Rethinking Behavior with UDL: Moving Beyond Compliance to Student Engagement

Traditional behavior management in schools often prioritizes compliance and control while often failing to address the root causes of behavioral challenges, leaving educators stuck in reactive cycles. This session will challenge practitioners to rethink behavior through the lens of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), shifting from a discipline-first approach to a proactive, instructional approach that supports engagement, self-regulation, and executive functioning. By identifying environmental barriers and implementing UDL-aligned strategies, teachers can foster more inclusive, predictable, and supportive learning spaces that reduce behavioral incidents and empower students. 

By attending, you’ll learn: 

• Key environmental and instructional barriers that contribute to behavioral challenges.
• Turnkey UDL principles that can be applied to behavior support, moving beyond compliance to engagement.
• Concrete strategies for fostering student self-regulation and autonomy.
• Proven tools and conversation starters to support teachers in redesigning learning environments to better meet student needs.

Want more sessions to choose from? Check out all of the free, for-credit webinars in Share My Lesson's Summer of Learning 2026 series.

Executive summary from On24 AI: 

The webinar reframes student behavior as communication and argues that compliance-focused discipline often escalates issues, while Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can reduce barriers and increase engagement by redesigning the learning environment. Using a classroom example, the presenter shows how adult fear and rigid systems can trigger conflict, and how small structural changes and relationship-building can restore trust and access. UDL is positioned as a practical framework grounded in how people learn, emphasizing that learner variability is normal and that students can meet the same rigorous goals through different pathways. 

The session highlights that true engagement looks like curiosity, persistence, and problem-solving—not quiet obedience—and that challenging behaviors often signal breakdowns in engagement, representation, or action/expression. Key recommendations include co-creating classroom expectations with students, increasing meaningful choice, clarifying expectations with visual supports, building predictable routines, normalizing movement and regulation supports for all learners, and offering multiple ways to participate and demonstrate learning.