Designing Inclusive Learning Environments in Israel: Strategies and Challenges in Advancing Educational Equity

Abstract

The aim of the article is to point out the importance of designing the learning environment in the classroom as a strategy for the development of inclusive education, with particular emphasis on the inclusion of students with disabilities in mainstream classes.

Starting from the understanding of inclusion as caring for the high quality of learning and teaching processes concerning each student, including children with disabilities, the principles of Universal Learning Design (ULD) were presented, referring to the postulates of ensuring physical comfort for learners, the possibility of acquiring knowledge through the diversity of information media during didactic classes, different forms of motivating students to work, the opportunity for them to present their educational achievements, but also ensuring the psychophysical well-being of children, social integration, and personalization.

The article, pointing to the changes taking place in the education system in Israel, also shows the importance of inclusive design, which allows for the creation of a learning environment based, among other things, on principles that take into account the diversity of students, removing barriers to education (enabling high-quality education for all), planning and organizing cognitive tasks, and ways for teachers to evaluate their effects in a way that prevents the stigmatization of students.