Connecting inquiry and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to teacher candidates' emerging practice: development of a signature pedagogy

This article describes how faculty in a teacher preparation program developed a signature pedagogy, a teacher candidate action-research project rooted in the Universal Design for Learning Framework. A dual perspective involved teacher candidates investigating the efficacy of their practice and articulating their learning, while their teacher educators simultaneously investigated the process of supporting the candidates through the curricular shift. The transformation toward the framework of action-research oriented teacher education and using research-based teaching strategies provided teacher candidates with two requisite skills for the development of teaching practice: (a) research-based strategies used as a tool for the instruction of all learners, and (b) practice of action research that offers evidence via which the teacher candidate develops an understanding of learner outcomes and growth. This article reviews literature to support this pedagogical shift, describes the implementation of the innovative course curriculum relating to the UDL (Universal Design for Learning) Framework, investigates action research as a mean of understanding practice, addresses faculty's critical self-reflection, and concludes with a discussion of implications for teacher preparation.