Publications

This article explores children’s responses to a single question: ‘If someone gave you £1 million today, what would you do with it?’ Although such an exploration might seem trivial, we argue that their responses provide important insights into children’s values and priorities. One-third intend to spend it all, one quarter to save it. But the…

Higher education is recognized as vital to any balanced development strategy. However, for several decades higher education was an afterthought in development policy, it being seen as a poor use of scarce resources. Two trends have changed this – recognition of the public goods character of higher education and the importance of knowledge economies, and…

This final report presents the main findings from the evaluation. These are organised in four main chapters: the implementation of the Foundation Phase Foundation Phase practice the impact of the Foundation Phase an economic analysis of the Foundation Phase. The final chapter discusses the implications of these findings with associated recommendations.

The changes in the world today are characterized by new levels of complexity and contradiction. These changes generate tensions for which education is expected to prepare individuals and communities by giving them the capability to adapt and to respond. This publication contributes to rethinking education and learning in this context. It builds on one of…

This chapter traces the way in which national and local policies have at different times favoured selective or non-selective admissions arrangements in English secondary schools. It shows how, for most of the past century, the key issue of contention in political and educational debates was whether and how to select for a bipartite system on…

The purpose of this study is to explore curricular and young people’s orientations to, and representations of, the areas in which they live contrasted against curricular representations of place in Wales. This is accomplished through a mixed methods approach incorporating statistical and content analysis. Responses were coded with a positive, neutral or negative value and…

It draws on: 239 classroom/setting observations 341 practitioner interviews 604 school/setting survey responses 1,008 parent/carer survey responses 37 Local Authority interviews 4 non-maintained organisation interviews.

It draws on: 239 classroom and setting observations 341 practitioner interviews 604 school and setting survey responses 37 Local Authority interviews 4 non-maintained organisation interviews.

The Foundation Phase is a Welsh Government flagship policy of early years education (for 3 to 7-year-old children) in Wales. Marking a radical departure from the more formal, competency-based approach associated with the previous Key Stage 1 National Curriculum, it advocates a developmental, experiential, play-based approach to teaching and learning. The Learning Country: a Paving…

Since devolution, the Welsh Government has implemented a range of progressive curriculum reforms that have sought to foster enthusiasm for learning, to develop key academic skills and competencies and to promote a strong sense of citizenship. The Welsh Government has now committed itself to a fundamental and independent review of the national curriculum and assessment…