Impact case study database

In 2022, Wales will completely replace a centrally-controlled approach with a new ‘Curriculum for Wales’ (CfW) in all its state schools. CfW’s core precept is that teachers are best placed to decide the needs of their pupils. It will empower individual teachers to develop bespoke curricula within a national framework and will affect Wales’s school population of 468,838 pupils and 22,000 teachersFootnote:

BESA: https://www.besa.org.uk/key-uk-education-statistics/ accessed 20 November 2020 . Cardiff Met are a key partner in the NPEP which is developing the Nation’s capacity to launch CfW across Wales in 2022.

Impacts on teachers and pupils

1. Cardiff Met’s role in the NPEP was to leverage research expertise to support staff in the two Southeast Wales consortia which together account for ~ 47% of Wales’s school population. Our researchers directly supported ‘Lead Enquirer’ staff in 33 schools to become creative, problem-solving enquirers, capable of leading enquiries into specific areas of pedagogical interest and using the resulting knowledge to change working practices and develop practical curricula within the new CfW framework. Lead Enquirers initially reported the change being ‘daunting’ saying they were ‘sceptical at the start’ and ‘used to being told what to do’. They now report it being ‘(our) daily practice’ and ‘a mind-set’ [E1] “We (now) have a culture of enquiry that is part of everyday practice and is the mechanism that we use to improve teaching and learning. It is embedded into our self-evaluation processes … Having the expertise of the Cardiff Met staff helped us to develop consistency within the system but it was then backed up with a very personal approach that empowered us as professionals in a very supportive way.” - **Teacher – Cadoxton Primary School [E2]

“The Cardiff Met team have ensured the whole research and enquiry process has been robust, focused and beneficial for the individual schools involved.” Headteacher – Stanwell School [E2]

1. The 33 Lead Enquirers cascaded the new techniques within their schools, reaching ~ 1,012 other staff and ~ 14,900 pupilsFootnote:

Calculations assume a secondary school complement of 70 staff / 800 pupils and a primary schools complement of 15 staff / 300 pupils. : “We wanted to make sure that they were skilled to the level that I had been by attending the … Lead Enquiry Days with Cardiff Met.” - **Deputy Headteacher, St Gwladys Bargoed Primary School.**[E3]

1. Loudon and Gordon’s practical creativity and design thinking techniques gave teachers the tools to develop novel concepts based on their research findings and turn them into practical curricula: “The creativity and design thinking tools we learned from the Cardiff Met team empowered us to explore a multitude of ideas for areas of enquiry. They supported and encouraged us to challenge our assumptions by introducing new tools and wider reading. Their input has dramatically and positively impacted on how I approached my professional enquiry.” - **Teacher, Stanwell School [E2]

2. To aid implementation, the team authored a comprehensive handbook [E4] explaining the tools and techniques in the training programme and available to all teachers in Wales. “I particularly find the handbook useful as a reference guide. This has then positively impacted on the culture of enquiry in the school as we have been able to upskill staff using the same resources that the University used during our Engagement days.” – **Teacher, Glan Usk Primary School [E2]

3. The training our researchers have delivered has impacted the learning experiences of pupils involved in the NPEP who have experienced curricula designed for their specific needs: “We are starting to experiment with ways in which our pupils can develop and use enquiry questions as a stimulus for pupil/teacher co-construction of curriculum topics and projects.” - Deputy Headteacher, Rhws Primary School [E2]

“The feedback from all our stakeholders is that this approach to learning is bespoke to the child and about real authentic contexts … The children are able to talk about their learning in a much more reflective way.” - **Teacher – Cadoxton Primary School [E2]

Impact on Government Policy

1. At the end of the NPEP’s first year, a report primarily authored by Egan led the Welsh Government to re-shape the remainder of the programme, switching from a national to a regional approach, with Cardiff Met assigned to partner consortia in the populous Southeast Wales region [E5].

2. The NPEP’s success led to Welsh Government scaling it up to involve more than 300 schools [E6], while the COVID-19 pandemic saw them broaden the scope of teacher enquiries to include learning and re-imagining schooling and assessment, pedagogy and inclusive learning. In effect this was testimony that the NPEP had given teachers the tools to deal with major disruptive change: “As the Welsh education system attempts to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are empowering our teachers to use professional enquiry as a key feature of learning lessons from the period we are living through, including the impact of distance and blended learning.” – Educational Directorate, Welsh Government [E6]

In summary, Cardiff Met’s interdisciplinary researchers have positively impacted teachers, pupils and government policy, setting the scene for a truly transformative education landscape in Wales. “I have been more inspired to be a good teacher by participating in this scheme than by anything else in my career.” - Teacher, Porthcawl Comprehensive School [E2]