Pioneering the New Curriculum for Wales with Dr. Judith Kneen

We're back! It's season 2, and we've decided that the best way to get over the fear of dusting off the microphones and recording a new episode is to call upon the ever-reassuring Dr. Judith Kneen, who is now approaching the status of regular guest and national podcast treasure. Judith has stopped by to discuss her recent research into how primary and secondary schools are faring with their work to pioneer the new curriculum for Wales, and especially the expressive arts Area of Learning and Experience (AoLE), though plenty of what she says will be relevant to other subject areas too. 'Pioneer schools' were chosen by the Welsh Government to have a go at some aspects of the new curriculum, so they're interesting subjects for research as they get to grips with concepts such as making powerful connections between subject areas. Judith has lots of interesting things to report about how differently things are going in the primary and secondary age phases, the opportunities and challenges presented, and where things are going next. This will segue smoothly into episode 2, in which we'll discuss with Dr Judith what we've been doing in terms of preparing student teachers for the challenges of teaching in a cross-curricular way. We also get the chance to give our revamped regular slots a run-out, and Emma has a podcast that gives ample material for all three slots! If you want to check it out for yourself, it's The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish. If you like what you hear, please rate, review, subscribe and tell your friends! You can find us on Twitter at @ethayer_cmu, @thomasbreeze and @judithkneen respectively. See you next time!   ---------- This episode was recorded at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed campus on 2nd July 2019