'Dod yn ôl at fy nghoed'. Trees, woods and a balanced state of mind. Reflections on a new Curriculum for Wales

This article explores how the new Curriculum for Wales offers an alternative to the traditional status quo in the schooling of industrialised societies by providing an opportunity for inquiry-led approaches. It argues that mainstream schooling is beholden to dominant discourses that have an alleigance to a factory-model of education. As a consequence, efficiency is one of the main aims, the classroom is ruled by the clock, and schooling becomes anti-intellectual. Even though the new curriculum is supposedly giving teachers more autonomy, it can be difficult for teachers in Wales (and elsewhere) to break free from these strangleholds. The article is constructed, in part, from a talk David (one of the authors) gave to teachers in Wales within an online conference for a new Master’s in Education (MA Ed) course. David explored how inquiry-led approaches offer an alternative to factory-model curricula. It is proposed that inquiry-led approaches can provide place-based experiences of how things are connected and interdependent. Therefore, this is an ecological matter and has significance for human and planetary wellbeing.