5.3 Individualised Inclusion and Universal Design for Learning

In order to benefit from any bullying prevention program or intervention for students with disabilities, accommodations or modifications to school social inclusion and school anti-bullying programmes will be required.  This is particularly important given the profile of social exclusion and heightened experience of bullying that are common for CYP with SEND. 

In designing inclusive and appropriate bullying prevention programmes it may prove beneficial to analyse some of the key components of bullying prevention programs and the characteristics and special needs of students with disabilities to ensure that the programme is ‘fit for purpose’.  In many instances, there will be a need for accommodations or modifications, much like what is sometimes necessary for academic content and classroom instruction (Sipal, 2013).

The need to adapt an anti-bullying programme with reference to the individual profile of particular children or young people with disabilities, school setting, or pupil population characteristic will mean planning for a diversity of approaches across schools and education systems. Teachers will be important factors in understanding their students, classes and schools, with a partnership approach that emphasises empowerment being advisable. The emphasis within the teacher’s resources will be on developing capacity among participating teachers to work collaboratively with pupils in the development of engaging and appropriate anti-bullying programmes within their shared school settings.

Approaches to adapting school programmes and policies such that they are accessible for all students, including CYP with SEND are vital. One such framework to guide differentiation of approach is Universal Design for Learning (UDL: CAST, 2018). UDL is a framework organised according to a set of principles, in written and spoken communication, which aim to encourage transparent, inclusive, and community-driven learning and to ensure access to all within learning cohort through flexible and individual design. These guidelines are designed to support improved accessibility within curriculum design and delivery in the sphere of education and to reflect the reality that diversity of preference, ability or support needs was common among learners in many settings. It emphasises the need for schools and teachers to adopt a flexible and appropriate stance in the design of accessible and appropriate programmes to support participation across the full pupil groups.

 In summary, UDL advocates for multiple means of engagement to stimulate motivation and learning, multiple means of representation by presenting information in different ways, and multiple means of action and expression by offering differentiated ways of expressing knowledge and understanding to ensure accessibility (represented in figure 2. below). 

These principles can guide school leaders and teachers in adapting or differentiation of Anti-Bullying programmes or processes within their schools. In adopting a UDL informed approach, access and flexibility can be frontloaded into the design process based on informed understanding of pupil profiles or preferences. Such an approach is vital given the diversity of profiles or presentations among cohorts of pupils, inclusive of CYP with SEND. It emphasises the importance of fostering an inclusive and flexible medium for engaging these pupils within Anti-Bullying programmes, and in the social life occurring within schools.

The development of flexible and appropriate communication mechanisms across the education community, including parents, will be of utmost importance in supporting access for students with SEND. Matching the communication form used to the profile of the participating students, allied including their perspectives and interests as part of the process of differentiation of the anti-bullying programmes are effective in supporting participation. 

Figure 2. Principles of Universal design for learning

The below detailed considerations aimed at fostering inclusion of the needs of pupils with SEND within school-based bullying prevention programmes may be useful in guiding schools/teachers (Sipal, 2013).