Education reform requires the commitment and investment of teachers if it is to succeed. Recognising the importance of teacher engagement, some countries have made teacher agency a feature of their curricula. Wales has embraced the notion of teacher agency within the building of its new curriculum by creating a body of Pioneer teachers to shape its new curriculum framework. This paper considers the nature of teacher agency experienced by a group of these Pioneers working on the expressive arts area of the curriculum. It does so through an exploration of the ecological nature of teacher agency, as theorised by Emirbayer and Mische (1998), and it considers agency through a framework of different levels: the micro-level focuses on the individuals and their personal contributions; the macro-level considers Pioneers’ work at national level, liaising with teachers from across the country and taking responsibilityfor creating the curriculum; the meso-level refers to where the two former levels come together, i.e. the Pioneers’ work within their own institution, trialling the new curriculum. The evidence indicates that teacher agency was easier to achieve at micro-level and macro-level, than at meso-level. This paper suggests, therefore, that achieving teacher agency at institutional level is more complex and challenging than is the case at the other levels. Greater understanding and attention are, therefore, needed about how to achieve teacher agency in teachers’ different spheres of work, particularly when working at institutional level.

Curriculum integration is a feature of many new curricula that have emerged in different countries since around the turn of the millennium. It focuses on removing the boundaries between traditional subject specialisms, to enable more holistic and 'joined-up' learning opportunities. This study draws on the experiences of a group of primary and secondary teachers in Wales, engaged in creating a framework for an integrated curriculum for expressive arts. Whilst the teachers are united in their ambition for establishing a curriculum that gives greater status to the arts, curriculum integration presents significant challenges, notably in how subject knowledge is understood and presented within an integrated curriculum. The teachers take different approaches to curriculum integration, with primary teachers favouring a transdisciplinary approach, with child-led learning and themes taking precedence, and secondary teachers opting for multidisciplinary approaches, where the themes are organising devices but where subjects take priority. Differing practices suggest differing conceptions of subject knowledge and mastery within an integrated curriculum. Drawing, in particular, on Bernstein's concepts relating to knowledge discourses, this paper suggests that the danger of an integrated curriculum is weakened disciplinary knowledge. Whilst this paper relates to the arts, the messages about curriculum integration might be applied more widely. Curriculum integration 259are well-established connections between subjects (e.g. Abbs, 1987Abbs, /2012 Cultural Learning Alliance, 2018;Eisner, 2003) and so one might expect integration in the expressive arts to be less problematic than for other areas of the curriculum. However, devising a framework around five subject areas that have traditionally been regarded as separate, particularly at the secondary level, has proved to be a considerable challenge, and indicates the complexity and difficulty of CI more generally.This article draws from a study exploring the experiences of teachers engaged by the government to drive curricular change in Wales. Like new curricula elsewhere, the emerging curriculum in Wales promotes working across traditional discipline borders. Graham Donaldson, the architect of the new Welsh curriculum, has noted an 'unhelpful polarisation' (Donaldson, 2015, p. 6) between the traditional perspective of the curriculum as one of 'a framework of subjects' (p. 5) with carefully defined subject content and an alternative view, held more internationally, of the curriculum as being 'framed in terms of the key skills capacities or competencies' (p. 5) to be developed in learners. He proposed a curriculum which is structured:to ensure that the vital contribution of disciplinary learning is preserved but is supplemented by other aspects that relate directly to the needs of today and provide sound preparation for the challenges of tomorrow (Donaldson, 2015, p. 36).

After a process of competitive tendering for the provision of initial teacher education in Wales, there is an opportunity to re-examine the relationship between schools and universities. With the growing importance of research for both student and serving teachers, the Cardiff Partnership developed a model where a school-based 'Research Champion' (RC) would be an integral part of the support for capacity building and developing excellence. Although this model has previously been used in different forms at Oxford and Manchester Universities, the role was new to schools in the Cardiff Partnership. Semi-structured one-to-one interviews were conducted with a representative sample of RCs in primary and secondary schools and university staff to reflect on the challenges and opportunities in the early stages in developing this unique role in the context of an evolving education context in Wales. This study uses data from these interviews to establish key ideas around the emerging role of the RC, the shift in working relationships between schools and universities and what is needed to bridge the gap between research and practice. Interviews were transcribed and, after open-ended thematic analysis, opportunities and challenges are reported. These themes include: bridging the gap between educational research and classroom practitioners; types of knowledge drawn upon by teachers; changes in role and identity. Suggestions for further research monitoring the ongoing development of the role are suggested.

Ar ôl proses o dendro cystadleuol ar gyfer darparu addysg gychwynnol i athrawon yng Nghymru, mae cyfle i ail-edrych ar y berthynas rhwng ysgolion a phrifysgolion. Gyda phwysigrwydd cynyddol ymchwil ar gyfer athrawon ac athrawon dan hyfforddiant, datblygodd Partneriaeth Caerdydd fodel lle byddai 'Hyrwyddwr Ymchwil' yn yr ysgol yn rhan annatod o'r gefnogaeth ar gyfer meithrin gallu a datblygu rhagoriaeth. Er i'r model hwn gael ei ddefnyddio ar ffurfiau gwahanol eisoes ym Mhrifysgolion Rhydychen a Manceinion, roedd y rôl yn newydd i ysgolion ym Mhartneriaeth Caerdydd. Cynhaliwyd cyfweliadau lled-strwythuredig un-i-un gyda sampl cynrychiadol o hyrwyddwyr ymchwil mewn ysgolion cynradd ac uwchradd a staff prifysgol i adfyfyrio ar yr heriau a'r cyfleoedd yn ystod dyddiau cynnar datblygu'r rôl unigryw hon mewn cyddestun addysgol esblygol yng Nghymru. Mae'r astudiaeth yn defnyddio data o'r cyfweliadau hyn i sefydlu syniadau allweddol ynglŷn â datblygiad rôl yr hyrwyddwr ymchwil, y newid yn y berthynas waith rhwng ysgolion a phrifysgolion a'r hyn sydd ei angen i bontio'r bwlch rhwng ymchwil ac ymarfer. Trawsgrifiwyd y cyfweliadau ac, yn dilyn dadansoddi thematig penagored, nodir y cyfleoedd a'r heriau. Mae'r themâu hyn yn cynnwys: pontio'r bwlch rhwng ymchwil addysgol ac ymarferwyr yn yr ystafell ddosbarth; y mathau o wybodaeth mae athrawon yn pwyso arnynt; newidiadau mewn rôl ac hunaniaeth. Cynigir awgrymiadau am ymchwil pellach i fonitro datblygiad y rôl yn barhaus.

Mae integreiddio yn y cwricwlwm yn nodwedd mewn nifer o gwricwla newydd sydd wedi codi mewn gwahanol wledydd ers tua dechrau’r mileniwm. Mae hyn yn ymwneud yn bennaf â dileu’r ffiniau rhwng arbenigaethau pwnc traddodiadol, er mwyn gallu cynnig cyfleoedd dysgu mwy cyfannol a ‘chydgysylltiedig’. Mae’r astudiaeth hon yn tynnu ar brofiadau grŵp o athrawon cynradd ac uwchradd yng Nghymru a oedd yn cymryd rhan mewn gwaith i greu fframwaith ar gyfer cwricwlwm integredig i’r celfyddydau mynegiannol. Er bod yr athrawon yn rhannu’r uchelgais o sefydlu cwricwlwm sy’n rhoi statws uwch i’r celfyddydau, mae integreiddio’r cwricwlwm yn cynnig heriau mawr, yn enwedig o ran y ffordd y mae gwybodaeth pwnc yn cael ei deall a’i chyflwyno mewn cwricwlwm integredig. Mae’r athrawon yn delio mewn ffyrdd gwahanol ag integreiddio’r cwricwlwm, lle mae athrawon cynradd yn ffafrio dull trawsddisgyblaethol sy’n rhoi blaenoriaeth i ddysgu a themâu a ysgogir gan y plentyn, a lle mae athrawon uwchradd yn dewis dulliau amlddisgyblaethol, lle mae’r themâu’n ddyfeisiau trefnu ond lle mae pynciau’n cael blaenoriaeth. Mae’r gwahaniaeth rhwng arferion yn awgrymu bod cysyniadau gwahanol o wybodaeth pwnc a meistrolaeth o fewn cwricwlwm integredig. Gan wneud defnydd yn benodol o gysyniadau Bernstein am ddisgyrsiau gwybodaeth, mae’r papur hwn yn awgrymu mai’r perygl mewn cwricwlwm integredig yw bod gwybodaeth ddisgyblaethol yn gwanhau. Er bod y papur hwn yn ymwneud â’r celfyddydau, mae modd cymhwyso’r negeseuon am integreiddio’r cwricwlwm yn fwy eang.