Environmental education and the new curriculum for Wales: An evaluation of how a family of schools in a rural area used a theory of change approach

Jones, Verity

Abstract

This paper evaluates an Environmental Education programme where the barriers and opportunities for professional development, access to specialist resources, provision through technology and partnership are considered within the context of Wales and the demands of a new curriculum. The findings reflect on the first three years of an education programme that uses a Theory of Change framework to plan for learning with 9–11 year olds in Wales, UK. Drawing on qualitative individual and group interviews with teachers and pupils across six schools, the successes and challenges of this framework are presented. I suggest that combining a Theory of Change framework with a Capability Approach—focussing on values and agency—offers a more useful planning tool for curriculums developing strategies where teacher agency is encouraged—compared to using one approach alone.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 9, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Oct 25, 2022
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Oct 9, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 31, 2022
• Journal: Environmental Education Research
• Print ISSN: 1350-4622
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-5871
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 392-409
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2022.2137470
• Keywords: UK, qualitative, curriculum design, Theory of Change, Capability Approach, freedom, Education
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7473703
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504622.2022.2137470