Considerations for implementing universal design for learning: toward anti-oppressive pedagogies

In this chapter, I invite the reader to reflect on a series of provocations in approaching the implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Situating UDL within the broader concept of Universal Design provides context for considering “thick injustices” (Hayward and Swanstrom, 2011) that may be addressed through an in-depth application of UDL. I argue that implementing UDL beyond a superficial level requires engaging in anti-oppressive pedagogies and curricula, informed by a social model of disability. After explicating the rationale for an anti-oppressive social model approach to UDL, I propose that implementing UDL can be understood as an application of the social model in practice.