This interactive workshop will offer participants the opportunity to reflect collectively on the impact initial professional development on UDL has, within institutions, on the scaling up of UDL initiatives. The journey from PD opportunity to strategic involvement in UDL implementation across teaching and learning on campuses is not as linear as might be assumed. A variety of ecological variables can affect the impact these windows of PD have on practice, or the scope of their amplification across institutions. The workshop will lead the participants as they consider, beyond the actual content of UDL PD opportunity, what factors may limit the impact such UDL micro-credentials, or on the contrary magnify their potential. The workshop offers an opportunity to reflect, from an operational and leadership lens, what winning conditions need to be in place for PD on UDL to authentically take roots and achieve maximum outcomes.

1. Beyond curiosity: building on initial
professional development opportunities to
develop scope and breadth of UDL initiatives
AHEAD 2024 Conference: Panorama: Widening the Lens for Systemic
Inclusion in Tertiary Education
Frederic Fovet, PhD.
March 20th, 2024

2. Abstract
• This interactive workshop will offer participants the opportunity to reflect
collectively on the impact initial professional development on UDL has, within
institutions, on the scaling up of UDL initiatives. The journey from PD opportunity to
strategic involvement in UDL implementation across teaching and learning on
campuses is not as linear as might be assumed. A variety of ecological variables can
affect the impact these windows of PD have on practice, or the scope of their
amplification across institutions. The workshop will lead the participants as they
consider, beyond the actual content of UDL PD opportunity, what factors may limit
the impact such UDL micro-credentials, or on the contrary magnify their potential.
The workshop offers an opportunity to reflect, from an operational and leadership
lens, what winning conditions need to be in place for PD on UDL to authentically take
roots and achieve maximum outcomes.

3. Land Acknowledgement
• Thompson Rivers University
campuses are on the traditional
lands of the Tk'emlúps te
Secwépemc (Kamloops campus)
and the T’exelc (Williams Lake
campus) within
Secwépemc'ulucw, the
traditional and unceded
territory of the Secwépemc. The
region TRU serves also extends
into the territories of the
St’át’imc, Nlaka’pamux,
Tŝilhqot'in, Nuxalk, and Dakelh

4. Context of this session
• The first wave of UDL scholarship focused on evidencing the benefits of UDL to create
inclusive whole class provisions for students with disabilities – as opposed to other models of
retrofitting (differentiated instruction, accommodations, etc.).
• The second wave considered how to widen this know-how and how to bring an increasing
number of faculty within this discourse.
• While there are many successes to celebrate, there is evidence that professional
development on UDL, of its own, may not be sufficient to grow the scope of UDL initiatives.
• There have been many UDL initiatives in the tertiary sector over the last decade, but few – if
any - become sustainable?
• Why is it that UDL initiatives fail to grow and achieve momentum across institutions?
• This has become the heart of my practice as there will be few hopes of embedding UDL in the
classroom until we tackle the strategical issues that hinder its organizational growth across
institutions.
• My new pastime has become the archival exploration of failed UDL initiatives: searching for
the internet footprints of such projects is informative but also highlights the urgency of
strategic reflection.

5. Objectives of the session
• Consider why PD on UDL might not be
not be sufficient?
• Identify what some of the variables
are that impact what happens post-
PD
• Introduce the project I am shortly
launching in collaboration with
AHEAD
• Carry out a deep dive on some
concerns
• Identifying priorities among these
ecological variables
• Examining this issue within the wider
literature on PD for faculty
• Consider leadership implications
• Identify actionable objectives

6. Exploring the factors that impact UDL growth post PD
• There may be a wide range of
factors that impact an
instructor or an institution’s
ability to grow UDL beyond
initial PD initiatives/ exposure
to the UDL principles.
• Take a few minutes as tables
to make a quick list of
variables you feel we should
discuss within this workshop
[7 minutes].

7. Debrief on the activity
• What are some of the
variables you identify as
impacting the momentum of
faculty implementing UDL
post exposure to PD on UDL?
• We will invite tables to share
some of their thoughts.

8. One I prepared earlier!
• As I go through some of these variables, please select three you feel are particularly
pertinent within your own institution (to make our conversations immediately pertinent to
your context in your minds and ground us in your lived experience)
• Some of the factors to consider include:
• Funding issues
• Competing demands on faculty
• Fitting UDL within a broader but challenging context of EDI awareness and urgency
• Existence of a very tangible phenomenon of UDL exhaustion
• Lack of acknowledgement of the redesign process in workload management
• Absence of union involvement in UDL planning
• Perception as to lack of sustainability
• Increasing issue of lack of historical evidence of action-research initiatives/ need to archive
these narratives

9. One I prepared earlier! (contd.)
• Strategic ‘gap’ of contact faculty who remain dissociated from institutional shift in
T&L
• Absence of some stakeholders at the table: notably students
• Fear around the ‘commercialization’ of UDL or the standardization connotation
perpetuated by the model
• Ongoing tension between UDL and accommodations process that creates legal fears
• Perception that UDL may not be readily applicable in all disciplines
• Absence of resources, publications or PD in certain disciplines and T&L settings
• Fears and concerns regarding professional programs and standards in field
qualifications

10. Pair activity: identifying actionable priorities among
this ecological landscape
• Take a few minutes to
compare notes with the
person next to you as to what
you felt the three most
pertinent ‘challenging’
ecological variables were
within your own institution,
in terms of growth of UDL,
post exposure to faculty PD.

11. Debrief: identifying actionable priorities
among this ecological landscape

12. Debrief: identifying actionable priorities
among this ecological landscape
• The process of reflecting on a prioritization of these ecological variables is essential.
Important take aways:
• It is a complex landscape with an enormous array of variables that impact what happens
post exposure to UDL PD.
• Identifying these variables, their scope, and their impact is but one of the challenges.
• In terms of strategic development and planning, it will be important to determine which
ecological variables become our main focus.
• There isn’t necessarily currently consensus among UDL stakeholders as to what these
priorities should be [Connecting loop to my other afternoon session about the student-
faculty dialogue]
• The pair-think activity we just carried out mimics processes that must be created on your
campus
• The brunt of resources and attention has focused on PD and faculty awareness
• Some of this attention and focus must urgently be shifted to the process of organizational
change

13. There may be other variables
• This is an extremely wide and complex
ecological landscape
• Why is ecological theory pertinent to this
environment?
• How can it benefit our approach to fully
comprehending UDL organizational and
strategical implementation as a process of
management of change
• I am launching a research initiative with AHEAD
(SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant) to explore
the full richness and scope of these ecological
variables among UDL Facilitator Badge holders
and John Kelly Award applicants.
• Please join us in this study if you qualify as a
participant

14. Some detailed insights into selected
challenges
• In the interest time, I will zoom-in on a few of the variables identified, as a case
study exercise for the purpose of developing awareness within this workshop.
• Addressing resistance within certain disciplines
• Professional programs, field placements, field partners: how complex is it with UDL?
• Amplifying UDL within a landscape focused on retrofitting/ accommodations
• Fitting UDL in an EDI momentum on campus/ in departments
• Absence of unions at the table
• Remaining resilient: fighting UDL exhaustion across units or institutions
• Challenging lens of sustainable development

15. A deep dive
• We will adopt a case study
approach to take a deep dive
in relation to a selection of
these variables. Let’s discuss
how they impact the
development of UDL growth
beyond the PD piece.

16. Addressing resistance within certain
disciplines

17. Professional programs, field placements,
field partners: how complex is it with UDL?

18. Amplifying UDL within a landscape
focused on retrofitting/ accommodations

19. Fitting UDL in an EDI momentum on
campus/ in departments

20. Absence of unions at the table

21. Remaining resilient: fighting UDL
exhaustion across units or institutions

22. Challenging lens of sustainable
development

23. Participant voice and agency
• Let’s discuss as a group if there is another variable you would like to home in onto
for a few minutes, as a ‘deep dive’? Here are a few other variables which have
come up in the literature and in other research projects I am involved in:
• Funding issues
• Competing demands on faculty
• Lack of acknowledgement of the redesign process in workload management
• Increasing issue of lack of historical evidence of action-research initiatives/ need to
archive these narratives
• Strategic ‘gap’ of contact faculty who remain dissociated from institutional shift in
T&L
• Absence of some stakeholders at the table: notably students
• Fear around the ‘commercialization’ of UDL or the standardization connotation
perpetuated by the model
• Absence of resources, publications or PD in certain disciplines and T&L settings

24. Heads up: Ongoing activity around actionable
take-aways
• Rather than my offering you a
synthesis of take-aways and
actionable items, I would like to
invite you to weave such a
narrative collectively, using Menti.
Connect your device to
www.menti.com and I will provide
you with a code for the activity.
Enter your top three actionable
objectives/ take aways from the
workshop. How will you integrate
this reflection into your campus
action?
• This activity comes up at the end
but you can engage with it for the
last 12 minutes

25. Amplitude of this phenomenon

26. Amplitude of this phenomenon
• This is not an after-thought, or a simple matter of management after the facts
• All these variables can and have stalled UDL implementation
• In many ways, efforts to develop UDL across institutions in the last 10 years have
been fairly naïve in the sense that they have assumed this process was just grounded
in the teacher-student relationship.
• It is a major process of change that affects a wide range of organizational issues
across tertiary campuses
• It is a very complex process of change and management of change, one that will
require significant research and resource investment
• It is essential that organizations grasp the complexity of the process, prepare for it
proactively, and monitor variables that create resistance.
• Essential for research to home in on these issues and to offer evidence-based
guidance

27. The inherent limitations of PD in the
tertiary sector

28. The inherent limitations of PD in the
tertiary sector
• This reflection highlights wider concerns and tensions related to faculty PD more
broadly, cross the tertiary sector:
• Low impact (Brancato, 2003)
• Low engagement (Friedman, 2023)
• Few evidence of implementation efforts (Beerkens, 2018; Spowart et al., 2017)
• Related to the scholarship of T&L which is seen still seen as having minimal relevance
across the sector/ rarely succeeds in connecting back to large grant work, or
essential research preoccupations of most institutions (Favell et al., 2018)
• Never compulsory
• Not available to a wide range of contract faculty
• Criticized for not being sufficiently connected to evidence
• Low repercussions on career trajectory in the tertiary sector

29. Leadership implications

30. Leadership implications
• Much of the scholarship and practice on UDL has been generated by accessibility
folks or classroom practitioners.
• There is now a need for scholarship and practice on UDL adoption generated by
tertiary leadership.
• Even leadership pieces on UDL have thus far been produced by faculty with an
involvement in leadership.
• This is radically different than substantial strategic pieces which might eventually
involve senior leadership, student affairs, HR, non-academic units.
• The UDL field requires a shift in mindset and a radical change in how strategic
literature is produced
• Connecting loop here back to the announcements and sessions on the UDL Charter,
that seeks leadership commitment.

31. Actionable take-aways
• Rather than my offering you a
synthesis of take-aways and
actionable items, I would like to
invite you to weave such a
narrative collectively, using Menti.
Connect your device to
www.menti.com and I will provide
you with a code for the activity.
Enter your top three actionable
objectives/ take aways from the
workshop. How will you integrate
this reflection into your campus
action?

32. Questions

33. References & Resources
Beerkens, M. (2018). Evidence-based policy and higher education quality assurance: progress, pitfalls and
promise. European Journal of Higher Education, 8(3), 272-287.
Brancato, V.C. (2003), Professional Development in Higher Education. New Directions for Adult and Continuing
Education, 59-66. https://doi.org/10.1002/ace.100
Dickinson, K. J., & Gronseth, S. L. (2020). Application of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Principles to Surgical
Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of surgical education, 77(5), 1008–1012.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2020.06.005
Flavell, H., Roberts, L., Fyfe, G., & Broughton, M. (2018). Shifting goal posts: the impact of academic workforce
reshaping and the introduction of teaching academic roles on the scholarship of teaching and learning. The
Australian Educational Researcher, 45(2), 179-194
Fovet, F. (2021) Developing an Ecological Approach to Strategic UDL Implementation in Higher Education.
Journal of Education and Learning, 10(4).
Fovet, F. (Ed.) (2021) Handbook of Research on Applying Universal Design for Learning Across Disciplines:
Concepts, Case Studies, and Practical Implementation. IGI Global
Fovet, F. (2020) Universal Design for Learning as a Tool for Inclusion in the Higher Education Classroom: Tips for
the Next Decade of Implementation. Education Journal. Special Issue: Effective Teaching Practices for Addressing
Diverse Students’ Needs for Academic Success in Universities, 9(6), 163-172.
http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo?journalid=196&doi=10.11648/j.edu.20200906.13

34. References & Resources
Fovet, F. (2019) Not just about disability: Getting traction for UDL implementation with International Students. In:
Kate Novak & Sean Bracken (Eds.) Transforming Higher Education through Universal Design for Learning: An
International Perspective, Routledge.
Friedman, A., L. (2023) Continuing professional development as lifelong learning and education. International Journal
of Lifelong Education, 42(6), 588-602. DOI: 10.1080/02601370.2023.2267770
James, K. (2018) Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a Structure for Culturally Responsive Practice. Northwest
Journal of Teacher Education, 13(1), Article 4.
Kennette, L., & Wilson, N. (2019) Universal Design for Learning: What is it and how do I implement it? Transformative
Dialogues: Teaching & Learning, 12(1)
Kilpatrick, J.R.., Ehrlich, S., & Bartlett, M. (2021) Learning from COVID-19: Universal Design for Learning
Implementation Prior to and During a Pandemic. The Journal of Applied Instructional Design.
https://edtechbooks.org/jaid_10_1/universal_design_forS
SIHO (2021) Towards Genuinely Inclusive Universities. https://www.siho.be/en/towards-genuinely-inclusive-
universities
Sheik Mohamed, S.A., & Sivakumar, R. (2020). Inclusiveness in Higher Education through Universal Design Learning –
UDL. Think India Journal, 22(45), 23-26. https://thinkindiaquarterly.org/index.php/think-india/article/view/19702
Spowart, L., Winter, J., Turner, R., Muneer, R., McKenna, C., & Kneale, P. (2017). Evidencing the impact of teaching
related CPD: beyond the ‘happy sheets’. International Journal for Academic Development, 22(4), 360-372.

35. Contact details
• Frederic Fovet (PhD.)
• Assistant Professor, School of Education, Thompson Rivers University
• ffovet@tru.ca
• UDL and Inclusion Consultant
• @Ffovet
• www.implementudl.com