Teacher educators' perceptions and experiences of universal design for learning in Ghanaian teacher education: understanding, preparedness and perceived institutional support

Abstract

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has been widely promoted as a framework for supporting inclusive education by addressing learner diversity through flexible curriculum design, instructional practices, and assessment approaches. In 2015, Ghana adopted UDL in its policy on inclusive education to address the diverse educational needs of all children. Despite this policy focus, most research has centered on classroom teachers' implementation of UDL, with limited attention to how teacher educators understand UDL and perceive their preparedness to implement it. To address these gaps in the literature, this study investigated teacher educators' perceptions and experiences of UDL, differences across demographic and professional characteristics, relationships among UDL understanding, preparedness, and institutional support, and the predictors of preparedness. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted with 156 teacher educators from three public colleges of education. Colleges were selected via convenience sampling across three regions in Ghana. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-way multivariate analysis of variance, Pearson product -moment correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression. The participants demonstrated moderately positive levels of UDL understanding, preparedness, and perceived institutional support. Significant differences were identified across selected demographic and professional characteristics, including age, subject specialization, department, teaching level, teaching experience, and prior introduction to UDL. Understanding, preparedness, and institutional support were positively associated. Importantly, both general understanding and perceived institutional support significantly predicted preparedness, with institutional support emerging as the stronger predictor. The findings suggest that strengthening UDL implementation requires attention to both teacher educators' individual capacity and the institutional conditions that enable practice. Sustained, practice-oriented professional learning, leadership support, collaborative opportunities, and explicit integration of UDL into institutional teaching and learning practices are therefore recommended to strengthen inclusive teacher preparation in Ghana.