Implementing Curriculum Reform in Wales: The Case of the Foundation Phase

Autor/inn/en	Taylor, Chris; Rhys, Mirain; Waldron, Sam
Titel	Implementing Curriculum Reform in Wales: The Case of the Foundation Phase
Quelle	In: Oxford Review of Education, 42 (2016) 3, S.299-315 (17 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0305-4985
DOI	10.1080/03054985.2016.1184872
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; National Curriculum; Curriculum Development; Educational Change; Curriculum Implementation; Educational Policy; Public Policy; Experiential Learning; Play; Educational Practices; Mixed Methods Research; Program Evaluation; Early Childhood Education; Outcomes of Education; Policy Formation; Developmentally Appropriate Practices; Costs; Academic Achievement; Educational Indicators; United Kingdom (Wales) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Curriculum; Development; Curriculumentwicklung; Lehrplan; Entwicklung; Bildungsreform; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Öffentliche Ordnung; Experiental learning; Erfahrungsorientiertes Lernen; Spiel; Bildungspraxis; Programme evaluation; Programmevaluation; Early childhood; Education; Frühkindliche Bildung; Frühpädagogik; Lernleistung; Schulerfolg; Politische Betätigung; Entwicklungsbezogene Bildung; Cost; Kosten; Schulleistung; Educational indicato; Bildungsindikator
Abstract	The Foundation Phase is a Welsh Government flagship policy of early years education (for 3-7 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 document" (NAfW, 2001) notes that, following devolution, Wales intended to take its own policy direction in order to "get the best for Wales". Building on a three-year mixed methods independent evaluation of the Foundation Phase we discuss in detail the aims and objectives of the Foundation Phase, including the context to its introduction, the theory, assumptions and evidence underlying its rationale, and its content and key inputs. We then contrast this with how the Foundation Phase was received by practitioners and parents, how it has been implemented in classrooms and non-maintained settings, and what discernible impact it has had on young children's educational outcomes. The paper concludes with a critical analysis of the policy process and identifies a number of contextual issues during the inception of the Foundation Phase that has, it could be argued, constrained its development and subsequent impact. We argue that these constraints are associated with an educational policy landscape that was still in its infancy. In order for future education policy to "get the best for Wales" a number of important lessons must be learnt. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01