Building Inclusive Education Systems Through UDL: A Caribbean Tripartite Partnership for Teacher Training and Innovation

Abstract

This article explores a partnership between a Caribbean NGO, U.S. university, and national governments advancing inclusive education through teacher development. From 2021 to 2024, an institute engaged about 700 educators from the Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines in a virtual week-long capacity-building program. The institute promotes inclusive learning for neurodiverse classrooms and strategies supporting students with autism, ADHD, and dyslexia. Centred on universal design for learning (UDL), it fosters equitable, evidence-based practice. Two questions guide the paper: (1) How governments, universities, and NGOs collaborate to foster educational innovation, and (2) How educators perceive UDL institutes’ impact on pedagogical content knowledge. Illustrative evidence suggests increased confidence and innovation. We introduce an inclusive practice capacity building model and implications for policymakers, universities, and NGOs. The partnership, locally embedded in the Caribbean, offers insights on teacher preparation, South–North cooperation, and sustainable inclusive reform.