Exploring Welsh medium tuition in Psychology and Counselling OU modules at Level 1 – Phase 1

• Project Team: Emma Roberts Sue StradlingNia Coles-Jones
• Subject Discipline: Psychology and Counselling
• Theme: AssessmentEmployability/Careers
• Project Aim: Improves and enhance the learning experience of students
• Status: Live

The Welsh Government’s strategic framework aims to increase the number of Welsh speakers to one million by 2050. The framework identifies post-compulsory education as a priority area and identified that the health and social care sector is a major front-line employer where Welsh language skills are needed. As there is currently no expectation to use Welsh language within teaching in Psychology and Counselling at the Open University in Wales, the government’s framework is potentially impactful as over half of students from Psychology and Counselling degrees go into front-line local authority and health and social care employment after graduation.

Phase one of the current research will use a survey containing a mix of open and closed-answer questions with a participant sample of students and staff working on the entry-level D110: Exploring Psychological Worlds module. The survey's aim will be to engage with Welsh speaking students and staff who are working and studying with the Open University in Wales to explore the opportunities and barriers currently within the Open University to incorporating Welsh language into tuition. The free text answers from the survey will be analysed using thematic analysis to explore students views on Welsh language use during their study and to gain an in-depth understanding from staff about what it is like to teach students in Wales, and how they feel about using Welsh within their teaching practice. Findings will inform future research into phase two of the project to potentially pilot an increased provision of Welsh language use in a first-year psychology and counselling module, with the aim of maintaining and building Welsh language skills ready for employment for students and to build a community of practice for Welsh speaking students and staff at the Open University in Wales.