Jamila Zrayka 17522856

Inclusive Education, Theory, Policy, and Practice – Case Study

Student Profile
Name: Jack Jones
Age: 12
School Year: 7
Disability: Mild Autism

Strengths: Jack is a cheerful student who has very candid dialogue and loves telling stories orally with
descriptive detail. He is a visual learner and enjoys using technology such as the iPad to play
construction games such as Minecraft. Jack is an exceptional soccer player and loves creating artwork.

Weaknesses: In the classroom, Jack gets very anxious when tasks are not explained in systematic
detail. He gets overwhelmed if he is assigned to do individual tasks which involve more than one
process, for e.g.: thinking, summarising and writing. When this happens, he tends to distract other
students from completing their own work and starts to disrupt the teacher by asking arbitrary
questions. Jack often avoids doing any form of independent written work. According to Leach and
Duffy (2009), actively engaging students who are recognised as having Autism Spectrum Disorder is
one of the main difficulties for educators. Students with ASD will often go into ‘their own world’
because of disengagement and therefore will miss crucial learning opportunities (p.32).

Justification
‘One framework for addressing the diversity of all students and creating a flexible curriculum
that supports access, participation and progress for all learners is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)’
(Meo, 2008, p.22). UDL is all about apply the same curriculum to all students regardless of their
diverse and special needs by presenting content in a way which is distributed via multiple means of
representation, expression and engagement. By applying the UDL framework, this prompts the
teacher to implement and ‘design curriculum that is flexible, adaptable, and most importantly
accessible to all students, particularly those with special needs, to facilitate learning’ (Lancaster, 2008,
p.5)
By using current literature and referring closely to the three principles which underpin
Universal Design for Learning, this case study will aim to explain and justify the adjustments which
have been made to the lesson plan in Appendix 1 which has been designed for a Stage 4, Year 7 English
classroom in the anticipation to accommodate for Jack and his learning difficulties.
Recently during a professional placement, I was introduced to a student named Jack whereby
I was fortunate enough to observe his abilities and behaviours both socially in the outdoor areas
amongst other school students, as well as academically in the classroom amongst his peers. Jack is a
student who is diagnosed with mild Autism and therefore requires specific adjustments in the

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Inclusive Education, Theory, Policy, and Practice – Case Study

classroom to cater for his special educational needs. Socially in the outdoors it was brought to my
attention that Jack is an exceptional soccer player and very popular amongst older students in the
school due to his enthusiastic attitude towards sport. On the contrary, this enthusiasm subsided in the
classroom when it came to academic ability. According to Minshew, Sweeney & Bauman (1997)
individuals with ASD often exhibit difficulties communicating within social settings, more importantly
though, they also declare that this spectrum of difficulty varies significantly ranging from complete
isolation and avoidance to overly enthusiastic and active interaction. This theoretical finding was
evident in Jack’s circumstance, Jack only displayed difficulty with social interactivity when he was
feeling overwhelmed and frustrated, it was a coping mechanism, one which was often displayed in
the classroom due to his frustrations.
Young people with autism tend to be visual or kinaesthetic learners who struggle in an
auditory environment. They also require more time to understand instruction and subject matter.
Whilst all students who are diagnosed with ASD exhibit characteristics of autism differently, there are
some rather common characteristics which are seen on a regular basis, including; good rote memory
skills; attention problems; difficulty learning concepts; a tendency for rule-governed rather than
flexible abstract thought; a compartmentalised chunk learning style; difficulty developing meaning
and generalising skills; concrete and literal thinking; and often, but certainly not always, a visual
thinking style (Autism Spectrum Australia [Aspect] 2002).
Observation of Jack’s positive behaviour clearly proves that he is a logical, kinaesthetic, and
visual learner (Gardner, 1983). His ability to understand and excel in soccer demonstrates to us that
when he was confident and certain of his abilities his social interactions were successful. This also
proves that his weaknesses are triggered by certain obstacles which he needs guided assistance in
managing. According to Vygotsky (1978) and his theoretical concept of ‘zone of proximal
development’ when students encounter ideas that do not fit into their existing schema, then there is
an imbalance in which case they need assistance from teachers to return to a state of balance. This
can be achieved by the teacher providing instruction at a level just above a student’s independent
level of functioning but not so high that it becomes frustrating for the student, this teaching method
is better known as ‘scaffolding’.
When Jack would disrupt the class and his peers, the teacher would allow Jack to leave the
classroom for a few minutes allowing him some time-out and respite, during which time she would
resume the lesson and have the students quietly completing their tasks. This act of disruption would
likely always occur when Jack was instructed to perform an individual task or was feeling overwhelmed
due to his inability to grasp an arbitrary concept. According to Chown and Beavan (2012), students
who are diagnosed with ASD will often display acts of defiance when it comes to studying a subject or

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topic which they are not interested in, in these circumstances the teacher is challenged to motivate
them to learn areas of the curriculum which they find pointless and boring. Challenges such as these
can be addressed by the implementation of features attributed to UDL.
‘When curriculum is universally designed it not only benefits students with special needs,
rather all students end up benefitting due to the flexibility of the learning environment and diverse
methods of instruction. UDL is a means of identifying and removing barriers in the curriculum while
building scaffolds, supports, and alternatives that meet the learning needs of a wide range of students’
(Meo, 2008, p.22). The lesson plan in appendix 1 was adjusted according to the features of UDL as
follows:
The first principle of UDL is providing multiple means of representation. By providing multiple
representations of content this creates various ways of acquiring information and knowledge. This
process involves presenting information to learners in multiple formats (Loreman, Deppeler & Harvey
2011). The UDL adjustment addressing representation included the appearance of the itinerary to be
outlined both verbally and visually by the teacher. By displaying the itinerary on the board, Jack and
other students can have a constant reminder of the direction of the lesson, a checklist to mark off
once tasks had been completed. This adjustment is aimed at achieving predictability, routine and
structure (Lynch & Irvine, 2009). A best practice intervention which allows students with ASD develop
a sense of direction and purpose for the lesson. Continuing with representation, the adjustment to
the first and informal class discussion is another example of multiple representation as it combines
content which is visual as well as literary. By rephrasing the question to go beyond ‘books’ more
students can effectively engage in the conversation developing a sense of satisfaction,
acknowledgement and achievement, which expectantly reinforces purpose and direction.
The second principle of UDL is providing multiple means of expression – to provide all learners
alternatives for demonstrating what they know (Loreman, Deppeler & Harvey, 2011). The UDL
adjustment which addresses expression is the incorporation of ICT devices into the lesson. The first
adjustment is the utilisation of the You Tube clip to explain narrative features and help stimuli the
student’s responses before they are dispersed into small groups of mixed abilities. The second
expressive adjustment is the requirement to record their final written assessment as a means of
generating involuntary speech, enjoyment, and motivation. According to Knight, McKissick & Saunders
(2013) speech generating devices are inclined to encourage students with ASD to be more active
participants within educational contexts. According to Lancaster (20080, the optimum goal of UDL
adjustments is not about finding resolute solutions, rather it is about incorporating flexibility, choice
and alternatives to accommodate for all learners.

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Inclusive Education, Theory, Policy, and Practice – Case Study

The final principle of UDL is providing multiple means of engagement – to stimulate all
students interests and offer appropriate challenges and increase motivation (Loreman, Deppeler &
Harvey, 2011). The UDL adjustments here were the activities discussing terminology as well as the
final writing workshop task. The teaching of terminology was altered from a simple laundry-list to a
colourful mind-map as well as a worksheet hand-out. Finally, the workshop was altered from a simple
writing composition to a composition of imagery and visual language. Considering Jack is a visual and
kinaesthetic learner, like most students with ASD are, this activity would allow Jack to create a
composition by using his whole body to express his understanding and demonstrate his interpretation
of the symbol ‘refuge’ in a more engaging manner. Teaching English isn’t a process which exquisitely
relies on reading and writing. Using visuals as a hook to prompt thinking is a valuable teaching
technique and an effective engagement strategy (Haren, 2016, p.51).
The entire lesson plan was revised, adjusted, and modified based on the three principles of
universal design for learning in the anticipation to create an inclusive learning environment for both
Jack who is diagnosed with mild ASD as well as additional students. By representing and expressing
content with supportive strategies and diversifying methods of engagement it is anticipated that the
UDL framework makes it more accessible intellectually and emotionally for students of all abilities to
actively excel both academically and socially in the classroom.

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Inclusive Education, Theory, Policy, and Practice – Case Study

Appendix 1

Lesson: Introduction to ‘Text and Story’

Class: Year 7 Time: 60mins

Outcomes Assessed:

Resources: Magazines/Tourism brochures, worksheet – ‘features of narratives’, ICT access to

YouTube

Time Organisation Teaching / learning activities

2mins Teacher Students settle down, mark the roll.

centred UDL adjustment: write down the entire itinerary for the lesson ahead. Write
this down on the board so students have it as a point of reference which they
can keep referring to so they know what tasks have been completed and what’s
to come next.

3mins Whole class Introduce new unit of work, ‘Text and Story.’ Have the students recall last/best
book they have read so far. What made the story so good?
UDL adjustment: do not limit the discussion to only ‘books.’ Narrative features
can be displayed in a range of different modes including movies, TV series and
You Tube clips. This will broaden the conversations and more students will be
inclined to participate in the discussion.

10mins Small groups Teacher to lead discussion. Write down a lead questions on the board to be
of mixed answered in small groups. Q1 What makes a good story? Hand out butcher paper
abilities and have the students list all the aspects they believe are involved in creating an
enjoyable narrative. Teacher will walk around and informally assess the students,
observing that they are on task.
UDL adjustment: before dispensing the students into groups to complete the
task, have them watch a YouTube clip to stimulate responses and help them
visualise elements of narratives. Groups must be assembled by the teacher to
assure that they reflect heterogenous ability of skills amongst students.

“Three anti-social skills to improve your writing.” By Nadia Kalman

4mins Whole class https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flthk8SNiiE&list=PLr8gKxewr_e1wF1uHBeI
guFNcwl2zUaYB&index=2

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Teacher Students are to resume back to their seats. Teacher to lead discussion and have
20mins centred students write down key terminology for this unit in workbooks.
Q1. What are the features of a story?
 Dialogue
 Characters
 Themes
 Plot
 Values
 Setting
 Point of view
 Literary devices
UDL adjustment: Rather than presenting the terminology like a laundry list,
present the terms on the board in the form of a mind map with a different colour
for each feature so students can visually interpret the information. Have the term
‘narrative’ centred with the features as off shoots. This way students can see how
the concept of narrative and features are interconnected.

Introduce the novel Refuge by Jackie French to students. This is the novel that
Teacher will be studied for this unit of work this semester. Define the term ‘refuge’ as
centred being; ‘a state of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger or difficulty.’
4mins
Making predictions: Consider the books cover and make predictions as to what
the book might be about.

Have the students write down in a few sentences what they believe their ideal
Individual refuge is. Stimulate response by describing that family, friends, reading,
15mins work / writing holidaying etc. are all forms and symbols of refuges.
workshop. UDL adjustment: instead of responding with simply a written response, have the
students create a collage which would illustrate their ideal ‘refuge’. Collages can
be constructed either by using the magazines provided or alternately they can
access images from the internet and create a collage on a word document

Students are to finish off and complete their collages at home ready for next
Homework/ lesson. To accompany their illustration students are to write a couple of
Assessment sentences which explains the image and how it represents the term ‘refuge.’
UDL adjustment: students have the option to record their written composition
as a voice recording on an ICT device and have it ready to playback next lesson.
You may wish to record your narrative with a distinct ‘voice’ to create a mood for
your story.

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