Cyflwynwyd yr ymateb hwn i ymchwiliad y Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg i weithredu diwygiadau addysg

This response was submitted to the Children, Young People and Education Committee inquiry into Implementation of education reforms

IER 17

Ymateb gan: Canolfan Materion Rhyngwladol Cymru ar ran Cynghrair Dysgu Byd-eang Cymru

Response from: Welsh Centre for International Affairs on behalf of Wales Alliance for Global Learning

Nodwch eich barn mewn perthynas â chylch gorchwyl yr ymchwiliad. | Record your views against the inquiry’s terms of reference.

· Implementation of the Curriculum for Wales in early yearssettings, primary schools and secondary schools.

The Wales Alliance for Global Learning supports the initial steps of the implementation of the Curriculum for Wales using pioneer schools to agree successful techniques and peer development and research between teachers to ensure that the rollout is realistic and valuable.   As an organization, we would question how much support and training is offered to individual schools beyond these initial stages however, as many of our teachers describe “going towards what is familiar” for topics or “lacking confidence” to change their curriculums in the face of the current reforms. As experts in the ethical, informed citizenship purpose of the New Curriculum, we would welcome more investment in subject knowledge for global affairs (including interdependence, diversity and power) as well as citizenship skills (including critical thinking, problems solving and intellectual humility).

· The level of consistency and equity of learning opportunities for pupils across Wales, given the flexibility for schools to develop their own curricula within a nationalframework.

Wales’ Alliance for Global Learning recognizes that schools bringing in the new welsh Curriculum are doing so from vastly different circumstances. Whilst some schools are in a position to confidently develop curricula that is based around their learners, many others are limited by geography, finances and time-poverty/expertise for staff. We would recommend that schools are offered a greater budget for shared learning projects and that systems to put teachers in touch with organisations who can support them in these projects are improved. This would enable schools to work with not only others in Wales but also the wider world to discover different ways of collaborating to tackle complex problems. For learners and teachers affected by these inequalities, this kind of system would provide an opportunity to bridge gaps by offering meaningful opportunities to team up with other organisations, including other schools, and share practice.

· The associated reform of qualifications to align with the Curriculum for Wales.

The Wales Alliance for Global Learning has offered feedback separately on the reform of qualifications and we would continue to highlight the importance of support for teachers. Since much assessment in the GCSEs in particular is left to teacher discretion, we must also embrace the fact that not all teachers will be comfortable in tackling ethical and informed citizenship across the curriculum.

The largest overarching area for us is the opportunity to look at multiple global perspectives and minoritized voices and how they affect the overarching subject. In all areas, this diversity of perspective can and should be strengthened.