A Vocational Approach to Universal Design in Learning (UDL)

Abstract

The Universal Design in Learning (UDL) approach advocates tailoring teaching individually for i) instruction, ii) assessment, and iii) motivation. The first contribution of this article is to advocate a fourth dimension of UDL, curriculum, that is, tailoring curriculum individually to a student's vocational needs. A second contribution of the article is to show that a vocational emphasis is not only about improving education but also about improving psychological well-begin. We show that vocational placement as therapy is used to treat mental illness, substance abuse, and incarceration. We also show support for the vocational approach at the government, state, and religion level. Several countries are already using this approach. The paper notes the consistency of this approach with the Holland vocational psychological theory. The paper concludes with a call for educators to seriously consider adopting this approach.

Keywords

• mental illness
• charity
• sacrifices
• incarceration
• substance abuse
• holland
• udl
• recidivism
• universal design in learning
• employment counselors
• vocational therapy