Curriculum Including Digital Technologies

Overview

Swansea University has been involved in recent changes to the curriculum in Wales. As part of an ongoing commitment to the civic mission of the University, we are building a group of researchers interested in studying the new curriculum, and curriculum studies more generally.

This is an exciting time to be studying the curriculum in Wales. Not only is the new Curriculum for Wales being rolled out, but this new curriculum gives a lot of freedom to schools and teachers.

This means that for the first time in a long while, teachers are going to be thinking about some big questions about education. What is education? What do schools aim to do? Where should and shouldn't schools intervene? How can the ambitious new curriculum continue to build on the foundations of the old curriculum?

At the end of the day, the curriculum dictates how schoolchildren spend a large part of their lives. A bad curriculum can waste children's time, and a good curriculum can improve their lives and society around them.

Recent Activities

Dr Helen Lewis and Professor Tom Crick are involved in a Collaborative Research Network with colleagues from other universities across Wales. The focus of the network is to explore curriculum and pedagogy, and the group are currently working on two research projects. One explores young children's understanding of Cynefin, and one considers teacher's experiences of the curriculum through a Currere approach.

Professor Tom Crick was involved in consultations to ensure that digital competence is a cross-curricular skill in the new Curriculum for Wales, alongside literacy and numeracy.

Dr Jane Gatley is working on a project to develop a philosophical toolkit for teachers to deal with tensions between different values as they implement the new curriculum.

Dr Zoe Clegg is working on a project looking at digital citizenship and the new curriculum. In particular, she is interested in the role of education in supporting young people to be engaged and active citizens in relation to both their current civic roles, as well as their future aspirations and trajectories post education. Simultaneously, Initial Teacher Education team members are supporting their students to take up positions in schools that are currently implementing the new curriculum.

Dr Jane Gatley is also interested in curriculum studies more generally. Her book, The Case for Teaching Philosophy in Schools asks about the place of philosophy on the curriculum, taking as its starting point the idea that the curriculum should be responsive to the aims of education.

Relevant Publications

Chapman, S., Ellis, R., Beauchamp, G., Sheriff, L., Stacey, D., Waters-Davies , J., Lewis, A., Jones, C., Griffiths, M., Chapman, S.J., Wallis, R., Sheen, E., Crick, T., Lewis , H., French, G. and Atherton, S. (2023) “My picture is not in Wales”: Pupils’ Perceptions of Cynefin (Belonging) in Primary School Curriculum Development in Wales, Education 3-13.

Gatley, J. (2023). Why Teach Philosophy in Schools? London: Bloomsbury.

Gatley, J. (2023). ‘Cultural Capital, Curriculum Policy and Teaching Latin’, British Educational Research Journal, 49(1), pp.174-17.

Lewis,H., Crick T. (2022) Secondary schools in Wales: governance, policy and curriculum in Capel et al Learning To Teach in the Secondary School, 9th edition.

Gatley, J. (2021). ‘Intrinsic Value and Educational value’, Journal of Philosophy of Education, 55(4-5), pp. 675-687.

Gatley, J. (2020). ‘Can the New Welsh Curriculum Meet its Purposes’, Curriculum Journal, 31(2), pp.201-21.

Clegg, Z. (2020). Young People and Citizenship, available at: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/140307/2/1128029%20Zoe%20Clegg%20-%20thesis,%20final.pdf.

Crick, T., Golding, T. (2020). ‘Building a New Curriculum for Wales: Practitioners as Curriculum Policy Makers’, 33rd International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement.

Curriculum Including Digital Technologies

Overview

Recent Activities

Relevant Publications

Contact