Abstract:

This research reviews the current state of 15 primary and 15 secondary school in terms of how they meet Universal Design requirements to make education accessible for students who have special needs. Observation of the general atmosphere of the schools, semi-structured interviews with teachers and administrators were carried out. Notes were taken during the observations and the interviews and a reflection about the visit to the schools was written. The collected data were analyzed using qualitative research methods, specifically case study and content analysis. Data were read three times by different individuals and coded for communalities. Emerged categories were discussed among coders for reliability until agreement was reached. Finally, categories were collapsed into overarching themes in order to reduce and compress the data.
Issues related to physical accessibility, the barrier is in our mind, lack of knowledge and awareness about new approaches in education were the three main themes emerged which will be discussed in this presentation. Implications for policy and practice will also be addressed. Although findings are discouraging, they provide useful information for future direction. The need for active in-service training surfaces in the study. The habits teachers develop throughout their carrier impact the way they practice their work which need to be intervened with in order to raise awareness of new trends in education field and promote best practice.

Keywords:

Universal Design for Learning and Accessibility for all.