Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf visit to learn about decolonising the curriculum
Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf received Pathway 2 funding to collaborate with educational institutions in Aotearoa, New Zealand to learn about decolonising the curriculum, including looking at enriching learning experiences for minoritised languages like te reo Māori (the Māori language) and Cymraeg (Welsh). This was with a view to learning about successful and contextualised principles and practice within te reo Māori and te Ao Māori (the Māori world view) in Aotearoa New Zealand, and sharing corresponding principles and practice in Welsh and English-medium educational settings in Wales.
In February 2024, five leaders from Welsh and English-medium high schools and DARPL took part in a Taith collaboration to Aotearoa New Zealand and visited five schools, a university (Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi) and a marae (community meeting house) as well as timing the visit to experience Waitangi Day; the commemoration of the signing of te tiriti o Waitangi in 1840.
In June, the reciprocal visit took place and six leaders from Aotearoa New Zealand visited Wales. They visited Welsh and English-medium schools in north, south and south-east Wales, met with the Urdd at Llangrannog, and presented workshops at the DARPL national conference in Llandudno and the Unravelling and Decolonising World Knowledge conference at Cardiff Metropolitan University.
The Welsh leaders have written about their experiences on Golwg 360 and DARPL, presented about their Taith experience at the national BERA conference in Manchester, and professional learning videos for teachers around decolonisation, reindigenisation and anti-racism will be uploaded to the national DARPL website in the autumn. The Taith experience continues to influence staff professional development at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf, as well as pupil experience through cultural consciousness, cynefin and expressive arts.
Watch the video they made on their experience here.
