Inclusive Science Education: Removing the Barriers to Science Teaching and Learning

Science education is increasingly expected to reach every learner, yet many students still face barriers that limit their participation and engagement. Today’s classrooms include children with diverse cultural backgrounds, linguistic profiles, learning preferences, and disability-related needs. Insights from Disability Studies in Education show that exclusion often results from instructional design choices rather than student characteristics. At the same time, inquiry-based science learning—now widely promoted—demands pedagogical approaches that allow all learners to engage, explore, question, and make sense of scientific phenomena. Teachers, however, often feel unprepared to adapt science teaching and learning for varied learners. Frameworks such as Universal Design for Learning (UDL) highlight how science instruction can be proactively structured to offer multiple pathways for engagement, representation, and expression. In parallel, the development of digital educational resources increasingly requires alignment with recognised accessibility standards, such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2, Levels A and AA), to ensure technical access for all learners. Understanding how these principles can be integrated into science education is therefore critical for ensuring equitable learning opportunities.

The goal of this Research Topic is to advance knowledge and share practices that dismantle barriers to inclusive science teaching and learning. We aim to bring together research that helps educators design, implement, and sustain science learning experiences that embrace learner diversity rather than treat it as an obstacle. This includes examining how inquiry-based science can be adapted through differentiation, multimodal learning opportunities, and inclusive design principles such as those offered by UDL. In addition, attention to recognised digital accessibility standards, such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2, Levels A and AA), can support the development of digital resources that are technically accessible to all learners. We welcome work that investigates how teachers develop confidence, competence, and professional identity in inclusive science education, as well as studies that explore how classroom structures, resources, and pedagogical tools can increase accessibility and participation. By foregrounding inclusion as an essential component of high-quality science education, this Research Topic seeks to identify strategies that enable all students—including those with disabilities, multilingual learners, and students who have historically been marginalized—to take part in scientific investigation, reasoning, and discovery.

This Research Topic welcomes contributions that examine the intersection of science education, learner diversity, and inclusive pedagogical design. We invite studies addressing inclusive inquiry-based science teaching, differentiation practices, teacher self-efficacy, and the application of UDL as a means to reduce barriers to scientific engagement. Submissions focusing on pre-service and in-service teacher preparation, curriculum adaptation, classroom-based interventions, or the integration of multimodal and technology-enhanced supports aligned with accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG 2.2 A/AA) are strongly encouraged. We accept a wide range of manuscript types, including empirical studies (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods), design-based or intervention research, conceptual and theoretical analyses, methodological innovations, case studies, and practice-oriented papers. Manuscripts should clearly demonstrate how the work contributes to understanding and advancing inclusive science education.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Science Education, Inclusive Education, Teacher Practices, Teachers Professional Development, Teacher preparation, Learning Environments

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.