Curriculum for Wales - 4 Crucial Qs
3 - The role of research in schools' implementation of CfW
Our third blog in a series of 4 on crucial questions schools need answered.
What role should research have in schools’ implementation of Curriculum for Wales?
Welsh Government very recently published information about the use of research in Wales to support the curriculum design process. This has slightly changed the focus of this third blog, and brought the role of research within the curriculum reform journey into sharp focus in Wales.
What the draft guidance says:
Welsh Government yesterday announced ‘Lead Enquiry Schools’ were considering what professional learning would be needed by schools to prepare for implementation of Curriculum for Wales 2022. A link was provided to the National Professional Enquiry Project (NPE Project)¹ which began in November 2018. The aim of the project is for schools to engage in “cycles of enquiry focused on the new curriculum and associated pedagogy to identify professional learning requirements to support practitioners to plan and deliver the new curriculum.”
Individual teachers from the Lead Enquiry Schools (formerly Professional Learning Pioneer Schools) are being supported through the project to become Lead Enquirers, with the possibility of accreditation.
Schools have been supported by the universities to identify an enquiry question from a list drafted by Welsh Government:
- Planning for a purpose-driven curriculum
- Pedagogy and how learning works
- Project-based learning
- Implications for leadership and management
The potential implications for schools:
Welsh Government clearly has a focus on including academic educational research in the curriculum reform process. The NPE Project has generated two very detailed published reports from the three universities involved, outlining recommendations to Welsh Government on next steps. There is also a very clear determination from Welsh Government to use the development of teachers as educational researchers as a key method by which schools will be supported to implement the new curriculum.
This information raises key implications for schools to consider. Firstly, what is the role of the wealth of research that already exists on the science of learning in the curriculum reform process? There is no specific mention in the NPE Project of the cognitive science findings on effective learning strategies, such as retrieval practice, cognitive load theory or direct teaching.
Secondly, how are the professional enquiry cycles being carried out by schools, for example "to see how using assessment for learning improves outcomes"², helping the schools involved to redesign their curriculum ready for September 2022, if the enquiry questions are not directly related to curriculum redesign? Indeed, the school outlines available online that detail the questions being asked, make for very interesting reading. How “authentic learning will develop students’ problem solving and reasoning ability”, or how to teach “transferrable skills, in particular interpretation, analysis and evaluation” are both highly contentious issues where there is robust research evidence both in support and against. It would be good to know that schools have been supported to explore both sides of the argument and how exactly that has been used to redesign their curriculum.
After three professional enquiry cycles for these Lead Enquiry Schools, UWTSD states, “the university has reiterated that while it considers professional enquiry to be of unquestionable value, it does not believe that this project is conducive to supporting curriculum design more specifically.” We would ask then, if research is not being used to support schools to design a curriculum that provides a better education for the children of Wales, what is it being used for?
What schools need now:
The first consideration of any school in Wales now, is what changes do they need to make to the organisation, structure and pedagogical content of their curriculum ready for Curriculum for Wales. Using research to reflect on whether what they are doing is good enough, seems to be only part of the curriculum reform process. As the NPE Project report states schools need “time, space and funding to engage with the curriculum documents”, make decisions about the changes that need to be made and then design a curriculum, using the best evidence available.
As the NPE Report goes on to say, “the lack of preparedness among schools and staff for both the new curriculum, and for engagement in this kind of action enquiry work” needs to be addressed. “Schools will require a deeper knowledge and understanding of existing research literature and, indeed, where and how to access it.” Both these statements have been made about pioneers who have been deeply involved in the process to date, so one might infer that the need is all the greater amongst non-pioneers, something highlighted by Dr Nigel Newton’s evidence to the CYPE committee in the Senedd earlier this month.³
Repeated on a number of occasions by the universities in their report is, in order to effectively change their curriculum, schools need to know how it will be assessed and what accountability⁴ measures will be used. “Much greater clarity is needed in relation to the future of assessment, accountability and qualifications, if the right environment is to be created for the change management and professional learning developments required. These are key enablers and should not be delayed until later in the process.”
Finally, the report states; “The development of professional learning provision focused on curriculum design and planning (‘curriculum making’) should be a high priority.” So, professional enquiry is useful to schools to reflect on whether the changes they have made work, the curriculum should be built on a bedrock of evidence-based practice, but what schools need now, is professional learning that shows them how to design their local curriculum.
¹ https://hwb.gov.wales/professional-development/national-professional-enquiry-project
² Interesting to note that the detailed reports state that most schools say they already use assessment for learning strategies prior to taking part in the project.
³ http://senedd.assembly.wales/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=443&MId=5722&Ver=4
⁴ https://www.smore.com/k0zy6-curriculum-for-wales-4-crucial-qs
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