, including workload and blended delivery, and a companion tool, the Three-Principle Prompt Check, lets practitioners test a session plan against UDL’s core principles before delivering it. Written for teaching practitioners in higher education, the note is grounded in current evidence, fully referenced, and designed to be read in a single sitting and applied directly to practice.