The Effect of Inclusive education awareness program with universal design for learning on School Life Satisfaction and Acceptance Attitude of Elementary students

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an inclusive education awareness program with a UDL components on satisfaction with school life and the attitude of acceptance of general students in elementary school. UDL components included AAC picture symbols to enhance the participants’ understanding and motivation. Method: Participants were 6 classes of fourth-graders in one elementary school. They were placed in experimental and control groups randomly; each group had 3 classes. This study consisted of a 16-week integrated program that includes education on disability awareness, human rights education, and school violence prevention education. In addition, we tried to investigate whether the inclusive education awareness (D․H․P) program, with a universal design for learning, affects the school life satisfaction of general students, or their attitudes towards disabilities. Results: Results showed that in all three dependent measures (school life satisfaction, disability acceptance, attitude towards AAC), the experimental group scored statistically significantly higher scores. Conclusion: This study suggests that there should be more personality education applying universal design for learning, and that there is a need to link disability awareness education, human rights education, and school violence prevention education considering school and student characteristics. It was also shown that AAC, which was used as a class material, positively affected not only students withintellectual disabilities but also general students’ participation in classes.