This 18 month research project was funded by the Welsh Government to develop a professional learning resource which would enhance the capacity and skills of practitioners related to assessment as they design curricula and learning experiences which embody the principles of progression and pedagogical principles which underpin Curriculum for Wales. UGEAN members Louise Hayward (PI), Estelia Bórquez Sánchez, Carolyn Hutchinson, George MacBride, David Morrison-Love, Francisco Valdera-Gil and Lesley Wiseman participated in this project in collaboration with colleagues in Yr Athrofa, University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

This resource was developed through a process of co-construction to which university researchers, the Welsh education policy community and practitioners in schools and settings across Wales contributed. The joint team developed and facilitated a series of draft workshops related to key aspects of the Curriculum guidance. Practitioners across Wales participated in these draft workshops in which policy, research and practice were brought together and critically examined. Analysis of transcripts of workshops identified issues of key importance for the development of school and practitioner capacity in assessment to support progression. Feedback from practitioners clarified and strengthened the model of a community of enquiry employed in the workshops. Throughout the development process policy makers at national and local level considered plans, attended draft workshops and reflected on the development of these.

The joint team developed the final resource in the light of this and submitted it in July 2022. This comprises a linked series of 6 workshops for practitioners which explore progression and assessment, placing the learner at the centre and integrating curriculum, assessment and pedagogy. These are supported by a handbook and materials for use by participants in the course of the workshops and associated activities. The workshops take the form of a professional community of enquiry in which participants are asked to critically examine policy and research, to relate these to their own experience and to plan development of practice to support learner progression in their own context. These workshops are made available to all interested as playlists on the Government’s educational intranet.

First published: 1 December 2022

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