• Promoting expectations and beliefs that optimize motivation.  By setting clear expectations and promoting positive beliefs about the value of learning and personal growth, students can become more motivated to pursue their goals and take ownership of their learning. Setting goals is essential for this. Students differ in two aspects of these goals. The content of the goals will depend heavily on the individual needs of a student. In addition, students will also differ in the ability to set goals.
• Facilitate personal coping skills and strategies.  By helping students develop and apply effective coping skills and strategies, they can better manage their emotional responses and interactions, which can improve their ability to focus and persevere in learning. Providing a model for self-regulating skills will not be enough for most students. It's important to practice these skills and help students choose and try different strategies for regulating their emotional response to external and internal events. Sufficient alternatives must be offered to allow students to discover which strategies work best for them.
• Develop self-evaluation and reflection.  By promoting self-evaluation and reflection, students can become more aware of their progress toward their goals and how to learn from their mistakes. This can help them make more informed decisions about what they need to do to succeed, which can increase their motivation and engagement in learning. In addition, for many students, being able to acknowledge progress already provides increased motivation.

• Increase the conspicuousness of goals and objectives.  By making the goals and objectives of learning clear and meaningful to learners, they can become more motivated and focused on what they need to achieve. It is important to offer different methods on which these memories are given, so that it fits the different students. 
• Varying requirements and resources to optimize the challenge.  Students differ in the type of challenges that motivate them. By offering students a series of challenges that differ in level and requirements, students stay motivated. Challenges appropriately tailored to their abilities can motivate them and engage them in learning, which can further their self-regulating skills.
• Promote cooperation and community.  By creating a supportive and collaborative learning environment, students can build a sense of community and feel connected to others, which can increase their motivation and involvement in learning. This is easier for one student than for another. Research has already shown the effectiveness of cooperative learning groups, school-wide positive behavior support programs, and PEER tutoring. Again, it is important to be aware of the differences between students and to offer options in the way students can build and use these skills. 
• Increase mastery-oriented feedback.  Instead of giving students feedback on their ability or intelligence, give feedback on their effort and process. This allows students to gain a better understanding of what they need to do to improve. This kind of feedback can help students focus on their progress and growth, and understand that their success is the result of their own hard work and determination.   

The concept of affect, which includes emotions, motivation and commitment, plays a crucial role in learning. Students can vary greatly in the way they are motivated or engaged. There are a large number of factors that contribute and these differ. These factors include neurological differences, cultural background, personal relevance, subjectivity, and background knowledge.

To maximize learning for all students, it is crucial to provide multiple options for engagement. For example, some students may be highly motivated by spontaneous and new experiences, while others prefer strict routine. Similarly, some students may prefer to work alone, while others thrive in collaborative environments. By offering different engagement options, teachers can respond to the diverse needs and preferences of their students and increase their chances of success.

Information that does not appeal to students will be inaccessible. This information will go unnoticed and unprocessed. As a result, the information is inaccessible to a student both in the moment and in the future and no claim can be made to this information in the future. There are big differences in their interests between students. Even in one student, the interest will change as the student develops and the environment changes. Attracting interest is therefore a crucial part of UDL, as it aims to engage learners and make the learning experience accessible and relevant to their diverse needs, abilities and interests. In the context of UDL, recruiting interest involves the following:

Sustained attention, effort and perseverance in UDL refers to the ability to persevere despite challenges, to keep working towards a goal, even when it is difficult. If students are motivated and can regulate themselves, they can maintain the effort and concentration needed to learn. There are only large differences in students' ability to self-regulate. In addition, the lack of self-regulation is often confused with unwillingness. In the context of UDL, the following benchmarks are given for optimizing the attention, effort and perseverance:

Self-regulation is an important aspect of UDL. It refers to the learner's ability to manage their own learning process and make decisions about what they need to achieve their goals. The capacity for self-regulation is crucial for human development and successful participation in the future society. By incorporating self-regulation into the design of learning experiences, UDL aims to create an environment that is flexible and responsive to the needs and abilities of individual learners. This includes giving students multiple ways to interact with content, as well as opportunities to set goals, track their progress, and make adjustments as needed. Ultimately, the goal of incorporating self-regulation into UDL is to support students to become more self-determining and motivated, which can lead to greater engagement, motivation, and success in learning. In the context of UDL, the following benchmarks are given for promoting self-regulation and self-determination in learning: 

• Optimize individual choice and autonomy. A large number of studies have demonstrated the importance of giving learners control over their own learning process. Students should be given the opportunity to take charge of their own learning by offering different choices in how to achieve a learning goal. This can lead to more motivation, involvement and a sense of ownership of the learning process. It is important to note that students also have different preferences for how many and what kind of choices.
• Optimize relevance, value and authenticity.  Previous studies have shown the positive effect of connecting new information with a  relevant context to make the learning experience relevant and valuable. This can be achieved by connecting learning with real-world experiences, by making the learning materials and activities relevant to the learner's interests, and by providing opportunities for students to apply their learning in a meaningful way. The situation does not necessarily have to be equivalent to "real life" because for a large group of people fiction is just as fascinating and interesting as non-fiction. Most importantly, it is relevant to a student's individual and educational goals. 
• Minimize threats and distractions.  If a student till has to deal with meeting basic needs or avoiding danger, a student will not learn. Within trauma sensitive education, it is also indicated that certain part of the brain no longer functions when someone is busy avoiding danger.  It is therefore important to create a safe and supportive learning environment where students feel comfortable taking risks and making mistakes. In an optimal learning environment, options are offered to reduce hazards and distractions for everyone. In this way, a space is created for every student to be able to learn. This can be achieved by reducing distractions and potential threats such as bullying or discrimination and fostering a positive and inclusive learning community where all learners feel valued and respected.

Engagement – Why do I need to learn?

On 14 July 2016, the Netherlands signed the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (United Nations, 2006). Article 24 of this treaty states that the government must guarantee an 'inclusive education system'. As the example above shows, inclusivity is about more than making an adjustment or taking extra measure for someone with a disability.  First of all, adjustments and measures are not always feasible in practice and students do not want to 'be different'. This feeling of 'being different' is already present for many students of The Aventurine College because they do not go to a regular school that they have been able to choose themselves. Within this school setting, it is therefore not desirable to create too many exceptions for individuals. Inclusive education is therefore about organizing education in a way where there is room to learn in the best way for each individual student and where there is room for the specific needs of a student.  One way to design education that gives all students equal opportunities to succeed is the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format (Maikske, 2014).

UDL orginates from architecture. In the '70s, america's design industry gained momentum with new laws passed to prevent discrimination and promote social inclusion. When the first building code aimed at accessibility was adopted in 1973,  architect Ron Mace came up with the concept of Universal Design for designing environments and buildings that were accessible to all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability. Ron Mace's concept that a design could be universal to everyone became pupular away, as they proved beneficial not only to people with disabilities, but to everyone in society. The concept of Universal Design is eventually increasingly applied across society, including in education (Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, n.d.; Jellison, 2016).

The Rubiks Kubis has been a popular toy since the 80s. By turning on the side surfaces, the intention is to have one color on each side of the cube. Children with a visual impairment cannot see those colors and therefore could not play with a Rubiks Kubis. The makers came up with a solution for this. They designed a white Rubus Kubiks with Braille. This design only created a wider gap between children with visual impairments and children without visual impairments. Children with visual impairments could not play with the Rubiks Kubis of the children without visual impairment, because they could not see colors. Children without visual impairments could not play with the Rubiks Kubis of the children with visual impairments, because they cannot read Braille. This meant that they still couldn't play together. In the end, the makers designed a Rubiks Kubiks with color and relief. This resulted in a more universal product that both children with a visual impairment and children without visual impairments could play with together (Kennes, 2019). 

In the '90s, researchers at the Center for Applied Special Technologies (CAST) started looking for a way to flexibly adapt curricula to meet all needs.  It was founded by David H. Rose. He created a team consisting of education researchers and people from the prsector.  This research resulted in the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework (CAST, 2022a).

Universal Design for Learning

• Activate or link acting ground knowledge.  One of these information processing strategies is about integrating new information with existing knowledge. To stimulate the development of this, it is important to offer various options  to activate relevant prior knowledge or to make a link to the required information.
• Highlight important information.  This helps students identify the most important information and understand how it relates to the learning objective.
• Supervise information processing and visualization. This includes using models, scaffolds, and feedback to support the process of meaning-making and help students construct their own understanding of new information. This is necessary so that information can be summarized, categorized, prioritized and contextualized.
• Maximize transfer and generalization. This is necessary to teach students  to apply information to new contexts. For students who have difficulty with work or long-term memory, learning becomes inaccessible if these abilities are needed to learn. This increases support for memory and the ability to access what has been previously learned.  

• Clarify vocabulary and symbols to help students construct meaning.  This is often taken for granted, but this is often not taken for granted for many students.  Words that can clarify concepts for one student may be foreign to another student.  It is important that information is linked to or associated with alternative representations of their meaning. In addition, individual elements can be combined to create a new meaning. Those new meanings depend on understanding the rules or structures of how those elements are combined.
• Make the patterns and structures of systems explicit to help students understand structures. An equal sign can help some students understand that the two sides of the equation must be balanced, but causes confusion in a student who doesn't understand what it means. Also make sure that text and symbols do not stand in the way of the learning objective. Think of students with dyslexia or dyscaculia. If a student has difficulty "decoding" texts or symbols, the cognitive load is increased, reducing the capacity to process information. To ensure that knowledge is accessible to all students, it is important to provide options that reduce these obstacles.
• Supports decoding of text, mathematical notation and symbols to minimize confusion. A graph illustrating the relationship between two variables can be informative for one student and a big conundrum for another. 
• Promoting comprehension between languages using various tools such as translations and illustrations.  Teaching materials are often monolingual, but many students are not. Providing alternatives, especially for important information or vocabulary is important to make it accessible. 
• Using multiple media to bring learning to life and increase understanding. The most inclusive way to make learning accessible is to bring learning to life. A lot of teaching material is conveyed through text. Students who for whatever reason have difficulty with text or language encounter this not only in language-related subjects, but also in many other subjects, because teaching materials are dominated by text. Offering alternatives such as videos, simulations or interactive images ensures that the information in the text becomes accessible to all students. 

To internalize representation requires understanding . In the UDL, understanding is about understanding and interpreting what is read, heard or seen. Students need to learn the skills on how to turn accessible information into actionable knowledge. In the context of UDL, the following benchmarks are given to offer different ways of understanding:

• Provides ways to customize the display of information. Use flexible materials that can be customized based on needs and preferences. Think of layout, color reproduction or font size. This flexibility is possible in printed teaching materials, but I can easily realize with digital teaching materials. This can help make the information more accessible and useful for students with visual impairments or for students who prefer a different format.
• Offers alternatives to auditory information. This helps to make the information more accessible to students who are deaf or hard of hearing, or to students who have difficulty processing auditory information.
• Provides alternative to visual information.  This helps to make the information more accessible to students who are blind or visually impaired, or to students who have difficulty processing visual information.

In UDL, language and symbols  are used as flexible and multiple forms of representation to provide equal access to information and knowledge to all learners, regardless of their background, abilities and learning preferences. It is important to create a shared concept for language and symbols. A self-evident reperesentment for the teacher is not always for the student. By presenting information in a variety of formats, including linguistic and non-linguistic representations, UDL helps address the inequalities that can arise when information is presented in a single form of representation. In general, the use of language and symbols in UDL helps ensure that all learners can engage with the content and reach their full potential. In the context of UDL, the following benchmarks are given to offer different ways of language and symbols:

Representation refers to the way information is presented to students. Students differ in the way they perceive and understand information. This can be because of a sensory disability, a learning disability, language or cultural differences or because someone simply understands information faster or more efficiently through visual or auditory means instead of printed text. By providing multiple ways of representation, UDL helps reduce learning barriers and increase accessibility for all learners, regardless of their prior knowledge, skills, or learning style. This can help to improve engagement, motivation and learning outcomes for all learners, as they can access the content in a way that best suits their needs. In addition, multiple representations ensure that students can make connections within and between concepts. 

Perception refers to the way students process and understand information. Different students can perceive information in different ways, based on their background knowledge, experiences and learning style. In the context of UDL, the following benchmarks are given to offer different ways of perception:

Representation – What should I learn?

UDL is a framework that focuses on creating flexible, inclusive learning environments for all students. The goal of the framework is to minimize barriers and optimize learning opportunities for students, taking into account different learning styles, backgrounds, interests, and challenges.  UDL includes multiple ways to display information, multiple ways of engaging with content, and multiple ways of expressing comprehension to provide access to information and support different learning styles. For this research weused the guidelines explained on the website of  Center for Applied Special Technology, the nonprofit education research and development organization that created UDL (CAST, 2022); and the book written by the developers of UDL (Meyer et al., 2014). 

The UDLframework is organized horizontally as well as vertically. Vertically, the three principles of UDL are organized: engagement, representation and action and expression. These principles are divided horizontally into the guidelines: access, construction and internalization. Before explaining the three principles of the UDL framework, a brief explanation is given of the meaning of these three guidelines in the framework.

• The "access" directive in UDL refers to the idea of equal access to information and learning opportunities for all students, regardless of their abilities and needs. 
• The term "build" in UDL refers to the process of proactively designing learning environments that are flexible and inclusive, taking into account the diverse needs and preferences of all students. 
• The term "internalizing" in UDL refers to the process by which the principles and practices of UDL become a natural part of the learning process. This involves not only using the UDL framework to design learning environments, but also using it as a way of thinking about and approaching learning and instruction.

• Practice setting goals.  Those goals must be challenging and realistic.
• Support with planning and strategy development.  By using flexible tools, students can be helped to achieve the formulated goals.  This often requires different thresholds that cause students to "stop and think" for a while. This will ensure that students can actually implement different strategies. 
• Facilitate the management of information and resources.  Support students in the organization by, for example, practicing maintaining a "notepad". As a result, their working memory is less burdened and they can concentrate better on their task. 
• Guide students in analyzing growth and how to build on it. This can support their development of executive functions such as attention and inhibitory control, allowing them to better regulate their thoughts, behaviors, and emotions.

• Vary response and navigation methods. By offering multiple options to respond and navigate in a learning environment, all students can participate in a meaningful way. This can be achieved by using different methods, such as different types of input and output devices, and by ensuring that the learning environment is physically accessible to everyone.
• Optimize access to tools and assistive technologies. This removes barriers for learners with disabilities. This gives every student equal access to learning resources and opportunities. 

Providing multiple and flexible ways of expression and communication is an important aspect of UDL. In this way, students can show their knowledge, ideas and concepts in the way that works best for them. Think of students with dyslexia as an example. That student can tell a fantastic story, but will falter those students the moment he has to write the story. In the context of UDL, the following benchmarks are given to offer different ways of expression and communication:

• Use different types of media.  Think of text, speech, illustration, dance, film, social media, storyboards and so on there are countless alternatives. This allows students to express their learning in flexible ways that best fit their individual strengths and needs.
• Emphasize the importance of alternative tools to support students to achieve that expression.  In addition, finding and using these tools also prepares students for the future. Think of spell checkers, calculators, overview tools and story webs. By using tools that complement the learning objective, students can effectively communicate their understanding of a topic or concept.
• Building fluency for practice and performance.  Apply and gradually release different supports to encourage independent learning. This allows students to become more independent in their learning. This approach can help foster mastery and build confidence as students take on increasingly difficult tasks.

Action and expression is about 'broad evaluation'. In UDL, it refers to the ways in which students interact with information, show their understanding, and can apply what they have learned in a meaningful and relevant way. Students differ in the ways they can express what they know. This also requires a lot of strategy, practice and organization. There will not be one way that is optimal for all learnings Offering options is again essential here. 

In order to make action and expression accessible to everyone, it is first important that the teaching material is physically accessible  to everyone.  In the context of UDL, the following benchmarks are given to offer different ways of understanding:

The highest level of people to act vigilantly are the executive functions. The executive functions play a crucial role in our ability to act competently and make effective decisions. In the next section we will go deeper into the exeuctive functions, but in this chapter we will look at the executive functions as part of UDL. UDL support the development of executive functions by providing students with multiple and flexible ways to deal with content and tasks. For example, by providing multiple display tools, UDL can help learners better understand and retain information, reducing the pressure on working memory. In addition, UDL can promote behavior and emote regulation by allowing students to work at their own pace and in their preferred learning style. In the context of UDL, the following benchmarks are given for supporting the exeucutive functions:

UDL is a framework for designing educational materials and environments that are inclusive and accessible to all learners, regardless of their abilities or limitations. UDL offers multiple ways of engagement, representation and communication and expression. The goal of UDL is to support the diverse needs of all students and remove learning barriers. By designing education with UDL principles in mind, teachers can create learning environments that are more inclusive and equitable, leading to better outcomes and success for students.

Judith A. Jellison has focused on the musical development of children with disabilities and inclusive educational practices in recent years. In several articles she also discusses the possibilities of UDL in music education. For example, when teaching music, UDL can ensure that all students, regardless of their individual abilities or limitations, are given the same opportunities. In the articles, she encourages music teachers to use the UDL guidelines to create inclusive and accessible music lessons that have a positive impact on a student's music participation in the future (2018).

Armes, Harry and Grimsby (2022) have also written about implementing UDL in music education.  They argue that implementing UDL in music education will have a positive effect on all students, regardless of age, race, gender, skill level or cultural background. Ultimately, UDL can significantly improve music education and learning outcomes by providing a more equitable, inclusive, and engaging experience for all students.

UDL can be applied in various ways in music education. The principles of UDL encourage teachers to consider the needs of all students and provide them with multiple and flexible ways to interact with music and develop their musical skills. For example, in a music class, a teacher may use multiple ways to represent musical concepts, such as using visual aids, spoken explanations, and hands-on activities. This allows students with different learning styles to access the material in a way that works best for them. In addition, UDL may also involve giving students multiple options to demonstrate their musical understanding and skills, for example through written answers, oral presentations, or practical performance activities. This allows all students to show what they know and can do in a way that works best for them. By applying the principles of UDL to music education, teachers can create a more inclusive and accessible learning environment for all students.

Action and Expression – How should I learn?

 UDL & Music education