Revista Multidisciplinaria Perspectivas Investigativas

Multidisciplinary Journal Investigative Perspectives

Vol. 6(1), 1-19, 2026

https://doi.org/10.62574/rmpi.v6i1.491

Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing

diversity in basic education

Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje como marco pedagógico para

atención de diversidad en básica educativa

Jimmy Leonel Cevallos-Ostaíza

Jileceos@hotmail.com

Ministerio de Educación, Zonal 4, Distrito 13D07 Chone - Flavio Alfaro, Manabí - Ecuador

https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2876-5919

Génesis Yadira Bravo-Vélez

gybv2017@hotmail.com

Ministerio de Educación, Zonal 4, Distrito 13D07 Chone - Flavio Alfaro, Manabí - Ecuador

https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2280-2906

Yahaira Jasmin Arteaga-Velásquez

veljasmin_93@hotmail.com

Ministerio de Educación, Zonal 4, Distrito 13D07 Chone - Flavio Alfaro, Manabí - Ecuador

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7416-9154

Diana Dolores Velez-Muñoz

dianadoloresvelez@gmail.com

Ministerio de Educación, Zonal 4, Distrito 13D07 Chone - Flavio Alfaro, Manabí – Ecuador

https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4844-7955

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to analyse Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for

addressing diversity in basic education as an educational approach for the Ecuadorian pedagogical

context. Using a hermeneutic approach, twenty-four scientific articles published between 2015 and 2025

were analysed through three interpretative stages: comprehensive reading, categorical analysis and

integrative synthesis. Three emerging categories were identified: pedagogical foundations of UDL that shift

the responsibility for adaptation to curriculum design; neuroscientific contributions that document

neurological variability as a basis for pedagogical flexibility; and teacher and student emotional intelligence

as mediating factors for effective implementation. SUD constitutes a scientifically grounded and legally

relevant pedagogical framework for Ecuadorian basic education, whose effective implementation requires

systemic transformations in educational policies, teacher training, curriculum organisation, and

assessment systems that allow for overcoming the tensions between inclusive ideals and structural

constraints of the current educational system.

Descriptors: inclusive education; teaching technique; teaching method. (Source: UNESCO Thesaurus).

RESUMEN

El artículo tiene por propósito analizar el Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje como marco pedagógico

para la atención de la diversidad en educación básica como enfoque educativo para el contexto

pedagógico ecuatoriano. De enfoque hermenéutico, se analizaron veinticuatro artículos científicos

publicados entre 2015 y 2025 mediante tres momentos interpretativos: lectura comprehensiva, análisis

categorial y síntesis integradora. Se identificaron tres categorías emergentes: fundamentos pedagógicos

del DUA que desplazan la responsabilidad de adaptación hacia el diseño curricular, contribuciones

neurocientíficas que documentan la variabilidad neurológica como sustento de la flexibilidad pedagógica,

e inteligencia emocional docente y estudiantil como factores mediadores de la implementación efectiva. El

DUA constituye un marco pedagógico científicamente fundado y jurídicamente pertinente para la

educación básica ecuatoriana, cuya materialización efectiva requiere transformaciones sistémicas en

políticas educativas, formación docente, organización curricular y sistemas evaluativos que permitan

superar las tensiones entre ideales inclusivos y restricciones estructurales del sistema educativo actual.

Descriptores: educación inclusiva; técnica didáctica; método de enseñanza. (Fuente: Tesauro UNESCO).

Received: 16/11/2025. Reviewed: 27/11/2025. Approved: 18/12/2024. Published: 16/01/2026.

Research articles section

Revista Multidisciplinaria Perspectivas Investigativas

Multidisciplinary Journal Investigative Perspectives

Vol. 6(1), 1-18, 2026

Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje como marco pedagógico para atención de diversidad en básica educativa

Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing diversity in basic education

Jimmy Leonel Cevallos-Ostaíza

Génesis Yadira Bravo-Vélez

Yahaira Jasmin Arteaga-Velásquez

Diana Dolores Velez-Muñoz

INTRODUCTION

In the context of contemporary educational transformations, training systems face the challenge

of serving student populations characterised by increasing heterogeneity, where individual

differences in learning styles, cognitive abilities and specific requirements demand pedagogical

models that incorporate flexibility and adaptability as constituent features of their regulatory and

operational structure. In response to this reality, Universal Design for Learning is configured as

a conceptual framework aimed at transforming conventional educational practices through

anticipatory strategies that recognise diversity as an inherent element of the training process,

thus overcoming approaches that have traditionally considered differences as deviations from a

normative pattern that requires subsequent correction in accordance with criteria of pedagogical

homogenisation. Consequently, the construction of inclusive models in basic education has

been positioned as a priority for those systems that aspire to guarantee equity and quality in

learning, transcending remedial perspectives that have historically characterised the attention

given to students with special educational needs, which often operate from a logic of individual

deficit rather than from a systemic understanding of the barriers that curriculum designs

themselves generate in the exercise of the fundamental right to education.

From a theoretical perspective that redefines the epistemological foundations of pedagogical

practice, UDL represents a paradigm shift that shifts the responsibility for adaptation from the

student to the curriculum design itself, thus configuring an epistemological inversion that

questions entrenched assumptions about normality and difference in educational contexts from

a perspective that could be described as guaranteeing educational rights. In line with this

conceptual orientation and in accordance with the principles of educational inclusion, Moreira-

Cuadros et al. (2025) argue that the integration of universal design and neuroeducation

constitutes an innovative approach to educational inclusion, which allows learning barriers to be

anticipated through an understanding of the brain mechanisms involved in knowledge

acquisition, thus establishing bridges between pedagogical principles and neuroscientific

discoveries that open up possibilities for designing learning experiences based on the

recognition of neurological variability as an inherent characteristic of any human group, without

this constituting grounds for any restriction of educational rights or opportunities. For their part,

and complementing this argument from the field of curriculum planning, Ortiz-Sánchez et al.

(2025) argue that teaching planning based on the DUA approach provides a systematic model

for addressing diversity, transforming the traditional concept of individualised curricular

adaptations into flexible designs that benefit the entire student body. This implies substantial

reconfigurations in the ways in which learning experiences are conceived, organised and

executed in school contexts subject to regulatory frameworks for educational inclusion.

Notwithstanding the above, and recognising the complexity inherent in pedagogical

transformation processes, contemporary research on the implementation of UDL has

documented both potentialities and tensions in diverse educational contexts, revealing that the

transition to this pedagogical framework involves transformations that exceed the technical

dimension to engage beliefs, values, and professional cultures rooted in traditions that often

resist the proposed paradigm shift. In relation to this complexity and based on a systematic

analysis of the perceptions of teachers and students, Han and Lei (2024) developed a

systematic review that examines the beliefs of teachers and students towards the DUA

framework, identifying that conceptual understanding and disposition towards this approach

vary significantly according to contextual, formative and experiential factors, which suggests that

the effective adoption of UDL requires not only theoretical understanding but also a

transformation of mental frameworks about teaching and learning that have been consolidated

through professional trajectories and previous school experiences that operate as true

precedents in educational practice. Complementarily, and expanding the empirical evidence on

practical application experiences, Wea et al. (2025) explored the implementation of UDL in

primary and secondary educational units, showing that the transition to universally designed

practices requires sustained support, appropriate resources and the development of specific

skills in teaching teams, thus confirming that the rhetoric of inclusion requires concrete material

Revista Multidisciplinaria Perspectivas Investigativas

Multidisciplinary Journal Investigative Perspectives

Vol. 6(1), 1-18, 2026

Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje como marco pedagógico para atención de diversidad en básica educativa

Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing diversity in basic education

Jimmy Leonel Cevallos-Ostaíza

Génesis Yadira Bravo-Vélez

Yahaira Jasmin Arteaga-Velásquez

Diana Dolores Velez-Muñoz

and training conditions to materialise in effective pedagogical practices that can be enforceable

and verifiable in terms of regulatory compliance.

At the same time, in the field of neuroscience applied to education, neuroscience provides

substantial insights into how the brain learns and how environments can be designed to

optimise these processes, empirically substantiating proposals that historically relied on intuition

or pedagogical tradition without much support from objectively verifiable scientific evidence.

Regarding this aspect and establishing connections between neurobiology and pedagogy,

Thomas and Arslan (2025) argue about the relevance of the brain for education, establishing

connections between neurobiological functioning and pedagogical practices, which scientifically

supports the proposals of the DUA by demonstrating that variability in learning processes has

documentable neurological bases that justify the need for instructional flexibility as a technically

sound response to the diversity of the student body.

These contributions from educational neuroscience make it possible to move beyond purely

intuitive approaches to understandings based on empirical evidence about brain plasticity,

attentional systems, and information processing, thus providing a scientific basis for

pedagogical decisions that previously lacked neurobiological foundations that could be

objectively verified. In a similar vein, and delving deeper into the evolutionary aspects of brain

development, Hoferichter and Raufelder (2025) analyse the neuromechanisms during child

development, highlighting the importance of considering the evolutionary stages of the brain

when designing educational experiences, particularly during the formative years of basic

education, where asynchronous brain maturation between different cognitive domains has direct

implications for pedagogical expectations and instructional design, which must be adjusted to

neurologically determined capacities at each stage of development.

Additionally, recognising the comprehensiveness of the educational phenomenon beyond its

purely cognitive components, the socio-emotional component constitutes another connecting

thread between DUA and educational effectiveness, recognising that learning processes do not

operate in an affective vacuum, but are deeply mediated by emotional states, motivations, and

competencies to regulate affective experiences that directly impact the results of the educational

process. With regard to this dimension and using an explanatory model of relationships between

emotional variables, Casino-García et al. (2019) developed a relational model between

subjective emotional well-being, emotional intelligence and moods, establishing that these

variables interact in complex ways in the educational experience of students. This is particularly

relevant when considering that the DUA proposes multiple forms of involvement, recognising

that motivation and commitment to learning are mediated by emotional and affective factors that

vary between individuals and contexts, with no single universally applicable pattern. Similarly,

providing quantitative evidence through statistical synthesis techniques, Peng and Shuhong

(2025) conducted a meta-analysis demonstrating how emotional factors influence language

learning, confirming that emotional intelligence is a significant predictor of academic

achievement with effect sizes comparable to variables traditionally considered central, which

underscores the need to integrate socio-emotional development as a constitutive component of

the curriculum rather than as a peripheral or complementary dimension in the normative

structure of educational programmes.

Consequently, and given the central role of teachers in the implementation of any pedagogical

innovation, teacher training emerges as a determining factor for the successful implementation

of DUA, since the pedagogical transformations proposed by this framework require not only

conceptual knowledge but also professional skills that enable teachers to manage the

complexity inherent in heterogeneous classrooms where diverse needs converge and demand

differentiated responses. In this vein, through an experimental study of training programmes,

Özdemir-Cihan and Dilekmen (2024) investigated emotional intelligence training programmes

for teachers in initial training, documenting that the development of socio-emotional skills in

educators is positively correlated with their ability to create inclusive environments and respond

effectively to diversity. This suggests that teacher training should integrate not only knowledge

of the DUA framework but also emotional and relational skills that enable its sensitive and

contextualised application in accordance with the particularities of each educational situation.

Revista Multidisciplinaria Perspectivas Investigativas

Multidisciplinary Journal Investigative Perspectives

Vol. 6(1), 1-18, 2026

Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje como marco pedagógico para atención de diversidad en básica educativa

Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing diversity in basic education

Jimmy Leonel Cevallos-Ostaíza

Génesis Yadira Bravo-Vélez

Yahaira Jasmin Arteaga-Velásquez

Diana Dolores Velez-Muñoz

Similarly, exploring the intersection between teachers' contemplative and emotional

competencies, Wang (2023) explored the synergy between teacher mindfulness and emotional

intelligence in building positive teacher-student relationships, identifying that these

competencies facilitate the implementation of flexible, learner-centred pedagogical practices,

since educators with greater emotional awareness and regulatory capacity tend to respond

more adaptively to emerging needs in diverse instructional contexts that demand continuous

adjustments in pedagogical strategies.

Considering the above and based on the identification of gaps in the available scientific

literature, there is a need to analyse how UDL, articulated with contributions from neuroscience

and emotional intelligence, can constitute a comprehensive pedagogical framework for

addressing diversity in basic education. Although there is literature that addresses these

elements separately, a systematic understanding of their interactions and complementarities in

elementary education contexts is required to guide both public policies and institutional

practices.

Consequently, and in order to address this identified need, the research objective of this article

is to analyse Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing diversity

in basic education as an educational approach for the Ecuadorian pedagogical context.

METHOD

In accordance with the objectives set out and given the nature of the subject matter, which

requires interpretative rather than experimental approaches, this research is carried out using a

hermeneutic approach,

understood as an interpretative process aimed at understanding and constructing meanings

from academic texts and discourses related to Universal Design for Learning and its application

in basic education contexts, thus constituting a qualitative research method that allows for a

deeper understanding of complex educational phenomena through the analysis and systematic

interpretation of contemporary scientific literature subjected to peer review processes. This

approach is particularly appropriate when the research objective is to reveal meanings,

establish conceptual relationships, and construct integrated understandings based on existing

academic productions, thus going beyond merely descriptive approaches to achieve

interpretations that coherently articulate the scattered contributions in the specialised literature

according to criteria of methodological rigour that are verifiable and susceptible to

intersubjective verification.

In terms of the documentary corpus analysed and following inclusion criteria based on thematic

relevance and methodological quality, this includes twenty-four scientific articles published

between 2015 and 2025, selected for their thematic relevance and methodological rigour

verified through their publication in journals indexed in internationally recognised databases,

which address various dimensions of the object of study, such as the fundamentals of DUA,

educational neuroscience, emotional intelligence, teacher training, and implementation

experiences in various educational contexts that provide verifiable empirical evidence. The

selection prioritised recent publications to ensure the theoretical approaches and empirical

evidence considered were up to date, with an emphasis on studies that articulate DUA with

neuroeducation and emotional intelligence, thus configuring a corpus that allows for the

triangulation of complementary perspectives on the phenomenon under investigation by

confronting diverse sources that enrich the understanding of the subject of study.

With regard to the analysis process implemented and in accordance with the methodological

principles of philosophical hermeneutics, the hermeneutic process was structured in three

interpretative stages that constitute a dialectical movement between understanding and

explanation according to the Gadamerian tradition of textual analysis. Initially, and as the first

phase of the interpretative process, a comprehensive reading of each document was carried out

to identify its central arguments, methodologies used and main conclusions, which allowed for

the establishment of an overview of the state of knowledge on the subject without imposing

preconceived categories on the texts analysed, thus respecting the hermeneutic principle of

Revista Multidisciplinaria Perspectivas Investigativas

Multidisciplinary Journal Investigative Perspectives

Vol. 6(1), 1-18, 2026

Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje como marco pedagógico para atención de diversidad en básica educativa

Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing diversity in basic education

Jimmy Leonel Cevallos-Ostaíza

Génesis Yadira Bravo-Vélez

Yahaira Jasmin Arteaga-Velásquez

Diana Dolores Velez-Muñoz

openness to the meaning that emerges from the text itself in its context of production.

Subsequently, moving towards deeper levels of interpretation, an analytical reading was carried

out to identify emerging categories, conceptual relationships, and theoretical convergences

between the different authors. In this phase, three main categories of analysis were established:

pedagogical foundations of DUA, neuroscientific contributions to inclusive learning, and

emotional intelligence as a mediating factor. These categories emerged from reflective dialogue

with the texts rather than from prior theoretical impositions that could bias the interpretation

toward confirmation of preconceived hypotheses. Subsequently, and as the culmination of the

interpretative process, an interpretative synthesis was developed that integrated the categorised

findings into a coherent and systematic understanding of DUA as a pedagogical framework for

addressing diversity in basic education, thus articulating the parts into a meaningful whole that

illuminates both the individual components and their interrelationships in a coherent narrative

that accounts for the phenomenon in its complexity.

In relation to the epistemological foundations of the analysis carried out and in accordance with

the continental hermeneutic tradition, the hermeneutic interpretation was based on the principle

of the hermeneutic circle, whereby the understanding of the parts (individual studies) illuminates

the understanding of the whole (the DUA as an integral framework), while understanding the

whole reframes the interpretation of the parts, thus configuring a recursive movement that

progressively deepens the understanding of the phenomenon under investigation without

claiming to reach a definitive or closed interpretation. This dialectical movement between the

particular and the universal made it possible to construct an analytical narrative that transcends

the mere description of isolated discoveries to articulate a comprehensive view of the

phenomenon studied, recognising that meaning emerges from the dialogue between the

interpreter and the texts rather than from the mechanical extraction of information contained in

them, which is the fundamental principle that distinguishes hermeneutics from other methods of

documentary analysis.

With regard to the criteria of methodological rigour applied and in order to guarantee the validity

of the proposed interpretations, interpretative rigour was ensured through triangulation of

sources, constant comparison between the approaches of different authors, and explicit

statement of the researcher's interpretative assumptions. These processes sought to minimise

bias and ensure that the proposed interpretations were solidly grounded in the texts analysed,

in accordance with the standards of academic rigour required in qualitative research.

Hermeneutic validity was achieved when the proposed interpretations demonstrated internal

consistency, empirical basis in the analysed texts, and explanatory capacity with respect to the

educational phenomenon examined, which was verified through iterative review of the emerging

categories and their comparison with the documentary corpus until theoretical saturation was

achieved in the identified categories. This interpretative process sought not to impose pre-

established categories on the texts but to allow the categories to emerge from reflective

dialogue with the scientific literature, thus respecting the hermeneutic principle of openness to

what the texts have to say rather than confirming preconceived hypotheses that would limit the

heuristic potential of interpretative analysis.

RESULTS

This section presents the results in the form of hermeneutic categories:

Category 1: Pedagogical and epistemological foundations of Universal Design for

Learning

From a perspective that questions the very foundations of traditional school organisation,

Universal Design for Learning is based on the recognition that cognitive, sensory, and affective

diversity is the norm in any human group, not the exception. This epistemological premise

challenges traditional conceptions that assume a typical student as a reference point for

curriculum design, subsequently requiring adaptations for those who do not fit this normative

parameter, which is culturally constructed rather than based on empirical evidence. UDL

proposes to reverse this logic by creating in advance multiple means of representation,

Revista Multidisciplinaria Perspectivas Investigativas

Multidisciplinary Journal Investigative Perspectives

Vol. 6(1), 1-18, 2026

Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje como marco pedagógico para atención de diversidad en básica educativa

Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing diversity in basic education

Jimmy Leonel Cevallos-Ostaíza

Génesis Yadira Bravo-Vélez

Yahaira Jasmin Arteaga-Velásquez

Diana Dolores Velez-Muñoz

expression and involvement that accommodate the variability inherent in learning processes,

thus configuring a framework that shifts the responsibility for adaptation from students to the

pedagogical designs themselves in a movement that has both pedagogical and legal

implications in terms of guaranteeing the right to education in conditions of material equality.

Consequently, and in view of the practical implications of this conceptual framework, the

literature analysed shows that the effective implementation of DUA requires substantial

transformations in educational planning that go beyond superficial methodological adjustments

to commit to reconceptualisations of the purposes and means of education from a perspective

that could be described as guaranteeing educational rights. According to the documentation

from the field of curriculum planning by Ortiz-Sánchez et al. (2025), teaching planning based on

the DUA approach must be structured taking into account the multiplicity of learning profiles

present in the classroom, which implies designing experiences with built-in flexibility from the

outset, thus contrasting with conventional models where diversification is conceived as a

process subsequent to general planning, often limited to students with special educational

needs formally identified through diagnostic procedures that frequently operate from a deficit

logic that stigmatises difference as a pathology susceptible to correction or normalisation.

However, in relation to the structural principles that organise this pedagogical framework, the

guiding principles of UDL establish that the curriculum must offer multiple forms of

representation (the what of learning), multiple forms of action and expression (the how of

learning) and multiple forms of involvement (the why of learning), principles that respond to

specific brain systems such as recognition networks, strategic networks and affective networks

respectively, thus establishing a direct link between pedagogical prescriptions and neurological

functioning. This explicit link between pedagogical principles and neurological functioning

distinguishes DUA from other models of instructional differentiation that lack explicit

neuroscientific foundations or are based exclusively on didactic considerations without

reference to the biological bases of learning. Following this line of argument and emphasising

the scientifically grounded nature of the approach, Moreira-Cuadros et al. (2025) argue that the

articulation between DUA and neuroeducation represents an innovative approach to inclusion,

as it allows pedagogical decisions that were historically based on intuition or tradition to be

scientifically grounded, thus providing an empirical basis for practices that previously lacked

neuroscientific justification that could be verified by objective methods. This integration implies

that the options of representation, expression and involvement are not mere methodological

preferences but informed responses to the understanding of how different brains process

information, plan actions and motivate themselves towards learning goals, thus recognising

neurological variability as a constitutive characteristic of any student population that must be

addressed through appropriate pedagogical designs.

Notwithstanding the above, and recognising the resistance faced by the implementation of

innovative pedagogical frameworks, research carried out through case studies in real school

contexts by Wea et al. (2025) on the implementation of DUA in primary and secondary

educational units reveals that the transition to this pedagogical framework faces resistance

linked to entrenched conceptions of normality and difference, which have been consolidated

through professional trajectories and school experiences that naturalise homogeneity as a

desirable and technically viable pedagogical ideal. Participating teachers initially expressed

scepticism about the feasibility of designing simultaneously for multiple learning profiles,

perceiving this demand as an overload that exceeds the capacities and resources available in

real school contexts characterised by material, time and training limitations that condition the

effective possibilities for pedagogical transformation. However, as the training and practical

experimentation process progressed, they reported recognising that anticipated flexibility

reduces the need for subsequent individualised adaptations, which are often implemented in a

reactive and fragmented manner when learning difficulties have already taken root and

crystallised into trajectories of academic failure that are difficult to reverse through late

interventions.

From another perspective and through methodological approaches to synthesising scientific

evidence, Han and Lei (2024) identified through systematic review that teachers' beliefs about

Revista Multidisciplinaria Perspectivas Investigativas

Multidisciplinary Journal Investigative Perspectives

Vol. 6(1), 1-18, 2026

Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje como marco pedagógico para atención de diversidad en básica educativa

Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing diversity in basic education

Jimmy Leonel Cevallos-Ostaíza

Génesis Yadira Bravo-Vélez

Yahaira Jasmin Arteaga-Velásquez

Diana Dolores Velez-Muñoz

UDL vary considerably, observing greater receptivity in educators who have experienced

contexts of high student diversity, suggesting that awareness of learning variability emerges not

only from theoretical training but also from direct experience with students whose needs

challenge homogeneous pedagogical approaches that are manifestly insufficient to address the

heterogeneity inherent in contemporary classrooms. Student beliefs also showed heterogeneity,

with marked preferences for options of expression and representation that aligned with their

predominant learning styles, thus confirming that diversity of preferences is not a theoretical

construct but an experiential reality that students articulate when given opportunities to do so

through pedagogical designs that legitimise and value difference as an educational resource.

Table 1. BLP principles and their pedagogical implications for basic education.

UDL Principle

Neurological

Basis

Application in Primary

Education

Implementation Challenges

Multiple means of

representation

Recognition

networks of the

brain

Present content in diverse

formats: visual, auditory,

kinaesthetic, and digital

Resource limitations; teacher

training in educational

technologies

Multiple means of

action and

expression

Strategic brain

networks

Provide a range of ways for

learners to demonstrate

understanding: oral, written,

artistic, and practical

Standardised assessment

systems; limited curriculum time

Multiple means of

engagement

Affective brain

networks

Provide options to enhance

motivation: autonomy, personal

relevance, and collaboration

Classroom management

demands; individualised

monitoring; established

pedagogical traditions

Source: Own elaboration (2026).

As can be seen in Table 1 and in terms of the structural synthesis of the components of the

pedagogical framework, each principle of DUA is linked to specific neural systems and

translates into concrete pedagogical practices for basic education, revealing that the challenges

identified are not primarily conceptual but rather operational and cultural, related to institutional

conditions, professional training, and established educational traditions that operate as real

structural obstacles to pedagogical innovation. This finding suggests that the implementation of

UDL requires not only theoretical understanding but also the transformation of school structures,

assessment systems, and pedagogical cultures, which implies systemic interventions that

exceed the will or competence of individual teachers to engage in educational policies, resource

allocation, and institutional reorganisation that require decisions at management levels that

transcend the individual classroom.

Additionally, from an epistemological perspective that redefines traditional concepts of ability

and disability, the epistemological perspective of UD design reconceptualises disability as a

mismatch between learner abilities and the design of the learning environment, rather than as

an inherent deficit in the individual. This constitutes a substantive epistemological shift from

medical or psychological models that locate the difficulty in the student, attributing pathological

characteristics that require treatment or correction through specialised interventions. In line with

this orientation and through the application of data analytics tools in educational contexts, Roski

et al. (2024) applied learning analytics approaches to DUA, demonstrating that when

educational environments are designed with built-in flexibility, students traditionally categorised

as ‘underachievers’ demonstrate abilities that remained invisible in rigid contexts, reinforcing the

DUA premise that many learning difficulties are iatrogenic, i.e., generated by the education

system itself through designs that exclude variability, thus constructing deficits that are artefacts

of the system rather than essential characteristics of individuals.

Extending this perspective to dimensions often overlooked in pedagogical analysis and

broadening the scope of the framework beyond the traditional classroom, Sturges et al. (2025)

theorised about the application of DUA in outdoor play spaces, extending the principles beyond

the traditional classroom to the entire school experience in recognition that learning transcends

formal moments of instruction. Their preliminary analysis suggests that school recreational

Revista Multidisciplinaria Perspectivas Investigativas

Multidisciplinary Journal Investigative Perspectives

Vol. 6(1), 1-18, 2026

Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje como marco pedagógico para atención de diversidad en básica educativa

Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing diversity in basic education

Jimmy Leonel Cevallos-Ostaíza

Génesis Yadira Bravo-Vélez

Yahaira Jasmin Arteaga-Velásquez

Diana Dolores Velez-Muñoz

spaces are often designed for a limited range of motor skills, excluding students with reduced

mobility or different sensory preferences, which reproduces in the recreational sphere the

exclusions that UDAD seeks to overcome in the academic sphere, thus perpetuating

segregations that affect the right to comprehensive development. The proposal to universalise

the design of these spaces exemplifies how the DUA transcends the purely academic

dimension to encompass the entirety of the school experience, recognising that learning and

development are not limited to formal moments of instruction, but occur in the multiplicity of

experiences that make up everyday school life and that all of them must be designed in

accordance with principles of universal accessibility that guarantee full participation.

Category 2: Contributions of neuroscience to inclusive learning

From the field of neuroscience applied to education, and constituting one of the scientific pillars

underpinning the DUA, educational neuroscience has generated substantial knowledge about

how the brain learns, providing empirical support for pedagogical practices that historically

lacked scientific basis. It has thus established itself as a discipline that articulates neural

understanding with educational applications through methods that allow for the objective testing

of hypotheses about learning processes. Understanding the neural mechanisms involved in

attention, memory, emotional processing, and executive function allows for the design of

educational interventions informed by evidence about brain functioning, thus overcoming purely

intuitive approaches or those based exclusively on pedagogical tradition that lack support in

verifiable scientific knowledge about how learning processes occur at the neurological level.

This articulation between neuroscience and pedagogy constitutes one of the pillars that support

the DUA proposal, since the principles of this framework are based on understandings of how

different brains process information and construct learning, thus establishing scientific bases

that justify pedagogical flexibility as a technically grounded response to the neurological

diversity that constitutes any population.

In line with the above and establishing the epistemological basis for the integration of

neuroscience and education, Thomas and Arslan (2025) systematically examine why the brain

matters for education, arguing that neuroscientific knowledge allows us to overcome educational

myths and base instructional decisions on an understanding of the learning organ, which

represents a substantial advance over times when pedagogical decisions were made without

reference to neurobiological bases that could guide instructional design towards formats

compatible with brain functioning. Among the relevant contributions are the recognition that

individual brains exhibit significant structural and functional variability, which justifies the need

for pedagogical flexibility as a technically sound response to objectively verifiable neurological

differences; the confirmation that learning physically modifies the brain through neural plasticity,

which provides a basis for learning expectations for all students regardless of initial conditions

that do not determine future abilities; and the identification of sensitive periods during

development when certain abilities are acquired more easily, which has implications for

curriculum sequencing that must be adjusted to neurologically determined windows of

opportunity.

Delving deeper into the evolutionary aspects of neurological development and their implications

for pedagogical design, Hoferichter and Raufelder's (2025) research on neuromechanisms

during child development documents how brain maturation follows different trajectories across

cognitive domains, revealing that while visual and auditory areas reach maturity early, the

prefrontal regions responsible for executive function continue to develop into early adulthood in

a process that extends far beyond what was traditionally assumed in models of cognitive

development. This asynchrony of maturation has direct implications for primary education,

suggesting that uniform expectations regarding self-regulation, planning, or inhibitory control

may be inappropriate for certain age ranges, which justifies the provision of external scaffolding

for executive functions that have not yet been neurologically consolidated and therefore cannot

be demanded as if they were fully available capacities in all students regardless of their

chronological age or level of brain maturation.

Revista Multidisciplinaria Perspectivas Investigativas

Multidisciplinary Journal Investigative Perspectives

Vol. 6(1), 1-18, 2026

Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje como marco pedagógico para atención de diversidad en básica educativa

Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing diversity in basic education

Jimmy Leonel Cevallos-Ostaíza

Génesis Yadira Bravo-Vélez

Yahaira Jasmin Arteaga-Velásquez

Diana Dolores Velez-Muñoz

From another perspective and focusing on a specific sensory system with relevant pedagogical

implications, Chen (2020) conducted a mini-review on education and visual neuroscience,

identifying that visual perception is not a passive process of receiving information but rather an

active construction in which the brain interprets stimuli based on previous experience and

expectations. This has substantial implications for the design of visual educational materials,

which often assume uniform processing of visual information among students. This discovery

underpins the DUA's proposal to offer multiple visual representations, recognising that students

with different experiential backgrounds will interpret visual representations in different ways,

thus requiring variety in formats and modes of presentation to ensure universal accessibility that

does not depend on uniform visual processing, which neuroscience has shown does not exist in

heterogeneous populations.

Complementarily, and recognising the influence of environmental factors on neurological

development, the work developed from an ecological perspective of development by D'Angiulli

et al. (2021) on pre- and post-school influences on learning adaptations establishes that

environmental, socioeconomic, and relational factors significantly modulate neurological and

cognitive development, which underscores that observable learning differences in classrooms

reflect not only genetic variability but also inequalities in early development opportunities that

generate neurological differences attributable to social conditions rather than essential

biological determinants. From this perspective and with implications for educational justice, DUA

can be conceptualised as an educational justice strategy that partially compensates for

accumulated disadvantages through inclusive pedagogical design, recognising that educational

equity requires not only equal access but also intentional differentiation that addresses diverse

needs resulting from unequal developmental trajectories determined by socioeconomic

conditions that the education system must compensate for through appropriate pedagogical

designs.

From another perspective, linking neuroscience with population mental health, Jia and

Schumann (2022) discuss how cognitive neuroscience can enhance education and population

mental health, pointing out that neurobiologically informed educational interventions have the

potential to prevent learning difficulties and socio-emotional problems, suggesting that

neuroeducation not only improves academic learning but also contributes to overall well-being,

understood as an educational objective that transcends the mere transmission of disciplinary

content. Early identification of signs of difficulties, based on neurocognitive markers that can be

objectively verified using neuroscientific methods, allows for more effective preventive

interventions than late remedial approaches, which are often implemented when difficulties have

already become chronic and low performance trajectories have been established through self-

fulfilling prophecy processes that are difficult to reverse through late interventions.

Table 2. Relevant neuroscientific contributions to the implementation of DUA in basic education.

Neuroscientific Finding

Implication for UDL

Practical Application

Empirical Evidence

Interindividual neurological

variability

Justifies multiple means of

representation

Present information simultaneously in

diverse formats

Thomas and Arslan (2025);

Hoferichter and Raufelder

(2025)

Brain plasticity

Supports learning expectations for

all learners

Design scaffolded, gradable

challenges with adjustable supports

Chen (2020); D’Angiulli et al.

(2021)

Multiple attentional systems

Requires varied engagement

strategies

Alternate instructional modalities and

incorporate active breaks

Jia and Schumann (2022)

Integrated emotional

processing and cognition

Links emotional engagement with

effective learning

Create emotionally safe and

personally meaningful learning

environments

Casino-García et al. (2019)

Asynchronous development

of executive functions

Calls for differentiated scaffolding

based on developmental maturity

Provide external supports for planning

and self-regulation

Hoferichter and Raufelder

(2025)

Source: Own elaboration (2026).

As shown in Table 2 and summarising the neuroscientific contributions to the pedagogical

framework, the integration of these neuroscientific contributions with DUA principles allows for

the scientific substantiation of pedagogical decisions that were previously based on tradition or

intuition, thus forming a robust empirical basis for inclusive practices that can be justified by

reference to objectively verifiable scientific knowledge about brain functioning. Evidence on

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Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje como marco pedagógico para atención de diversidad en básica educativa

Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing diversity in basic education

Jimmy Leonel Cevallos-Ostaíza

Génesis Yadira Bravo-Vélez

Yahaira Jasmin Arteaga-Velásquez

Diana Dolores Velez-Muñoz

neurological variability validates the need for instructional flexibility as a response to constitutive

diversity rather than as a concession to individual deficits requiring special treatment.

Knowledge about plasticity justifies high expectations for all students with appropriate supports,

thus overcoming biological determinism that limits expectations about learning abilities. and

understanding the integration between emotion and cognition supports the principle of multiple

means of engagement, recognising that learning is not a purely cognitive process but an

experience that involves the whole person in their cognitive, emotional and relational

dimensions, which must be addressed in an integrated manner.

From another perspective, and although developed in a clinical context with potential

transferability to the educational field, Larsen et al. (2024) investigated education in pain

neuroscience in rehabilitation contexts, demonstrating that understanding the neural

mechanisms underlying subjective experiences improves adherence to interventions and

outcomes. Although developed in a clinical context, its logic transfers to education, where

understanding neurological processes can empower students. Understanding how the brain

learns can empower students as agents of their own learning, developing metacognition that

allows them to identify strategies that work for their particular neural configurations and thus

adjust their approaches to learning in an informed manner. This meta-understanding is

particularly relevant in basic education, where patterns of self-regulation and beliefs about

learning ability are established that can enhance or limit future educational trajectories through

effects that accumulate throughout school careers.

Likewise, recognising the impact of emerging technologies on contemporary education, Leng

(2024) analyses the challenges and opportunities that ChatGPT presents for anatomical

education, arguing that artificial intelligence-based technologies modify both what is learned and

how it is learned, which connects with the DUA principle of leveraging technological tools to

provide multiple representations and expression options that were previously technically

unfeasible or excessively costly. Neuroscience-informed educational technology can

personalise learning experiences on previously unfeasible scales, allowing for real-time

adaptations that respond to individual response patterns, thus creating unprecedented

possibilities for realising DUA principles through intelligent digital tools that can adjust content,

formats and sequences according to individual needs detected by machine learning algorithms.

Consequently, emphasising the need for disciplinary integration that reflects integrated brain

functioning, Basu et al. (2021) describe the design and implementation of integrative STEM

education for neuroscience at the university level, whose principles are transferred to basic

education insofar as they propose disciplinary integration that recognises that the brain does not

process knowledge in silos corresponding to school subjects but rather constructs

interconnected understandings that transcend disciplinary boundaries artificially constructed by

academic traditions. The DUA aligns with this vision by proposing flexibility that allows for

emerging interdisciplinary connections, thus overcoming the curricular fragmentation that often

characterises traditional school organisation, where knowledge is presented in a disconnected

manner, hindering the construction of integrated understandings that require articulation

between diverse disciplinary domains.

Category 3: Emotional intelligence as a mediating factor in the implementation of the

DUA

Recognising the comprehensiveness of the educational phenomenon beyond its purely

cognitive components, emotional intelligence, understood as a set of abilities to perceive,

understand, regulate and use emotions in an adaptive manner, constitutes a significant

mediating factor for both teachers and students in the effective implementation of the DUA,

since socio-emotional skills facilitate the creation of inclusive environments, the management of

diversity and the use of involvement options that DUA proposes in response to the motivational

and affective variability of students. The literature analysed shows that the development of

these skills is not a peripheral or complementary dimension but a substantive component that

largely determines the effectiveness of universally designed pedagogical practices, since the

Revista Multidisciplinaria Perspectivas Investigativas

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Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje como marco pedagógico para atención de diversidad en básica educativa

Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing diversity in basic education

Jimmy Leonel Cevallos-Ostaíza

Génesis Yadira Bravo-Vélez

Yahaira Jasmin Arteaga-Velásquez

Diana Dolores Velez-Muñoz

implementation of pedagogical flexibility requires emotional skills that enable the management

of the complexity inherent in heterogeneous educational environments.

In line with this perspective and using an explanatory model of relationships between emotional

variables, Casino-García et al. (2019) developed a relational model between subjective

emotional well-being, emotional intelligence and mood in students, identifying that these

variables influence each other in complex ways, shaping differentiated educational experiences

that cannot be explained exclusively by traditional cognitive or academic variables. Their

findings show that students with higher emotional intelligence report better subjective well-being

and more positive moods regardless of whether they are identified as talented or not,

suggesting that the development of socio-emotional skills should be a cross-cutting objective in

basic education, not only because it facilitates academic learning but also because it contributes

directly to overall well-being, a dimension that is often neglected in education systems focused

exclusively on academic achievement measured by standardised tests that ignore the socio-

emotional dimensions of development.

With regard to the role of teacher training in the development of emotional skills, teacher training

in emotional intelligence emerges as a determining factor for the implementation of DUA,

recognising that the pedagogical transformations proposed by this framework require emotional

and relational skills that exceed technical knowledge of instructional design or mastery of

disciplinary content, which have traditionally constituted the core of teacher training. As

documented by experimental research on the effects of training programmes by Özdemir-Cihan

and Dilekmen (2024), emotional intelligence training programmes for teachers in initial training

generate significant improvements in emotional recognition, affective regulation and

interpersonal relationship management skills, results that are relevant when considering that the

implementation of DUA requires sensitivity to diverse emotional states, flexibility to adjust

instruction according to emerging needs, and the ability to manage the complexity inherent in

heterogeneous classrooms where multiple needs coexist simultaneously, demanding

differentiated responses that require real-time pedagogical decision-making.

Complementarily, and analysing the components that make up effective training programmes in

this area,

Dolev and Leshem (2017) analysed components of effective emotional intelligence training

designs for teachers, identifying that successful programmes combine theoretical instruction

with reflective practice, modelling, and specific feedback, training elements that are transferable

to DUA professional development programmes in accordance with teacher training principles

that emphasise situated learning. This suggests that teacher training should go beyond the

presentation of theoretical principles to incorporate practical experimentation and reflection on

implementation, recognising that pedagogical change does not occur merely through

conceptual understanding but through the transformation of practical schemes that have been

consolidated through years of professional experience and that often operate tacitly without the

full awareness of teachers.

Similarly, focusing on pedagogical strategies to develop emotional intelligence in contemporary

students, Ghita-Pirnuta and Cismaru (2022) investigated teaching strategies to develop

emotional intelligence in millennial students, documenting that experiential and collaborative

approaches generate greater impact than transmissive instruction, evidence that aligns with the

DUA principle of providing multiple forms of engagement that recognise generational

preferences for active and socially mediated learning. This convergence recognises that

emotional engagement with learning is facilitated by active, socially contextualised, and

personally relevant experiences, which contrast with transmissive pedagogies where students

adopt passive roles as recipients of information disconnected from their life experiences and

meaningful contexts that could give meaning and relevance to school learning.

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Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje como marco pedagógico para atención de diversidad en básica educativa

Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing diversity in basic education

Jimmy Leonel Cevallos-Ostaíza

Génesis Yadira Bravo-Vélez

Yahaira Jasmin Arteaga-Velásquez

Diana Dolores Velez-Muñoz

Table 3. Teacher and student emotional intelligence as mediators of DUA.

EI Dimension

Role in UDL

Implementation

Manifestation in Teachers

Manifestation in

Students

Emotional

perception

Identifying affective states

that facilitate or hinder

learning

Recognising signs of frustration,

disengagement, or commitment in

students

Identifying one’s own

emotions during learning

tasks

Emotional

understanding

Interpreting the causes

and consequences of

affective states

Understanding why certain

students become demotivated by

specific tasks

Understanding how

emotions influence

academic performance

Emotional

regulation

Modulating affect to

optimise teaching and

learning processes

Maintaining composure in

response to challenging behaviour

and adjusting instruction

accordingly

Managing test anxiety

and frustration when

facing difficulties

Strategic use of

emotions

Harnessing emotions to

motivate and support

learning

Creating a positive emotional

climate and linking content to

learners’ interests

Using positive emotions

to persist when facing

challenges

Source: Own elaboration (2026).

As shown in Table 3 and summarising the dimensions of emotional intelligence relevant to DUA,

each dimension of emotional intelligence fulfils specific functions in both teachers and students

to facilitate the effective implementation of universally designed practices that require emotional

competencies for their effective operationalisation. In this order, research developed from

contemplative perspectives applied to education by Wang (2023) on the synergy between

teacher mindfulness and emotional intelligence in teacher-student relationships establishes that

educators with high levels of these competencies build bonds characterised by greater warmth,

understanding and perceived support, quality relationships that facilitate students to take risks in

participating in diversified learning options without fear of judgement or stigmatisation.

These relationships of trust allow students to express confusion without fear of judgement,

demonstrate learning in formats that may initially be uncomfortable, and experiment with diverse

strategies, recognising that error is a natural component of learning rather than a sign of

incompetence that must be hidden to preserve academic image.

Notwithstanding the above, and recognising the complexity of the relationships between

emotional variables and pedagogical practices, Su et al. (2022) examined the relationships

between teacher emotional intelligence, teaching for creativity, and work engagement,

identifying that work engagement mediates the relationship between EI and creative

pedagogical practices. This suggests that educators' emotional intelligence does not directly

influence their instructional practices but rather through the mediation of their engagement and

professional well-being, which operate as intervening variables. For the implementation of DUA,

this implies that working conditions that promote teacher well-being will indirectly facilitate

flexible and innovative pedagogical practices, thus recognising that pedagogical transformation

does not depend exclusively on individual will or competence but on structural conditions that

enable or limit professional teaching practice through organisational, material and relational

factors that shape the work context.

From the students' perspective and examining how emotional competencies moderate

educational experiences, Li and Zhang (2024) explored relationships between teacher-student

dynamics, enjoyment of learning, and burnout in students of English as a foreign language,

finding that emotional intelligence moderates these relationships so that students with higher EI

reported less burnout and greater enjoyment even in contexts where relational dynamics were

suboptimal and potentially stressful. This evidence suggests that the development of student

emotional intelligence is a protective factor that cushions the effects of adverse educational

conditions, thus establishing itself as a skill that not only facilitates academic learning but also

protects psychological well-being in potentially stressful contexts, such as school environments

characterised by evaluative pressures and social comparisons.

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Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje como marco pedagógico para atención de diversidad en básica educativa

Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing diversity in basic education

Jimmy Leonel Cevallos-Ostaíza

Génesis Yadira Bravo-Vélez

Yahaira Jasmin Arteaga-Velásquez

Diana Dolores Velez-Muñoz

Consolidating the evidence through quantitative synthesis methods, Peng and Shuhong (2025)

conducted a meta-analysis of emotional factors in language learning, confirming that emotional

intelligence significantly predicts academic achievement with effect sizes comparable to

variables traditionally considered central, such as linguistic aptitude or time of exposure to the

language, challenging traditional hierarchies that prioritise cognitive variables over emotional

ones. This discovery reinforces the relevance of incorporating socio-emotional development as

an integral component of the curriculum, rather than as an optional add-on that may or may not

be implemented depending on the availability of resources, recognising that emotions are not a

separate dimension of learning, but are intrinsically intertwined with cognitive processes,

shaping integrated educational experiences that cannot be artificially fragmented without losing

pedagogical effectiveness.

Extending the evidence to vocational training contexts in health areas with principles

transferable to basic education, the non-technical skills training programmes for nursing

students researched by Jiménez-Rodríguez et al.

(2022) showed that structured training in socio-emotional skills improves both emotional

intelligence and resilience. Although the study was conducted with a university population, its

implications can be transferred to basic education, where these skills can be developed from an

early age. Consequently, emotional skills can be developed through intentional and structured

intervention; they are not fixed personality traits determined genetically, which justifies their

explicit inclusion in curriculum objectives and the design of learning experiences that

intentionally promote these abilities through appropriate methodologies that have proven

effective in controlled research.

Consequently, systematising knowledge about effective strategies for developing emotional

competencies, Napolitano et al. (2023) developed a systematic review protocol on the

effectiveness of learning strategies for developing emotional intelligence in nursing students,

preliminarily identifying that experiential approaches, role-playing, and simulation-based

learning are promoters according to available empirical evidence. The transfer to basic

education suggests that DUA can incorporate these strategies as options within the principle of

multiple means of expression and involvement, recognising that socio-emotional development is

facilitated by active experiences that allow for experimentation, reflection, and feedback in safe

contexts that enable emotional risk-taking without negative consequences that inhibit future

learning.

In this regard, and providing qualitative evidence on learning experiences that integrate

academic and socio-emotional objectives, MacKinnon et al. (2015) reviewed qualitative

evidence on maternal-infant simulation-based learning experiences, documenting that these

experiences generate the development of both technical and socio-emotional competencies,

which exemplifies how pedagogical strategies can integrate academic and socio-emotional

objectives into coherent learning experiences that do not artificially fragment dimensions that

occur in an integrated manner in lived experience. In this component, simulation as a

pedagogical strategy exemplifies how DUA can be operationalised through methodologies that

offer multiple forms of representation (observing, participating, reflecting) and expression

(acting, discussing, written analysis), configuring learning experiences that simultaneously

develop disciplinary knowledge and socio-emotional competencies in recognition that both

dimensions are interdependent and mutually constitutive.

INTEGRATIVE THEORETICAL CONTRAST

Based on the analysis of the three emerging categories and through a process of synthesis that

articulates the various components examined, theoretical convergences can be identified that

support DUA as a comprehensive pedagogical framework for addressing diversity in basic

education, revealing articulations between dimensions that have often been addressed in a

fragmented manner in the educational literature without recognising their substantive

interconnections that form a coherent whole. The first convergence is established between the

principles of DUA and neuroscientific discoveries about brain variability, forming an articulation

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Multidisciplinary Journal Investigative Perspectives

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Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje como marco pedagógico para atención de diversidad en básica educativa

Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing diversity in basic education

Jimmy Leonel Cevallos-Ostaíza

Génesis Yadira Bravo-Vélez

Yahaira Jasmin Arteaga-Velásquez

Diana Dolores Velez-Muñoz

where DUA proposes to design in advance for diversity, while neuroscience empirically confirms

that such diversity is an inherent characteristic of any human group determined by constitutive

neurological variability.

This convergence scientifically substantiates what could initially have been proposed based on

values of equity and inclusion without robust empirical support, thus providing a verifiable

scientific basis for pedagogical practices that recognise and value individual differences as an

expression of neurological diversity rather than as deficits requiring correction through

normalising interventions.

Additionally, establishing a second line of convergence between components of the proposed

framework, the second convergence articulates emotional intelligence with the principle of

multiple means of engagement, recognising that evidence on the role of emotional factors in

learning validates the DUA proposal to offer options that connect with the diverse motivations,

interests, and affective states that characterise heterogeneous student populations. It is not only

a matter of recognising that students prefer different modalities according to arbitrary individual

preferences, but also of understanding that emotional involvement is a necessary condition for

meaningful and lasting learning that transcends superficial memorisation, thus transcending

cognitive views of learning that minimise or ignore affective and motivational dimensions that

research has shown to be determinants of academic achievement with effects comparable to

purely cognitive variables.

Likewise, establishing a third convergence that links teacher training with emotional

competencies, the third convergence links teacher training in DLA with the development of

professional emotional intelligence, since the studies reviewed suggest that effectively

implementing DLA requires not only conceptual knowledge of the principles of the framework

but also socio-emotional competencies that enable teachers to manage complexity, maintain

flexibility, and respond sensitively to the emerging needs that characterise heterogeneous

classrooms where multiple demands coexist simultaneously. This convergence indicates that

teacher professional development programmes must integrate both dimensions in a coherent

manner, recognising that pedagogical transformation involves not only intellectual

understanding of theoretical principles but also the development of emotional and relational

dispositions that enable inclusive practices that are sustainable over time, beyond the initial

enthusiasm that often fades in the face of implementation difficulties.

Nevertheless, recognising that every pedagogical framework faces limitations and

contradictions in its practical application, tensions also emerge that deserve analytical attention,

since the implementation of DUA does not occur in a vacuum but in school contexts

characterised by material conditions, pedagogical traditions and regulatory frameworks that

often contradict its principles, creating structural obstacles to its effective realisation. The main

tension lies between the ideals of DUA (designing for all diversity without exclusion) and the

contextual realities of basic education (limited resources, high student-teacher ratios,

overloaded curricula, standardised assessment systems that penalise diversification), which

creates a gap between the aspirations of the framework and the possibilities for implementation

in real contexts characterised by structural constraints that limit teachers' scope for action.

Resolving this tension requires not only teacher willingness or theoretical understanding of DUA

principles, but also structural transformations in school organisation, educational policies and

accountability systems that currently favour homogeneity and standardised measurements

incompatible with the pedagogical flexibility that DUA proposes as a response to the diversity of

the student body.

At the same time, a second tension that warrants careful consideration has been identified.

another identifiable tension concerns the relationship between flexibility (a central principle of

DUA that proposes multiple options) and equity, recognising that while offering diverse options

can benefit students with different needs by facilitating personalised trajectories, it can also

reproduce inequalities if students with less cultural capital, family support or self-regulatory skills

systematically make less challenging or academically productive choices that perpetuate social

stratification through seemingly neutral mechanisms. The DUA must be complemented by

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Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje como marco pedagógico para atención de diversidad en básica educativa

Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing diversity in basic education

Jimmy Leonel Cevallos-Ostaíza

Génesis Yadira Bravo-Vélez

Yahaira Jasmin Arteaga-Velásquez

Diana Dolores Velez-Muñoz

scaffolding that helps students make informed decisions about learning options in accordance

with their understanding of the medium- and long-term implications, thus preventing flexibility

from becoming a mechanism that reproduces social stratification through differential patterns of

choice that reflect pre-existing inequalities rather than authentic preferences based on individual

characteristics disconnected from social conditioning that limits horizons of possibility.

Therefore, as an integrative synthesis of the components analysed, the articulation between

DUA, neuroeducation and emotional intelligence configures a pedagogical model that

simultaneously addresses the cognitive, affective and contextual dimensions of learning,

recognising that these domains do not operate independently, but rather influence each other,

configuring integrated educational experiences that cannot be artificially fragmented without

loss of understanding and effectiveness. This model recognises that diverse brains learn in

different ways (an empirically documented neurological dimension), that emotional states

significantly modulate cognitive processes (an experimentally verified affective dimension), and

that learning environments can be designed to accommodate this variability (a pedagogical

dimension that can be operationalised through DUA principles), thus overcoming fragmented

views that address cognition, emotion, and pedagogy as independent domains requiring

separate interventions when in reality they constitute components of an integrated whole that

must be addressed systemically.

CONCLUSION

Based on the hermeneutic analysis developed and in order to respond to the stated objective of

analysing Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing diversity in

basic education as an educational approach for the Ecuadorian pedagogical context, it is

conclusively concluded that UDL constitutes a comprehensive conceptual and operational

framework, scientifically grounded and legally aligned with the constitutional principles of

educational inclusion that govern the Ecuadorian education system, since its articulation with

educational neuroscience and emotional intelligence constitutes a comprehensive pedagogical

proposal capable of realising the right to education under conditions of equity recognised in the

Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador and developed in the Organic Law on Intercultural

Education.

The neuroscientific basis of the DUA provides empirical support for pedagogical decisions that

were historically based on tradition or intuition, documenting that interindividual neurological

variability justifies the need for instructional flexibility as a technically sound response to the

diversity that characterises Ecuadorian classrooms, where students with different

developmental trajectories determined by social, cultural and economic conditions that generate

inequalities in early learning opportunities converge, while the incorporation of emotional

intelligence as a mediating factor is particularly relevant to the Ecuadorian context, where socio-

emotional factors have a significant impact on the educational trajectories of students facing

conditions of social vulnerability, internal migration, situations of human mobility, or belonging to

indigenous peoples and nationalities that require culturally sensitive and emotionally supportive

pedagogical approaches in accordance with the principles of interculturality enshrined in the

current legal system.

Consequently, and by way of a conclusive summary that responds forcefully to the research

objective set out, the analysis demonstrates that Universal Design for Learning constitutes a

pedagogical framework that is scientifically based, technically viable and legally relevant for

addressing diversity in Ecuadorian basic education, since its principles of multiple means of

representation, expression and involvement respond directly to the inherent heterogeneity of

Ecuadorian classrooms, characterised by cultural, linguistic, socio-economic and ability diversity

that reflects the plurinational and intercultural composition of the State.

The effective implementation of this framework requires systemic transformations that involve

coherent public education policies, sufficient and sustained budgetary allocation, systematic

teacher professional development that integrates conceptual and socio-emotional dimensions,

curricular reorganisation that overcomes traditional disciplinary fragmentation, reformulation of

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Multidisciplinary Journal Investigative Perspectives

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Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje como marco pedagógico para atención de diversidad en básica educativa

Universal Design for Learning as a pedagogical framework for addressing diversity in basic education

Jimmy Leonel Cevallos-Ostaíza

Génesis Yadira Bravo-Vélez

Yahaira Jasmin Arteaga-Velásquez

Diana Dolores Velez-Muñoz

standardised assessment systems that are incompatible with pedagogical flexibility, and

differentiated attention to inequalities in resource allocation between urban and rural areas that

allow the principles of the DUA to be realised, particularly in educational establishments that

serve vulnerable populations where pedagogical flexibility is imperative for educational justice.

In the Ecuadorian context, the DUA represents not only a methodological innovation but also a

legal-pedagogical tool that allows for the realisation of constitutional principles of inclusion,

interculturality, and good living that shape the national educational model, thus constituting an

educational approach whose progressive adoption is imperative for the fulfilment of state

obligations regarding the right to education in accordance with constitutional and international

standards that are legally binding on the Ecuadorian state.

FUNDING

Non-monetary

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

There is no conflict of interest with individuals or institutions linked to the research.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To the Ministry of Education, Zone 4, District 13D07 Chone - Flavio Alfaro, Manabí – Ecuador.

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