Teachers at ISIS Europa school in Italy adopt inclusive teaching approaches that make participation, reasoning and learning processes accessible to all students. In this perspective, Making Learning and Thinking Visible (MLTV), Debate and Service Learning are used as equally valuable methodologies, aligned with the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Together, they strengthen formative assessment, inclusion and digital integration, and can be adapted across year groups.

Making Learning and Thinking Visible (MLTV) supports learning through thinking routines, documentation and collaborative inquiry. It helps make students’ reasoning explicit and shareable, enabling both teachers and learners to reflect on how understanding develops over time. At ISIS Europa, it is used across all years, with increasing complexity according to students’ age and task demands and is often integrated with digital tools to create shared documents, interactive images and digital artefacts.

Debate provides a structured way for students to develop argumentation, listen to different perspectives, and participate in disciplined discussion. It supports inclusion by giving learners clear formats, playing different roles according to their interests, shared rules and opportunities to build confidence in oral expression, critical thinking and respectful exchange.

Service Learning connects learning with meaningful action in real contexts. It enables students to engage as active citizens, linking curricular goals with community needs and reflection on experience. In this way, participation becomes authentic, socially relevant and accessible through multiple forms of contribution.

Teachers value these methodologies because they make learning processes observable and actionable. Through visible routines, structured exchanges, documentation and reflection, teachers can identify misconceptions, recognise learning gaps and plan targeted next steps. At the same time, students produce meaningful artefacts such as collaboratively edited documents, annotated images, multimedia products, short digital essays, presentations, or other outputs that document progress and understanding over time.

These approaches are applied across many subjects at ISIS Europa, including second language acquisition. In inclusive language teaching contexts, they are particularly valuable because they allow students to engage through oral, written, visual and digital modes. By offering multiple ways of participating and demonstrating understanding, they support diverse pathways to language development and reduce barriers to learning.

Taken together, MLTV, Debate and Service Learning are consistent with the principles of Universal Design for Learning. They promote access, participation and student voice, especially for learners who may otherwise be at risk of exclusion. Their emphasis on multimodal learning, reflection and active engagement helps create learning environments in which every student can contribute meaningfully.

The central aim of the school is inclusive participation: enabling every learner to access learning, express ideas in different ways, and have their voice heard. This includes learners who are too often perceived as unable to participate fully or are described through deficit-based labels.

In practice, ISIS Europa teachers apply these methodologies through simple but consistent steps that strengthen inclusion:

• Start from a clear and shared purpose: design tasks so that all learners understand what they are doing, why it matters, and how they can take part.
• Offer multiple ways of engaging and contributing: use methodologies such as MLTV, Debate and Service Learning to create different entry points for participation, expression and collaboration.
• Make learning processes visible: encourage students to document stages of their work and thinking through notes, drafts, reflections, visual supports, dialogue or digital products.
• Create and collect learning artefacts: over time, student outputs can become part of a learning portfolio that captures progress, reflection and development. Artefacts may include collaboratively edited texts, annotated images, short multimedia productions, interactive diagrams or problem-solving tasks.
• Use digital tools to support inclusion: digital environments can facilitate collaboration, documentation and multimodal expression, making it easier for students to participate in ways that suit their strengths and needs.
• Connect participation, reflection and action: whether through classroom dialogue, visible thinking routines or real-world projects (as in Service Learning experiences), learning is strengthened when students are supported to reflect, discuss and act in meaningful ways.

This systematic attention to participation and visibility fosters deeper understanding, encourages dialogue, and supports shared reflection among teachers, students and the wider school community. When learning is made visible, discussed collectively and connected to inclusive design and student agency, it contributes to a stronger culture of collaboration, inclusion, and continuous improvement.

Kingswood Community College in Ireland embeds Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles into its teaching approach to ensure accessibility and equity for all learners. UDL is treated not as an optional framework but as a philosophy guiding lesson planning, classroom practice, and assessment across the school.

The school operationalises UDL through three key principles: multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression to meet diverse learning needs. Teachers design lessons that present content in varied formats, including visual, auditory, and interactive modes, enabling students to access information in ways that align with their individual strengths. Students are similarly offered meaningful choice in how they demonstrate their understanding, whether through written work, video creation, presentations, or other creative outputs.

Professional development underpins this approach. All staff receive annual UDL training, and new teachers undergo induction programmes focused on inclusive practices. A dedicated in-house UDL team provides resources, examples, and ongoing support to ensure consistency and innovation in classroom application.

Technology amplifies UDL’s impact. With a one-to-one iPad model and learning management systems such as Schoology – the Learning Management System provided by Power School – teachers can scaffold learning, provide multimodal resources, and personalise instruction. These tools make accessibility seamless and normalise inclusion for all students.

For example, a teacher is preparing students to write an essay after studying a poet such as W.B. Yeats. Rather than moving directly into essay writing, the teacher prioritises accessibility, multimodal engagement, and scaffolded support to ensure all learners can meaningfully participate. Students are asked to find a music video or a song on YouTube that they think links in with the kind of message or theme of the poem. Then the students could use apps like Popplet for brainstorming a quote connected to the poem. These activities build understanding before any essay writing begins. When introducing the essay task, the teacher invites students to identify barriers, then provides targeted support such as sample introductions, vocabulary word banks, and model paragraphs. Students can choose the scaffolds they need, including assistive technology where appropriate. By breaking the process into clear, supported steps, the teacher ensures all learners can approach the essay with confidence and autonomy.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is “a research-based educational framework that aims to improve teaching and learning for all people by making learning goals, methods, materials, and assessments accessible and effective for everyone”, with three core principles, “engagement, representation, and action/expression, which help educators design lessons that accommodate the needs of every student” (CAST, 2023).

Kingswood Community College show how to embed Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into lesson planning from the beginning rather than as an add-on. When designing activities, it is important to explicitly consider how students will access information, engage with ideas, and demonstrate understanding, ensuring that each lesson offers more than one pathway to learning.

UDL encourages educators to present key concepts through multiple modes of delivery. It involves combining visual resources (images, diagrams, videos), spoken explanations, and interactive digital tools or hands-on activities so that learners with different preferences and needs can engage meaningfully with the same content.

Even with minimal technology, offering multiple means of representation respects every learner’s needs. Using varied modes to enhance understanding is transferable across subjects. For example, when teaching complex or controversial topics such as nuclear energy, students can watch videos on its historical development, view scenes from the movie Oppenheimer to analyse the scientist’s dilemmas or examine simplified summaries of how different countries regulate nuclear technology. These multimodal resources help students build background knowledge and engage critically with the material. Thus, they can move into more formal tasks, such as writing an essay on humanity, ethics and energy conflicts. This approach ensures that students access complicated content in different ways while still meeting the same learning goals.

The teacher at Griže Primary School in Slovenia supports digital inclusion by providing devices, grouping students by skill and using digital tools for personal learning and engagement. A wide range of tools is used in the classroom to present learning in different ways and create more accessible lessons and assessment for all learners.

It is an understatement to say that standing at the chalkboard does not always capture students’ attention, and this is becoming even more noticeable. Lesson planning creates an opportunity for the teacher to explore the functionalities of the interactive whiteboard, discovering how it can be used for educational games, writing on the board or interactive presentations. Basic online searching and testing the technology before using it with students reduce teacher’s anxiety when using new digital tools and platforms.

Plickers is used frequently for formative assessment and quick task completion. Students respond using individual codes like QR codes which prevents copying and allows them to remain anonymous. This anonymity encourages participation from pupils who might not raise their hand or who feel unsure of their answers. The teacher receives immediate feedback on students’ answers; students then review their responses and correct them together. The same set of Plickers codes can be used each year, adding student names, ensuring consistency and ease of use across classes. Kahoot is another interactive, game-based learning tool teacher uses to quiz students in a fun, competitive way.

The teacher has also created a Google Sites webpage where students can access selected educational games and materials without navigating search engines. The page is saved on classroom tablets under Favourites, enabling quick access. This digital learning space, combined with interactive tools, helps students remain engaged and find the learning materials they need.

The school also supports pupils who find oral participation challenging by encouraging multimodal products such as audio or video recordings prepared in a quiet space, typed responses instead of handwriting, and supported digital presentations that reduce anxiety and fine-motor demands while meeting the same learning goals. Ethical and practical considerations are taken into consideration, including consent for recording, secure storage and sharing of digital work, and ensuring that alternative tasks are equivalent and assessed with clear criteria. The teacher explains that technology can help, but only when used thoughtfully, by choosing quality material that supports understanding rather than relying on videos or games with no pedagogical value.

Digital tools and multimodal expression can be used to support inclusive participation. Teachers can write prompts for AI tools such as ChatGPT asking for ideas on how to better use digital tools and suggest activities or tasks. It is important to prepare in advance and to test new functionalities or tools before introducing them in class, avoiding stress for both them and students when implementing a new idea.

Peer support within the school can help teachers navigate the many emerging tools available for educators. A shared Padlet can be created at school level where teachers add digital tools, short descriptions, and examples of how they use them in practice. When a tool requires more guidance, short training sessions can take place among colleagues, allowing teachers to learn directly from one another.

Providing additional materials to students in the form of a class repository is a great way to make multimodal learning available and respond to the diverse needs of students. A well-organised online space can include video resources, easy-to-read presentations, worksheets for different levels, and interactive and gamified tasks. In this way students can access materials in multiple formats and explore the resources that best match their needs at their own pace. This online space can be also presented to parents, showing them how to navigate it so that they can support their child’s learning at home.

Multimodal assessment offers alternatives for summative assessment. Project based assessments, presentations or easy to read written examinations can be explored by the leadership and teaching staff. Alternative assessment formats should be consistent across classes and marking criteria clear to avoid misunderstandings and dissatisfaction among students.

Digital tools such as interactive whiteboards, apps, and adaptable worksheets are used to reduce learning barriers, particularly for students who struggle with written expression. For many students, written expression is a challenge, and interactive whiteboards can provide support in the special needs school. Using an interactive whiteboard, students can simply click on their answers, allowing the teacher to immediately see whether they have understood, without creating stress or pressure. The same applies to the apps and interactive worksheets used in the classroom. They allow for images, quick edits, and flexible adjustments, making learning more accessible for students who struggle with traditional written tasks.

The teacher at the Primary and Practical School U Trojice, Havlíčkův Brod keeps each child’s individuality in mind, organising lessons so that they focus on the learning goal, and how every student can best achieve it. Technology supports inclusion in many ways, because it can help children by simplifying tasks, replacing challenging activities and making learning more visual. It also allows the teacher to supplement teaching materials and gives each student the opportunity to express themselves individually. The teacher prepares the lesson by imagining each child and considering what she wants them to experience and how, offering something more complex for more able students and something different for those with learning difficulties. Interactivity is sustained by using the smart board, online materials, and giving each student a chance to use the interactive whiteboard. A student may even be invited to use the board to teach or explain a task to the others. This approach – removing barriers through digital tools – also applies to tests, where the teacher uses simple formats to assess comprehension, recognising that even seemingly easy questions can be overwhelmingly difficult for some learners. As comprehension is one of the main challenges teachers face in the special needs classroom, the use of technology supports both understanding and motivation, helping students enjoy the lessons.

Although technology is part of students’ everyday lives, it remains challenging for teachers to learn how to use it in a way that truly connects with children. For the teacher, it is the school’s role to help students make meaningful use of technology, to connect it to real life, and to develop digital skills beyond gaming or chatting on social media, so that they become informed users rather than passive consumers. The school leadership supports this process by encouraging participation in events organised by the National Policy Institute, including workshops and online training.

Digital technologies play a key role in promoting accessible and inclusive learning. Interactive whiteboards are a common sight in today’s classrooms, but research shows that, even though interactive whiteboards can support teachers in enhancing teaching practice, the number of teachers who explore their full potential is still limited (Kyriakou & Higgins, 2016).

The interactive whiteboard is especially useful for inclusive learning because it combines visual, auditory, tactile, and kinaesthetic modes of learning, supporting both whole-class and small-group participation (Bakhmat, et al., 2024). Teachers can use built-in quiz tools, instant feedback functions, interactive games, videos, and digital annotations to improve attention, participation, and comprehension.

In practice, teachers can begin by identifying the main learning difficulty a student faces; for example, they may struggle with reading, concentration, language processing or participation. Then they choose an appropriate tool: an interactive whiteboard for visual explanation and shared class interaction, a digital app such as Kahoot, Quizizz, GeoGebra, Book Creator, for practice and engagement, and interactive worksheets such as Wizer, LiveWorksheets for differentiated individual work. An example would be presenting new vocabulary on the board with images, followed by a short quiz on tablets or on the board where students match the new word with the image. The activity can then continue with the audio spelling of the words, allowing students to hear and repeat them. Finally, the teacher can escalate the level of difficulty by asking students to match the word with a sentence, read the sentence out loud, or complete similar tasks that foster comprehension and confidence.