Cynefin: Lle, Perthyn a Dychymyg Diwylliannol mewn Hanes, Llenyddiaeth ac Addysg (Cynefin: Place, belonging and cultural imagination in Welsh history, literature and education)

This article examines the Welsh concept of ‘cynefin’ as a multi-layered term that has shaped cultural, literary and educational discourse from the medieval period to the present. Rooted etymologically in ideas of habitat, custom and familiarity, ‘cynefin’ has historically denoted the inherited structures of belonging that bound individuals to land, kinship and community (Pryce 2022). In the twenty-first century, ‘cynefin’ has acquired renewed prominence through its adoption into the Curriculum for Wales, where it operates as both a curricular principle and a policy-pedagogy hybrid (Davis a Conn 2024). Whilst this institutionalisation offers opportunities for culturally sustaining pedagogy, it also raises risks of exclusion and instrumentalization if the term is reduced to bureaucratic abstraction or narrowly defined forms of belonging (Davies 2025). By integrating literary-cultural history, discourse analysis and policy studies, the article demonstrates how ‘cynefin’ functions as a dynamic orientation rather than a fixed category. It concludes that the richness of the concept lies in its openness: rooted in history and tradition, yet capable of sustaining plural identities and inclusive educational practices in contemporary Wales.