‘Pwy a gyfyd Cymru? By whom shall Wales be raised?’ A Quarter-Century of Devolved Educational Policy in Wales
Year: 2024
Type: editorial
Abstract: In his overview of the life of the educational reformer Thomas Charles (Y Bala), the historian Ieuan Gwynedd Jones cites a religious and educational maxim that exercised the minds of Charles's 'conscientious and literate' contemporaries in the eighteenth century: 'Pwy a gyfyd Cymru, canys bechau yw?By whom shall Wales be raised, for she is small?' ( Jones, 1963, p. 31).Smith (2016, p. 22) has reflected on how this maxim posed a pointed and contested question in a Wales rapidly embracing social, economic and religious change, in asking who was, and who should be, the caretaker and steward of Wales's 'salvation and scholarship'.We have chosen these words as the preface to this editorial, and to this special edition of the Wales Journal of Education, as the question still prompts reflection and is worth asking.Indeed, it echoes somewhat uncannily as contemporary Wales finds itself in the thick of a period of educational change no less profound and far-reaching.As we mark a quarter of a century of devolved policymaking in education, this special issue therefore celebrates the successes, and grapples critically with the ongoing challenges that Wales's education system faces.After centuries of being enmeshed within what Jones and Roderick term the 'England/Wales' state ( Jones and Roderick, 2003, p. vii), the power to control almost all aspects of education in Wales arrived with devolution in 1999.Prior to this, during the twentieth century, Wales had made some ground in shaping some aspects of the education system to reflect its distinctive historical, cultural and linguistic identity, such as the Cwricwlwm Cymreig and the growth of Welsh-medium schooling.Yet, the ability to develop and control a distinctive statutory education
DOI: 10.16922/wje.26.2.1
Authors: Andrew James Davies, Gary Beauchamp
Institutions: Swansea University, Cardiff Metropolitan University
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4404928597