New initiative champions inclusive education at UNSW

A recently launched network of educators is transforming classrooms to make education more inclusive and accessible for all.

If you’ve never heard of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), that’s partly the point – because when inclusion works, it often goes unnoticed. UDL is about giving every learner a fair chance by designing courses that work for anyone.

Earlier this month, UNSW launched the Nexus UDL Guild, a new network of educators who will help bring these ideas into every classroom.

The Nexus initiative, launched in 2024, brought together dozens of teaching innovators across faculties to reimagine how great ideas in education are shared and scaled. The new Guild builds on that work with a specific focus on inclusion by design.

Mariana Rodriguez, who leads the Nexus UDL Guild, says UDL is much like designing a building with accessibility in mind. “Think of UDL as the educational parallel to incorporating ramps and lifts in architectural design,” she says. “Rather than adding accommodations later, courses are intentionally designed from the outset to be accessible and effective for a wide range of learners.” In practice, she says this means planning lessons with multiple ways to engage – for example, recording lectures with transcripts so students can review and learn at their own pace – and varied assessment options, such as choosing between a written piece or a short video.

Inclusive design also shows up in small but meaningful shifts in the classroom including captioned videos, clear and structured learning resources, and materials provided in screen-reader-friendly formats. These strategies benefit all learners, not only those requiring formal adjustments.

Putting UDL into practice 

UNSW Professor Terry Cumming, a leading special education researcher, says offering different formats for assignments or participation improves outcomes for everyone. She describes inclusive design as a game-changer for students and teachers alike. “Small, student-driven changes can have an immediate impact,” she says. “Even asking students what would make learning easier for them can reveal simple ways to remove barriers and make teaching more effective for everyone.“

Rodriguez says one of the Guild’s first priorities is adapting the latest UDL guidelines for Australian higher education.  “UDL 3.0 adds a focus on the ‘who’ of learning, for example, inviting us to better integrate identity, culture and lived experience,” she explains. “Designing for equity at UNSW means recognising that these elements aren’t peripheral. They shape how students engage, succeed and belong.“

Rodriguez says that embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and global Indigenous knowledges and worldviews is central to this process.

“It is not just a design choice; it is a relational and ethical responsibility grounded in dialogue with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. By embedding inclusion into systems and curriculum from the outset, we’re creating conditions where diverse learners don’t need to ask for special arrangements, because their needs are already considered.“

Student participation is central to the Guild’s vision once appropriate support is in place. The team plans to first secure funding to remunerate students for their time and input, and it is exploring ways to support Diversified — UNSW’s neurodivergent student collective — as a sister community and connect with other student groups leading work in equity, diversity and inclusion.

Associate Professor Anne Galea, Director of the Nexus Program, describes the Guild as a natural next step in joining the dots across UNSW. She says Nexus has proven how collaboration between central teams and faculties can turn strategy into classroom change. 

“We can do this because Nexus is a community of change agents who translate central initiatives into faculty contexts and bring local innovation back up into University-wide practice,” she says.

The Guild’s launch also reflects growing momentum across the University to embed inclusive practice at scale. The Inclusive Teaching Toolkit for Educators developed by the student collective Diversified is one of several resources UNSW is investing in to help educators make learning more accessible, flexible and human-centred.

Looking ahead

UNSW is rolling out more resources to support inclusive practice. In November 2025 the University will launch an online UDL hub with new tools and case studies, giving educators across the sector access to practical examples and ideas to apply inclusive design in their teaching. The hub will evolve with input from the Nexus UDL Guild, whose recently launched monthly Lab sessions give educators space to share ideas and test what works. Together, these initiatives aim to translate UDL principles into day-to-day teaching.

Rodriguez says the launch would bring inclusive teaching to life. “The new online UDL hub will give educators a central place to connect, share and adapt ideas that support flexibility and equity in teaching,” she says. “It’s about turning ideas into action and building a culture where inclusion is part of every lesson.”