Leveraging Universal Design for Learning as an Equity-Oriented Systemic Design Framework to Dismantle Exclusionary School Systems
The U.S. school system perpetuates intersectional marginalization in which students of color with and without dis/abilities are disproportionately subjected to exclusionary disciplinary practices. To address these racialized behavioral management and disciplinary outcomes, the Learning Lab methodology was developed. Learning Lab is a participatory systemic design intervention, where school professionals, families, students, and community representatives—especially those historically marginalized in and/or excluded from educational decision-making processes—collaboratively design a culturally responsive and inclusive behavioral support system. In Learning Lab, local community members actively engage in a dialectical problem-solving process, enabling them to critically examine systemic challenges within schools and develop contextually appropriate equity-oriented solutions. This paper introduces a systemic transformation effort led by an urban middle school community. This initiative was aimed at tackling the persistent overrepresentation of students of color with and without dis/abilities in school discipline. Drawing from this imitative, we seek to high-light the expansive potential of universal design for learning (UDL) as a lever for equity, guiding a systemic design process to dismantle the (in)visible racist and ableist infrastructure within schools.ABSTRACT
Contributor Notes
Author Bio
Dosun Ko is an assistant professor in the Department of Education at Santa Clara University. His research focuses on the racialization of disability and school discipline. Additionally, his line of research revolves around community-driven, speculative design endeavors to create a transformative and inclusive learning ecology.
Sumin Lim is an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling, Special Education, and Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at El Paso. Her research is dedicated to promoting epistemic justice within special education service systems and civic engagement among school stake-holders to cultivate democratic decision-making and equity-based school-family partnerships.
Aydin Bal is a professor of education and the faculty director of Global Engagement Office at the University of Wisconsin—Madison. Dr. Bal's research focuses on the interplay between culture, learning, and mental health across local and global education systems. He examines the social justice issues in education, family–school–community–university collaboration, organizational innovation, and future making.
