USCET Cymru: Initial Teacher Education in Wales: contributing to the National Mission

Summary

In 2015, Professor Furlong’s review, Teaching Tomorrow’s Teachers, set out an ambitious vision for high-quality initial teacher education (ITE), later encapsulated in the new Criteria for the Accreditation of ITE in Wales. Since then, seven higher education institutions (HEI) in Wales have embraced a close school-HEI partnership model of ITE, with knowledge gained from research, scholarship and practice at the heart of the preparation of new teachers, and which prepares them to realise the Curriculum for Wales.

Initial Teacher Education in Wales: contributing to the National Mission

Teacher education in Wales now thrives on close
collaboration among stakeholders, including ITE
Partnerships, Welsh Government, Estyn, EWC, HEIs,
and schools, which are crucial for the success of
reformed ITE provision. Despite significant operational
challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic, 7 newly
founded partnerships supported the entry of over
4,500 new teachers into the profession from 2019
-2023, across a diverse offering of accredited
programmes designed to meet the needs of local
communities.

The aims of the reformed vision for ITE are in service of
a much broader and radical transformation of
education in Wales. Our National Mission (Welsh
Government, 2023) sets out six objectives for the
successful implementation of change in education in
Wales, and it is clear that ITE has an important part to
play in providing opportunities for life-long learning,
breaking down barriers to educational success, in the
nurturing of positive, empowering learning experiences
in our school communities and in helping people of all
ages and backgrounds across Wales to see themselves
reflected in all parts of the education experience – from
the curriculum to the staff who support them. Crucially,
of course, ITE also has a key part to play in welcoming
aspiring teachers to the profession and helping them
take their first steps along their journey to becoming a
high-quality, effective teacher and leader.

This paper aims to showcase the contributions ITE
partnerships in Wales are making to the ongoing
realisation of this vision. It details the collaborative
efforts both within and between partnerships, and
highlights the strategic benefits which are beginning to
embed within the reformed system. Whilst these
successes offer much to celebrate, we also draw on
Partnership expertise and localised, contextual
information to identify strategic barriers and structural
issues. These may hinder this important work and we
do not shirk from the sector's responsibility and civic
mission to develop and implement quality provision.
We also highlight emergent risks to the establishment
of a financially resilient and sustainable model of ITE,
particularly in regard to secondary shortage subject
and Welsh medium provision. We conclude with
several recommendations as to how - together - we
might address such challenges and continue to realise
a vision in which every child in Wales has an excellent
teacher to support them.

Due to the large file size, we are unable to attach a full copy of the paper here. However if you would like a PDF copy, please email us at: info@ucet.ac.uk and we can provide you with one.