Have teachers in Wales been rebranded by the Welsh Government?

Finola Wilson

When is a teacher not a teacher? This might sound like the start of a joke, but if you teach in a school in Wales, the answer is anything but funny.

That’s because the Welsh Government seems to have rebranded all teachers, along with teaching assistants and anyone else employed in a classroom setting in Wales, as ‘enabling adults’, whose job is not to teach, educate or instruct, but instead to ‘enable’ children in their learning.

The Government also seems to want to expand the learner-centred and play-led pedagogy approach of the Foundation Phase, which was originally designed for 3-7-year-olds, to all learners up to the age of 16. Both of these developments are hugely significant and, if implemented, would represent a fundamental change to teaching practice in Wales.

Let me explain. Last year the Welsh Government released guidance aimed at early years teachers that was intended to help them design their curriculum as part of the new Curriculum for Wales. A section entitled ‘enabling learning’ made no mention of teachers at all, but instead referred to ‘enabling adults’, whose role would be ‘fundamental’ to supporting learners during this important phase of their development.

This guidance probably passed many teachers by, and those that did see it probably either overlooked the new terminology or saw it in the context of early years teaching, in which a more supportive and nurturing approach is appropriate.

However, last month the Welsh Government launched a consultation on updating its Curriculum for Wales guidance. The consultation document includes the same ‘enabling learning’ section as the previous guidance, again with no reference to teachers whatsoever, but the description makes it clear that this “should be used in the planning, designing and implementing of a pedagogically appropriate curriculum for all learners, not just our youngest learners”.

This is effectively telling teachers (sorry, enabling adults) that they should limit the direction they provide to pupils and allow them to choose their own learning path – right up until they sit their GCSEs.

If this is implemented, it will represent nothing less than an ideological shift in how teachers are expected to teach in Wales. Being a teacher is an active role; teachers are professionals who use their knowledge and enthusiasm to engage and educate. This guidance undermines the role of a teacher, stripping them of their professionalism and downgrading their status from an intellectual and psychological guide and instructor to a mere facilitator.

What’s more, it will be a huge step backwards for Wales’ education system, at a time when it is already beset by multiple crises and languishing well below those of the rest of the UK in terms of outcomes and standards. Other education systems that have used a learner-centred approach, such as New Zealand, Australia, some states in the US and most notably Scotland, are now moving to more directed teaching to achieve better outcomes and higher standards.

There is an overwhelming body of robust international research that shows more directed teaching, such as that seen in countries closer to the top of the PISA tables like England, supports better outcomes for pupils. For the Welsh Government to now be planning to require teachers of all pupils aged 3-16 to use an approach that has been widely linked with lower standards is remarkable.

The consultation document gives no clue as to why this decision has been made, or what evidence is being used to support the approach. We urge the Welsh Government to reconsider and to properly engage with teachers – not enabling adults – about the best way forward.

Finola Wilson is a Director of Impact Wales, an education company that works with schools and teachers across the UK and beyond