Keynote Address Including learner diversity in large class teaching - Using Universal Design for Learning to sustain a systematic proactive reflection on social justice and accessibility

Large class teaching is seen by many practitioners and scholars as a context increasingly privileged by the neoliberal academy for revenue reasons. It is, however, a landscape often also seen as challenging in matters of inclusion and accessibility because the sheer size of the class hinders many inclusive strategies. The session will debunk two specific myths perpetuated within this landscape and explore the pertinence of UDL in sustaining a systematic, proactive and design focused approach to social justice in large class teaching. The paper first argues that Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), as an objective within higher education, is achieved through inclusive pedagogical design in the large classroom, more effectively than through mere policy. Second, the article suggests that UDL is in fact more urgently required in the large classroom than in other teaching spaces. The paper uses auto-ethnography as a method to explore the author’s experiences, as a manager in disability service provision, supporting and advising instructors exploring UDL implementation in large classes.