Progressive Early-Years Education and the Disadvantaged Learner: Insights from the Welsh Foundation Phase

This paper investigates the implementation of the Foundation Phase in Wales, a progressive early-years curriculum reform inspired by models such as Reggio Emilia and Te Whāriki, as well as Scandinavian approaches. It was designed to promote holistic, play-based, and child-centered learning and aimed to enhance educational outcomes for all learners and reduce inequalities for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. However, this mixed-methods study reveals persistent challenges in achieving these goals. Drawing on a national survey of Foundation Phase Lead Practitioners and semi-structured interviews with teachers in socio-economically deprived schools, the findings indicate that although the pedagogical vision aligns with many practitioners' values, its enactment is hindered by contextual constraints. Key barriers include inadequate adult-to-child ratios, complex learner needs, and material deprivation, all of which limit the intended use of play-based environments and child-led learning. The curriculum’s assumptions about children’s prior experiences and resources further exacerbate inequities in these settings. These insights have important implications for the scalability and equity of progressive educational reforms, especially as Wales extends these principles through its new Curriculum for Wales to learners up to age sixteen. The study underscores the need for targeted policy interventions, adequate resourcing, and sustained support to ensure such reforms do not inadvertently reinforce the inequalities they aim to address.