Training and inclusive pedagogy: Uzbek academics' reflections on UDL-based professional development

Abstract

This study analyzes the impact of a hybrid, Universal Design for Learning (UDL)-based professional development (PD) program on the pedagogical instructional practices, awareness, and academic identity of Uzbek academics. Addressing a gap in the literature on Central Asian higher education, the research employs a qualitative-exploratory design grounded in the Teacher Professional Development Research (TPDR) framework. Data were collected from 22 academics at two public Uzbek universities through pre-training, post-training, and delayed post-training semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions across a 144-hour hybrid program delivered in Türkiye and Uzbekistan. Results point out that participants initially framed the program as an institutional requirement for professional renewal rather than a genuine growth opportunity. Post-training and delayed post-training data, however, reveal a meaningful shift toward greater awareness of inclusive pedagogy, flexible instructional design, and student-centred practice aligned with UDL principles, including emerging changes in lesson planning, engagement strategies, and cross-disciplinary usage of digital tools such as artificial intelligence. The program also contributed to a broader reconceptualization of academic identity, fostering a more collaborative, project-oriented, and internationally engaged professional outlook. Furthermore, participants underlined that adapting UDL principles remained context-dependent, shaped by institutional, disciplinary, and structural constraints specific to the Uzbek higher education system. The research concludes that hybrid UDL-based PD can catalyze pedagogical transformation, but sustainable implementation requires systematic institutional support, contextual adaptation, and long-term professional learning structures. These findings extend the global discourse on inclusive education by offering insights from an underrepresented regional context, with implications for policy, practice, and future research.