Achieving the New Curriculum for Wales
Wales (United Kingdom) is on the path to transform the way children learn, with a new curriculum aimed to prepare its children and young people to thrive at school and beyond. The new curriculum for Wales intends to create a better learning experience for students, to engage teachers’ professionalism, and to contribute to the overall improvement of Welsh education. An education policy is only as good as its implementation, however, and Wales turned to the OECD for advice on the next steps to implement the curriculum. This report analyses the progress made with the new curriculum since 2016, and offers suggestions on the actions Wales should take to ready the system for further development and implementation. The analysis looks at the four pillars of implementation — curriculum policy design, stakeholders' engagement, policy context and implementation strategy — and builds upon the literature and experiences of OECD countries to provide tailored advice to Wales. In return, the report holds value not only for Wales, but also for other education systems across the OECD looking to implement a curriculum or to enhance their implementation processes altogether.
Building on a strong co‑construction process
This chapter analyses the implications of Wales’ commitment not only to engage stakeholders in policy making, but also to co-construct the new Curriculum for Wales. Co-construction can help stakeholders get deeply involved in educational change, seeing the new curriculum as a common endeavour to enhance education in Wales. Paired with strategic leadership and support from the Welsh Government, co-construction can contribute to building trust and collaboration between education stakeholders, crucial for the long-term sustainability of the new curriculum. For the next stages, there is a need to review and provide more clarity in roles and responsibilities between the various stakeholders involved in the process, as well as in the support that the Welsh Government and the middle tier can bring to help schools as they put the new curriculum into practice.
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