Conference Paper/Proceeding/Abstract 371 views
‘“My picture is not in Wales”: Building a sense of cynefin (belonging) through children’s perceptions in primary school curriculum development: a case study of Wales’.
Helen Lewis 
,
susan chapman,
Gary Beauchamp,
Rosy Ellis,
Lisa Sheriff,
Jane Waters-Davies,
Graham French,
Tom Crick ,
Rachel Wallis,
et al
,
susan chapman,
Gary Beauchamp,
Rosy Ellis,
Lisa Sheriff,
Jane Waters-Davies,
Graham French,
Tom Crick ,
Rachel Wallis,
et al
British Educational Research Association (BERA) conference 2023
Swansea University Authors:
Helen Lewis , Tom Crick
Abstract
In Wales, a new Curriculum for Wales is being implemented which recognises the importance of belonging and identity and uses the idea of cynefin to capture this. Cynefin is identified as a concept unique to each individual pupil, shaped by their histories, landscapes and developing identities (Welsh...
| Published in: | British Educational Research Association (BERA) conference 2023 |
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| Published: |
2024
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65418 |
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| Abstract: |
In Wales, a new Curriculum for Wales is being implemented which recognises the importance of belonging and identity and uses the idea of cynefin to capture this. Cynefin is identified as a concept unique to each individual pupil, shaped by their histories, landscapes and developing identities (Welsh Government, 2020). However, cynefin is a somewhat slippery term (Adams and Beauchamp, 2022). It is an old Welsh word that comes from hill farming, describing how sheep feel a mysterious attachment to the land (Tyne, 2022). In dictionaries it is defined as “habitat” as a noun, or “acquainted” as an adjective, yet it has no direct English translation.The papers in this symposium view cynefin through a variety of lenses, from theoretical to empirical evidence from primary school pupils in Wales. This work is contextualised by a view of Wales as a 'statelet' (Evans, 2022), situated in different conceptions of ‘nation’, from ‘Banal Nationalisms’ (Billig 1995) to ‘Performative’ nationalisms (Bhahba, 1988). It acknowledges Sant et al.’s (2015) warning against repeating historical mistakes of the classic nation state curriculum and how care needed not to create an inauthentic and self-serving 'romantic patriotic' version of the nation. There is therefore a need to reflect the historical ‘back-stories’ and meaningful present of local, national and global identities, but also to project future aspirational notions of citizenship in local, national and international arenas. Part of this future are children currently in primary schools in Wales, but Scourfield et al. (2006) suggestthat children have a limited repertoire of resources to draw upon in developing a Welsh identity. In addition, the interpretation of cynefin as a core concept of the new curriculum can be limiting and exclusionary if associated simply with localities and local demography. (Williams et al., 2021, p.10). |
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| Keywords: |
Curriculum for Wales; cynefin; belonging |
| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Funders: |
Welsh Government |