Reflection on the Ways in which Educational Professionals are Co-constructing Shared Understandings of Learning Progression for Curriculum for Wales

The Camau i’r Dyfodol project is a three-year research collaboration between the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and the University of Glasgow. The project supports education professionals to realise Curriculum for Wales (CfW) through a process of co-construction. Within the context of CfW, which is a process-oriented, purpose-led curriculum, the project explores how curriculum, assessment and pedagogy can be better aligned, and where the focus is on the process of learning and not only the final outcomes, thus trying to untangle these educational tensions. Singh and Morrison-Love will discuss Phase 1 of the project, which focused on understandings of progression in the education system in Wales. Sharpling and Eleri will discuss Phase 2, which enabled education professionals to collaboratively think through the challenges and opportunities of curriculum realisation. Building upon shifts in thinking involved when working with a purpose-led, process-oriented curriculum, Makara-Fuller will discuss Phase 3 of Camau i’r Dyfodol, which put CfW into practice in schools and settings. Ryder and Farrar will discuss the ways in which the project supported practitioners in schools across Wales to develop curricula using a process-oriented approach. Brychan and Valdera-Gil will discuss the ways in which the project team engaged in conversations with Welsh Government, Local Authorities, Consortia, Estyn (Inspectors) and Qualifications Wales to explore what CfW as a process-oriented, purpose-led curriculum means for 1) professional learning, 2) quality in the education system, and 3) learning and teaching 14-16 year olds. Patrick and Borquez-Sanchez will present findings on how understandings of CfW in HEI settings in Wales shape approaches to teacher education. Wiseman-Orr will act as a discussant in the symposium, critically reflecting upon the project implications for equity in teaching and learning. These curriculum development approaches are designed to be widely incorporated into professional practices resulting in capacity building across the system.