Louise Couceiro
“What’s awdurdod lleol in English? I can think of the word in Welsh, but I can’t think of it in English…” [Teacher 10].
Moments like these, in which participants adeptly weaved between Welsh and English in search for terms that did not neatly translate, were a regular occurrence during our recent conversations with teachers in Wales. Such moments provided a subtle yet powerful reminder of the specific linguistic and cultural context within which their work is situated. To date, our ethnographic research has focused on schools in England, and although many of the issues and questions arising from this research are relevant across all four nations, regional and local practices do vary in important ways. As our work aims to inform future equity-driven approaches to EdTech, of which understanding and valuing local contexts is an important part, engagement with key stakeholders beyond England’s borders is therefore essential.
As part of this engagement work, we interviewed ten teachers from different counties across Wales, representing schools of different sizes, language mediums (Welsh-medium, bilingual, and English-medium), and levels of technological resourcing, as well as a mix of town and rural contexts, and diverse student demographics. Through these interviews we sought to discuss the project’s findings and to explore how these aligned with or diverged from experiences within the Welsh context. While many of our findings resonated, such as disparities in digital infrastructure and resourcing, EdTech tending to reconfigure rather than simply “save” teachers’ time, and variations in students’ digital skills, other important issues distinctive to the Welsh context emerged.
The Welsh context and the Curriculum for Wales
Education in Wales is fully devolved, with policy shaped by the Welsh Government and guided by the Curriculum for Wales. Introduced in 2022, the curriculum promotes bilingualism in Welsh and English and places a strong emphasis on Welsh language, culture, and identity. It is structured around six Areas of Learning and Experience (AoLEs), alongside two cross-curricular skills frameworks: literacy and numeracy, and digital competence. Teachers highlighted both opportunities and challenges presented by the curriculum. Several commended its emphasis on encouraging independent learners, and others highlighted that its skills-based approach affords them significant autonomy over what they teach and how they teach. However, some teachers also expressed frustration about what they perceived to be insufficient detail in the curriculum and lack of guidance around assessment. Others reported concerns that the curriculum is simply too overcrowded, making it difficult to address all AoLEs and cross-curricular frameworks effectively. As one teacher described, ensuring that all skills are covered can feel like a jigsaw, requiring careful effort to make everything “mash together” [Teacher 4].
A cross-curricular approach to digital competence
The digital competence framework is a jigsaw piece of particular interest for our research. Wales’ cross-curricular commitment to developing students’ digital competence is markedly different from the approach taken in England, where the development of digital skills is largely confined to Computing in the National Curriculum (though the recent curriculum review recommends consideration of where digital skills and technologies have become an integral part of subject disciplines other than Computing, and to determine whether to include this specific digital content in those subjects’ Programmes of Study). Indeed, a key theme emerging from our ethnographic research in England is that there is considerable uncertainty surrounding which digital skills should be taught and who is responsible for teaching them. Wales’ digital competence framework provides a structure to help ensure responsibility is shared, integrating digital skills development across all AoLEs.
Some teachers reflected positively on the framework, viewing its introduction as a step towards recognising students’ digital experiences and equipping them with the skills needed for an increasingly digital society. They also emphasised the flexibility it offered, allowing schools to implement and manage digital competence in ways that suited their specific contexts. At the same time, teachers were concerned that there was not always adequate digital infrastructure in place to enable effective delivery of the framework. As one teacher explained:
“digital competency is a massive core purpose and theme for the new curriculum to make sure they are independent learners as well (…) if they want [students] to be truly independent they’ve all got to have the same, um, equitable access to IT and technology regardless of their financial background or their social status or you know who’s at home and where they are” [Teacher 8].
Three of the teachers we interviewed were responsible for overseeing the implementation and management of the digital competence framework within their respective schools. Each appeared disheartened that the literacy and numeracy framework “always and inevitably” received greater priority. Consequently, the digital competence framework was at times perceived as merely an “add on”, a situation exacerbated by the absence of a clear process for its meaningful assessment [Teacher 4]. While this cross-curricular approach to supporting students’ digital practices certainly had its merits among the teachers we spoke with, there remained considerable concerns regarding its effective implementation.
A national digital platform
Another distinctive aspect of Wales’ digital approach is Hwb – the country’s central learning and teaching platform for all maintained schools. Created in 2012, Hwb “aims to harness the potential of cutting-edge, bilingual digital technology to create a personalised and safe ecosystem which equips schools to prepare their learners to thrive in a global digital society” (Welsh government, 2024). The platform provides students and teachers access to various other platforms and products through a single sign-on feature, including Microsoft 365, Google Workspace for Education, and Adobe Creative Cloud.
This centralised approach contrasts with findings from our ethnographic research in England, which highlighted widespread frustration with navigating multiple and disparate platforms, with many advocating for a more integrated solution. While Hwb arguably addresses this need, teachers’ experiences and perspectives of using the platform varied significantly. Many said they found it helpful for accessing curriculum information and for sharing resources with teachers across Wales, and some noted its financial benefit – as the Government provides access to various EdTech products through Hwb, which they are able to procure at a discounted rate, some schools reported a slight reduction in their technology expenditure. Other advantages included the value of students having all their work in one place (though this did not always materialise in reality) and the reduced burden on schools to maintain security processes and updates. At the same time, teachers criticised the ongoing login issues students contended with – a recurring issue also observed during our fieldwork in England – and some were sceptical about the annual “personalised” reading and numeracy assessments students were required to access through Hwb:
“There are flaws with it, because it’s dependent on the pupil. I’ve had some pupils who are very high achieving who have just gone next, next, next, next, next, and skipped through it and their test results have come back lower. And I’ve had some who you know have just guessed, majority are multiple choice and they’ve just guessed, and they’ve had a higher score than what they usually have” [Teacher 10].
These experiences highlight that while centralised platforms like Hwb can provide valuable access and support for teaching and learning, the limitations of digital platforms themselves continue to pose challenges for schools, students and teachers.
EdTech that doesn’t speak Welsh
Of particular challenge in Wales is the fact that EdTech products do not always support the Welsh language. One English teacher stated this was not a problem for her – it was actually quite helpful given her subject matter – but, for others, it was a source of frustration. A maths teacher, for example, explained that the homework platform they used was only available in English, even though they taught maths through the medium of Welsh. While he felt this did not create major problems, it did lead to occasional confusion. What was perhaps more helpful for his students, he said, were resources created by a widely respected Welsh-speaking maths teacher from another school, who began sharing content on YouTube and TikTok, later expanding to a website. This illustrates how the effectiveness of EdTech in Wales is at least partly shaped by language accessibility, with schools often having to make compromises:
“I think at the moment, schools are making lots of, um, compromises, in order to you know, stick to what they’ve got access to for free. Um, and obviously the biggest one being the Welsh language, and then, uh, and so then you know, I – I don’t know what is, what else is being missed because of that” [Teacher 9].
Engaging with teachers across Wales has reinforced the importance of ensuring EdTech design is contextually relevant and responsive, and accounts for the important relations between language and knowledge. Our conversations highlighted that, while some technologies might support education in meaningful ways, commercial platforms can often fail to meet the specific needs of schools. As with our ethnographic work in England, these discussions underscore that technology alone is not a solution: EdTech must be designed and implemented to meet the specific needs and priorities of schools, and to support students’ digital skills development in ways that value varied knowledge, and align with local contexts, curriculum requirements, and diverse learning environments.
References:
Department for Education. (2025). Curriculum and Assessment Review Final Report. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-and-assessment-review-final-report
Welsh Government. (n.d.) Curriculum for Wales guidance. Available at: https://www.gov.wales/curriculum-for-wales
Welsh Government. (2024). Hwb strategic overview. Available at: https://hwb.gov.wales/school-improvement-and-leadership/digital-in-education/hwb-strategic-overview/
Funding acknowledgement:
This research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Photo by shutterstock.com.