The Teacher Voice Project: RVE in the Curriculum for Wales
Teachers across Wales were invited to take part in a Teachers’ Voice Survey focusing on Religion, Values and Ethics (RVE). The survey sought to capture teachers’ experiences of and engagement with curriculum change under the Curriculum for Wales, with a particular focus on RVE. Its purpose was to provide a timely snapshot of teachers’ perspectives in order to contribute to research‑informed professional dialogue, professional learning, and curriculum development.
For Wrexham schools, including Church schools, the survey offered an important opportunity to ensure that local voices and experiences were reflected within national research. Responses from Wrexham teachers will help to deepen understanding of how RVE is being interpreted and embedded in local contexts, including Church school settings.
Who led the research?
The research project was led by the St Giles’ Centre and Lincoln Bishop University, in collaboration with colleagues from Cardiff Metropolitan University, Neath Port Talbot Education Support, and Llanishen High School, Cardiff. The project was supported by the Wales Association of SACREs / SACs, who assisted in promoting the survey across Wales.
Who took part in the survey?
The survey was open to practitioners teaching in Wales within a 3–16 school or setting context. This included teachers working in Nursery, Primary, Secondary, All‑age, Special schools and Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), including those in Church schools in Wrexham.
Why was the survey important for Wrexham schools and Church schools?
The survey provided Wrexham teachers, including those working in Church schools, with a structured way to share their professional experiences of RVE within the Curriculum for Wales. These local perspectives will help to inform future professional learning, curriculum resources, and research activity that is responsive to the distinct contexts of Wrexham schools. By situating Wrexham teachers’ experiences within a broader national picture, the research also strengthens understanding of both shared challenges and local distinctiveness, both broadly and in relation to values‑led education and the ethos of Church schools.
The survey has now closed, and analysis is underway. Findings will be published shortly and will be available on this page, alongside research‑informed materials and links to related projects of relevance to schools and practitioners in Wrexham.
Further information about the survey
What Covid revealed to RE specialists about what really matters in their subject
Staff from St Giles’ Centre, Wrexham took part in a collaborative European qualitative research project examining how Religious Education (RE) professionals have understood and re-evaluated the purposes of their subject in response to their professional experiences and reflections of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The project explored professional perspectives on questions such as curriculum priorities, pedagogical practices, technology use, and the role of RE in addressing issues of meaning, values, identity, and social cohesion. Its focus was descriptive and analytical rather than prescriptive, aiming to understand how RE specialists across Europe interpret “what really matters” in RE within different educational, cultural, and policy contexts.
Why is the project relevant for schools in Wrexham?
For schools in Wrexham local authority, the project provides an evidence based contribution to ongoing local discussions about the place and purpose of RE/RVE, particularly in relation to:
- post-pandemic changes in teaching, learning, and pupil experience;
- the development and implementation of RVE within the Curriculum for Wales;
- balancing academic, ethical, and pastoral dimensions of RE;
- the use of digital technologies in RE/RVE classrooms.
By situating professional experience and reflection from Wales within a wider European dataset, the research enables local practitioners and advisers to compare similarities and differences across contexts, supporting reflective practice rather than advocating a single model of good RE.
St Giles’ Centre welcomes Wales’s inclusion in this research as an opportunity to connect local practice with international research conversations, supporting critical reflection while recognising the diversity of approaches to RE across Europe.
Why is the project relevant for local church schools?
Many schools in Wrexham have a church foundation or religious character, and teachers in those settings often work at the meeting point of statutory requirements, school ethos, and diverse learner populations. The findings of the research are of interest because they illustrate how RE professionals in other European contexts consider:
- school values alongside classroom realities;
- the educational purposes of RE;
- questions of relevance, identity, and social responsibility during times of crisis.
Church schools may find the research useful as a resource for professional dialogue, self evaluation, and staff development, especially where RE is understood as contributing both to subject learning and to wider educational aims.
Who led the research?
The research team was drawn from the boards of the European Forum for Teachers of Religious Education (EFTRE) and the Intereuropean Commission on Church and School (ICCS), bringing academic expertise rooted in RE across Europe. Team members all come from Christian education institutions and networks, including Church-related universities and institutes.
- The Revd Dr Tania ap Sion, the St Giles’ Centre (Wales)
- Bianca Kappelhoff, Comenius Institute (Germany)
- Dr Sandra Cullen, Dublin City University (Ireland)
- Mag. Dr Sonja Danner, Private University College (KPH) Wien/Krems (Austria)
- Dr Eszter Kodácsy Simon, Lutheran Theological University, Budapest (Hungary)
What are the project’s scope and outputs?
The project was launched on 9 February 2022 with an online survey distributed to board members of EFTRE, representing 26 European countries. Subsequent analysis has focused on interpreting professional narratives across differing policy, cultural, and educational contexts.
Findings from the project have been published in peer-reviewed international journals, contributing to professional and scholarly debate on RE, technology, social change, and professional identity. These publications form part of the wider academic evidence base informing contemporary RE discourse in Wrexham, Wales and beyond.
Publications include:
ap Siôn, T. Cullen, S., Danner, S., Kappelhoff, B., & Kodácsy-Simon, E. (12 August 2025, online). Listening to the voices of Religious Education professionals: the relationship between technology and Religious Education. British Journal of Religious Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2025.2543881
ap Siôn, T. Cullen, S., Danner, S., Kappelhoff, B., & Kodácsy-Simon, E. (28 February 2024, online). “Covid made me think about…” What really matters in RE: A European research project. Journal of Religious Education. Open access: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40839-024-00225-4
ap Siôn, T. Cullen, S., Danner, S., Kappelhoff, B., & Kodácsy-Simon, E. (9 October 2024, online). How does the social unrest of 2020/21 affect the teaching of Religious Education? Findings of a European study on the effects of the Covid-19 period. Journal of Beliefs and Values, 1-14. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13617672.2024.2409545#abstract
To receive a copy of any of these publications, contact us.