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Following on from the previous seminars in Edinburgh and Leeds, the BERA Four Nations Presidential Seminar Series will be held in Wales on May 1st, 2025. Through an anti-racist lens, this day will connect policy makers, academic researchers and leaders in practice to explore theoretical perspectives, examine policy development and plan for next steps in Wales and beyond. Our session will be situated in The Senedd, Cardiff Bay / Docklands; a poignant space to explore Welsh policy, practice and research centred around the formation and impactful endeavours of a pan-Wales anti-racist movement called DARPL (Diversity Anti-racist practice and professional learning).

The World looks into Wales, holding high expectations for an anti-racist nation by 2030 through the implementation of the Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan (ARWAP). The rising expectation and temperature for racial literacy, Cynefin completeness and ethical global citizen anticipations within the Curriculum for Wales is at the core of DARPL’s work. How realistic is the ARWAP ambition? What’s really happening on the Welsh ground in education to step towards 2030? What are the barriers and what are the opportunities?

Wales is a place steeped in historical struggle and bold in opportunity across generations of global majority communities. Through keynotes, panel discussions and lightening talks from the field in education, childcare and playwork we have set out the seminar to consider traditions in Welsh race-consciousness which, in 2021, led to Wales becoming the first nation in the UK to make the teaching of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (Welsh and global) history mandatory within the Curriculum for Wales. 

DARPL’s work spans education, childcare, playwork and is funded by the Welsh Government. The work takes a national approach to lead and enable affective professional learning cascades and implementation across the education system tiers. DARPL comprises a dynamic and diverse Community of Practice based within Cardiff Metropolitan University which draws together lived and professional experience. Working with grassroots organisations and unusual community focused innovation this Welsh movement is dismantling and reshaping the landscape in regional and national policy influence, practice and academic research. Drawing on lessons learnt, DARPL’s work is heading into the wider public sector.

Racial consciousness in contemporary education in Wales, stems from migration seeds within Butetown and across Wales particularly in the early nineteenth century up to now and sets a unique backdrop. Whilst in the now, through research on recruitment and retention issues resulting in national requirements for published ITE action planning, we redirect attention to the lack of diversity in the education workforce. Positively disruptive leadership is shaped whilst ensuring intellectual activism and diverse Welsh voices are articulated and truly heard to lead and engineer the diverse and complementary anti-racist legacies which are realised within the work of DARPL.  Anti-racism mobilisation in education and childcare in Wales is covering a lot of ground. Now could even be deemed an optimal time, shaped by political support, intellectual struggles, historic community wisdom, opportunities and hurdles on new territory. The chiming of the Welsh Government ARWAP, Curriculum for Wales, future generations and learning organisation focused policies surely brings an optimum era to maximise impact and change legacy. At the same time, in our small county we are mindful of the potential for international comparison and collaboration in countries that are also developing autonomous curricula or even more generally addressing the question of how to transform an education workforce towards global equalities.

Our discussions on May 1st, 2025, will draw together the interacting themes of diverse Welsh identity, Cynefin (belonging / habitat) and hiraeth (love of home/country) in exploring DARPL as a contemporary and community focused national movement helping to define and differentiate a cascade model of anti-racism, professional unlearning and professional relearning. DARPL’s approach is rooted in historical dialogues within the Welsh context. DARPL’s experimental approach to tackling ‘new’ professional learning territory provides space to challenge concepts of inclusive education and to consider theories of change and pedagogies of critical consciousness, enquiry and noticing.

But is all of this enough? Many ‘DARPLers ‘are telling us that their ‘DARPLing’ is deeply affective whilst at the same time there are too many still untouched. Our research in 2023 tells us that racism is still prevalent in the lives of children in Wales. Our in-learning surveys tell us that high numbers of educators still don’t know about Welsh Government’s Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan (ARWAP) and The Communities, Contributions and Cynefin: Black Asian Minority Ethnicities in the New Curriculum for Wales Report’ 2020-2021 but when they do, their personal and professional learning starts to run deep. 

What do the leaders, educators and intergenerational learners really think and feel about anti-racism in education culture, curriculum and pan-Wales community approach? What else is needed? And what’s next in Wales? Will you join us in this movement? 

Draft Programme