bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Making the Most of the Curriculum Review: Some Reflections on Supporting and Sustaining Change in Schools
Authors: Priestley Mark
Published: April 2022

The 2004 review of Scotland’s school curriculum offers the potential for radical change in the education of young people, placing a greater emphasis than at present on learners and learning. If realised, it presents greater scope for innovative teaching, flexibility in provision, less overcrowding and a potential challenge to the entrenched subject paradigm in secondary education. This paper does not offer a critique of or even a detailed commentary on the Curriculum Review, the principles of which I broadly support. Instead it is concerned with the issue of sustainability. Despite the good intentions inherent in the review, fundamental curriculum change in Scotland may be no more than a chimera, blocked by the structural conservatism of the schooling system. The paper draws together some of the recent theoretical and empirical literature on curriculum change, examining some of the issues that may impact on this latest attempt to reform the curriculum and suggesting a model for change that may facilitate long lasting and deeply rooted change.
Student Employment and Its Educational Impact: A Scottish Study
Authors: McKechnie Jim , Dunleavy Karen , Hobbs Sandy
Published: April 2022

A questionnaire survey of over seven hundred students on four degree courses at the University of Paisley found that the majority had paid employment during term time. The average time spent at work per week was just under 15 hours. Students on the whole tended to see their employment as interfering with their studies, this being particularly the case with those who worked longest hours. On the other hand, students tended to see employment as helpful for their future careers. No relationship was found between whether students worked and their socio-economic background. There was some evidence that students working longer hours performed less well academically. This was particularly true of students in their first year of study.
Values and Attitudes – Positive and Negative: A Study of the Impact of Teaching the Holocaust on Citizenship among Scottish 11–12 Year Olds
Authors: Cowan Paula , Maitles Henry
Published: April 2022

Previous research on teaching the Holocaust, notably case studies in the primary or the secondary sectors, suggests that Holocaust education can make a significant contribution to citizenship by developing pupils’ understandings of justice, tolerance, human rights issues, and the many forms of racism and discrimination. Yet, there have been no longitudinal studies into its impact on primary pupils.

This paper, reports on the first stages of ongoing longitudinal research (sponsored by the Scottish Executive Education Department), and concentrates on the relevance of Holocaust education to citizenship, by comparing the attitudes of primary 7 pupils before and after Holocaust teaching using data from questionnaires.

Results show an improvement in pupils’ values and attitudes after learning about the Holocaust in almost every category related to minority groups, ethnic or otherwise. One significant finding was a deep anti-English feeling and this in itself the need for further investigation.
Partnership in Initial Teacher Education in Scotland 1990–2005: Unresolved Tensions
Authors: Smith Ian , Brisard Estelle , Menter Ian
Published: April 2022

The Second Stage Review of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in Scotland leaves unresolved fundamental issues about ‘partnership’ within ITE. These have been sources of tension facing Scottish Higher Education (HE) providers attempting to develop models of partnership with schools and education authorities. This paper seeks to demonstrate a significant body of opinion among Scottish HE providers from the early 1990s wishing to progress innovation on partnership. It is suggested that the main barriers to innovation were the resistance of Scottish schoolteachers to accepting formalised, enhanced roles and responsibilities within partnership, and the failure of Scottish Ministers and administrations to place sustained discussion of underlying issues of partnership sufficiently high on the political agenda. The paper concludes that it will be essential to return to more fundamental discussion of the respective roles and responsibilities of HE staff and school staff within ITE partnership, and that the perspectives of research must be applied in such discussion.
Pathways and Stepping Stones: Student Teachers’ Preconceptions and Concerns about Initial Teacher Preparation in England
Authors: Hobson Andrew J , Malderez Angi , Tracey Louise , Pell Godfrey
Published: April 2022

This paper presents early findings from a six-year longitudinal study of beginner teachers’ experiences of initial teacher preparation (ITP) and early professional development in England. Data reported in the paper were generated via a questionnaire survey, completed by 4790 student teachers, and face to face interviews with 85 student teachers, across a range of ITP routes and providers throughout England. The main findings are that: (1) in general, many student teachers enter ITP with an apprenticeship orientation to their own learning of teaching, and with a number of concerns, relating particularly to workload, pupil behaviour and personal finances; whilst (2) there are some interesting differences between the preconceptions and concerns of student teachers following different ITP routes. Implications are discussed for the practice of teacher education, particularly with respect to the need to discover particular student teachers’ orientations and prior conceptions.
What Difference Does it Make? Evaluating the Impact of Continuing Professional Development in Schools
Authors: Harris Alma , Day Christopher , Goodall Janet , Lindsay Geoff , Muijs Daniel
Published: April 2022

This article outlines the findings from a recent research study that explored the ways in which continuing professional development is being evaluated in schools. It focuses upon the extent to which schools are gauging the impact of continuing professional development (CPD) particularly at the classroom level. The article provides a contemporary overview of evaluative practice of CPD and concludes that the impact of CPD on student learning remains significantly under-evaluated. The article suggests that schools require more support and training in order to evaluate the impact of CPD more effectively.
Teacher Leadership: Challenges and Opportunities
Authors: Gunter Helen
Published: April 2022

The modernisation of education in England is premised within policy texts on a hierarchy of organisational leaders from teachers through to the headteacher, and as such they lead and do leading in order to impact on learner outcomes within a marketised system. Alternatively policy in Scotland has a stronger sense of the public, and as such the teacher and their work with learners is being reformed in ways that are consistent with notions of consultation and development. The paper asks questions about the intellectual resources that teachers could draw on to develop their identities within a modernising system, and argues that teachers in England and Scotland would both benefit from work on teacher leadership located in pedagogic relationships.
In Search of Excellence: Towards a More Coherent Scottish Common School Curriculum for the Twenty-First Century
Authors: Carr David , Allison Peter , Meldrum George
Published: April 2022

In light of the current Scottish curriculum review (Curriculum for Excellence) some critical examination of extant curriculum provision (at least for Scottish primary and compulsory secondary education) might be suggested as a logical starting point – not least because such provision has to date exhibited striking conceptual or philosophical discontinuities. This paper suggests that differences between the educationally traditional approach of Munn and Standard Grade and the more ‘progressive’ inheritance of 5–14 raise interesting questions not just about curriculum structure and organization but also, more generally, about the nature of education and the balance between the intrinsic and extrinsic developmental aims and objectives of schooling. The paper generally argues that issues of curriculum structure and organization call for greater clarity concerning the diverse educational and other developmental aims of all stages of schooling.
Who wants to be a Teacher? The Impact of Age, Disability, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexual Orientation on Teachers’ Career Aspirations
Authors: Wilson Valerie , Powney Janet , Hall Stuart , Davidson Julia
Published: April 2022

This article reports the results from a 12-month study of teachers’ careers in schools in England and the ways in which a sample of headteachers and teachers perceive that age, disability, ethnicity, gender and, to a limited extent, sexual orientation influenced their decisions to enter teaching and their subsequent career aspirations. Respondents report a diverse range of motives for entering the profession. Overall these relate more to personal circumstances and ambition than to age, disability, ethnicity or gender, either individually or in combination. Family and friends also play an important role, as do changing national priorities. The authors suggest that typologies developed around teachers’ motives for joining the profession may not be sustained at later stages of their development. This is because teachers’ career choices appear to be influenced by a complex mix of factors unique to each individual. Finally, some implications for teacher recruitment in Scotland are highlighted.
The Effectiveness of School Placements in Facilitating Student Teacher Learning and Professional Development
Authors: Dewhurst Yvonne , McMurtry David
Published: April 2022

Student placements are an integral element in teacher education and commonly, both students and teachers consider placements a critical aspect of initial teacher education. Within this context, the contemporary nature of placements and their success in meeting professional development needs was investigated throughout the period 2003–2005 by surveying the views of student teachers and teachers.

The findings of this research indicate that students and teachers share many views and consequently several key experiences and opportunities emerge. Different priorities are, however, also highlighted. Overall, perceptions suggest that school placements must be orientated towards a social constructivist paradigm.
Myth and Substance: The Concept of ‘Recent Relevant Experience’ in Initial Teacher Education
Authors: Cove Moya
Published: April 2022

This paper examines a key concern frequently raised in the debate regarding initial teacher education (ITE) over many years, and also identified in the McCrone Report (2000), about the ‘recent relevant experience’ (RRE) of teacher education staff. Despite policy initiatives to direct teacher education institutions to guarantee that ITE staff have RRE, and acceptance of the RRE principle by ITE stakeholders, questions exploring the concept and rationale of RRE, as well as the effectiveness of strategies to address this issue, have been neglected in research studies. The study on which this paper is based indicates that the concept of RRE is problematic with no agreed definition and varying interpretations of the RRE concept amongst ITE stakeholders. The findings shed some light on the nature of the disquiet about RRE which would appear to relate to fundamental debates about teacher education. The study shows agreement among ITE partners that valid classroom currency is essential to maintain quality in all ITE programmes, but there are different views on how this can be achieved. The study concludes that RRE is a key feature of the ‘partnership’ aspirations of ITE and further confirms that existing partnership arrangements would benefit from clarification and strengthening of stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities.
From Development to Improvement – A Step Too Far? The Evolving Contribution of Quality Improvement Officers to the School Improvement Agenda in Scottish Local Authorities
Authors: Boyd Brian , Norris Fiona
Published: April 2022

Since the re-organisation of Local Government in 1996 in Scotland and the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, the role of Advisers in local authorities has changed significantly. Improving our schools (SEED, 1999) placed an expectation on local authorities to support and challenge schools. Performance monitoring became a key function of local authorities. At the same time, A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century (2001) put Continuing Professional Development (CPD) at the heart of the improvement process. Increasingly, the emphasis on quality improvement has meant that former advisers now facilitate CPD rather than deliver it. This paper analyses the issues in the light of two recent surveys of local authority advisory staff and explores the impact on those charged with ‘quality improvement’ at Council level. It examines the increased burden on local authority staff, their role in CPD for teachers and their changing relationship with HMIE as part of the quality improvement process.
National Education Priorities: The Distance to Milestone 9
Authors: Doherty Robert A , Stelfox Kevin , Baird Adela , Baron Stephen
Published: April 2022

The Scottish Executive has published a collection of desired policy destinations with designated indicators of progress which set out its ambitions for social justice. Milestone 9, in Social Justice: a Scotland where everyone matters, aspires to bring the attainment of the poorest-performing 20% closer to the attainment of all pupils in compulsory education. In the context of Scotland’s National Priorities in education, this paper focuses on the lowest attaining 20% of pupils in Scotland’s compulsory education sector. The historical and political context of the National Priorities is discussed in conjunction with the challenges of Milestone 9. The main sections of this paper draw on empirical data: to describe more fully Scotland’s young people who fall within the bottom quintile and to widen its conceptual frame to include social, economic and spatial constituents; and, through a small interview study, to illuminate how the high-level policy intention of Milestone 9 is mediated into practice. The final section of the paper addresses the implications of norm-referenced and criterion-referenced ways of constructing the poorest performing quintile and places these in the context of contemporary research into absolute and relative social mobility in Scotland.
Children’s Voices: How Do We Address Their Right to be heard?
Authors: Catts Ralph , Allan Julie , Smyth Geri
Published: April 2022

In applied education research, a primary goal is to impact upon policy and practice in educational settings. For this reason the Schools and Social Capital (SSC) Network of the Applied Educational Research Scheme (AERS) has adopted a collaborative approach in which teachers and pupils are encouraged to engage with and inform the research process.

Projects undertaken in the SSC Network consider outcomes of schooling in the context of social capital. In planning the research activities we have noted that in many previous studies there is an absence of children’s voices. The assumption appears to be that young people are passive beneficiaries of various interventions. There are however some notable exceptions in the literature. We have identified these studies and used them to inform the methodologies to be used in our current research.

This article raises issues of ethics and validity and proposes methodologies for including children’s voice and enabling their active participation in applied research into aspects of schooling. Examples are drawn from recent research and supplemented with observations arising from the current research in the SSC Network. We conclude by posing questions about the implications for validity and also for the impact of our research.
The Applied Educational Research Scheme: What Might the Implications be for Leadership in Scottish Education?
Authors: Cowie Michael , McKinney Stephen J.
Published: April 2022

The overall purpose of this paper is to explore the leadership implications of research being undertaken in the Applied Educational Research Scheme (AERS). First, however, we discuss the tension between the perceived aims and purposes of applied research and the aspirations of researchers. This is followed by an exposition of the AERS projects and the models of leadership that seem to be emerging within them. Gunter’s (2006) conception of knowledge production in the field is then used as an analytical tool, allowing contrasts to be drawn between the emergent models of leadership and the model favoured by the Scottish Executive. This contrast challenges the prevailing orthodoxy and may be regarded by policy makers as being unhelpful. However, in drawing the paper to a close, we argue that the questioning of certainty that research entails should be considered essential by policy makers if they are to discharge their leadership responsibilities.
The Role of Social Capital in Scottish Education Policy
Authors: Arshad Rowena , Forbes Joan , Catts Ralph
Published: April 2022

This paper explores the relevance of social capital to the construction of education policies. In particular, it examines the four central social capital concepts of trust, norms, reciprocity and values and how these could be more explicitly employed in the construction of Scottish educational policy to enhance relevance and accountability. We draw on work from the Schools and Social Capital (SSC) research network of the Scottish Applied Educational Research Scheme (AERS1), and particularly from the work of the SSC policy review group. This and other reviews are published in the digital repository of the AERS web site. This paper also incorporates elements from other reviews conducted by the SSC network. The paper concludes that for policy to promote the kinds of social capital that will improve the lives of the most marginalised people a more inclusive and well resourced policy process is needed.
Perspectives on Digital Technology in a Remote School Community
Authors: Davidson Julia , McQueen Irene , McConnell Fraser , Wilkinson J Eric
Published: April 2022

The present article is based on a qualitative evaluation of the use of digital technology in a remote secondary school in the Scottish Highlands. The attitudes of teachers and pupils to the use of digital technology and the underlying tensions between formal and informal educational practices are central concerns addressed in this paper. The project was for one-year and designed to facilitate the embedding of digital technology across the curriculum.

Some of the benefits of participating in the project, according to the pupils, included an improvement in their ability to work successfully with others, independently from the teacher, and the development of their skills in creating moving images in both curricular and extra-curricular activities. Most participating teachers commented that they had improved their own ICT skills. In conclusion, some complex issues are raised in connection with schools in isolated communities.
Outdoor Study of Nature: Teachers’ Motivations and Contexts
Authors: Ross Hamish , Higgins Peter , Nicol Robbie
Published: April 2022

Across the UK outdoor study is high on current educational agendas. This paper discusses the analysis of in-depth interviews (n=20 interviewees) and a short questionnaire (n=98 returns) addressing Scottish primary and secondary teachers’ attitudes to organising outdoor study of the natural heritage for their pupils. It concerns both the decision-making factors that teachers consider and their institutional contexts. We argue that a possible approach to understanding teacher decision-making, and to informing policy, is to frame teacher decision-¬making as a balance between the effort/cost of organising outdoor study and a wide range of ‘unofficial’ benefits. This contrasts with one that would only frame teacher decision-making as a balance between child-safety and official curriculum¬-relevance. While safety dominates public/media discourse it appears less dominant in teacher discourse here. And while teachers all deploy the official curriculum in their justification for outdoor study, the curriculum in fact offers little explanatory power (for various reasons) in teacher motivation. Teacher understandings of less ‘legitimate’ benefits of outdoor study are more helpful. This framing suggests that focusing on resources and legitimising the wider benefits are appropriate policy responses to a widespread desire for more outdoor study. However, we also suggest that legitimising such benefits presents researchers, policy-makers and teachers with a significant challenge in terms of developing a pedagogical evidence-base.
Supporting our most Challenging Pupils with our Lowest Status Staff: Can Additional Staff in Scottish Schools Offer a Distinctive Kind of Help?
Authors: Stead Joan , Lloyd Gwynedd , Munn Pamela , Riddell Sheila , Kane Jean , Macleod Gale
Published: April 2022

There is increasing use of additional staff (teaching assistants, learning support assistants, behaviour support assistants, special educational needs auxiliaries, classroom assistants) to promote positive discipline and support pupils with behavioural difficulties in school in Scotland. This paper explores some findings from a Scottish Executive funded research project (Munn et al, 2004a), presenting some views of additional staff, pupils, parents and teaching staff on the diverse roles, professional and personal attributes and effectiveness of additional staff. We then discuss the implications of the findings for current policy and practice in relation to additional staff and their place in our classrooms and schools, arguing that they fulfil an important role. Indeed the work of additional staff was argued to play a critical role in maintaining some pupils in mainstream education. However the many different job titles and overlapping remits of these staff may hinder comprehensive understandings of their effectiveness. The marginality of many staff continues to be indicated by short-term contracts, low paid posts, limited access to formal training and ‘low status’ in the hierarchy of the school. Nevertheless this very marginality may contribute to their often successful relationship with those parents and pupils who most often have hostile and negative interactions with educational professionals.
Reducing Class Size: Does the Evidence Support the Scottish Executive’s Policy?
Authors: Wilson Valerie
Published: April 2022

For a number of years the size of Primary 1-3 classes in Scottish primary schools has been limited to 30 pupils (Scottish Executive, 2006a). The Labour/Liberal Democrat Partnership, that formed the first Executive in Scotland’s devolved Parliament, recommended a class size reduction to a maximum of 25 pupils in Primary 1 and 20 pupils in Secondary 1 and 2 in English and Maths by August 2007. This article presents the evidence from a systematic review, commissioned by the Scottish Executive in 2006 of published literature on the effect of class size on pupil attainment. One hundred and ninety-one references were identified, from which 46 were included in the review. The author concludes that the proposed policy of selective reduction of class size is only partly supported by research evidence and important considerations regarding within-class grouping, the use of classroom assistants and the allocation of available resources remain unresolved.
‘They should try to find out What the Children Like’: Exploring Engagement in Learning
Authors: Stephen Christine , Cope Peter , Oberski Iddo , Shand Peter
Published: April 2022

This paper is an account of an exploratory study of the perspectives children and teachers hold about the learning experiences and pedagogical activities which engage primary and secondary school learners. The investigation was prompted by the apparent contrast between the enthusiastic, self-initiated engagement observed in preschool playrooms and the efforts teachers report as necessary to engage older pupils. A review of our interrogation of the literature on disposition to learn and motivation is followed by a description of our empirical work to explore the ways in which the main actors in classrooms make sense of engagement in learning. Our findings suggest that for the children engagement stems from active involvement, enhanced by a perception that there is some scope for freedom of action and opportunity for choice. On the other hand, the perspectives of the teachers were focused on participation in learning activities selected and led by the teacher and carried out in a way which meets the adults’ expectations.
Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) act (2004): What does it mean for the Way Teachers Work Together?
Authors: McCluskey Gillean
Published: April 2022

The introduction of the Additional Support for Learning Act (2004) has been a significant milestone in Scotland’s understanding of issues of inclusion. The Act is already beginning to have a significant and far-reaching impact on the work of schools; requiring staff to reconceptualise what was traditionally known as ‘special needs’ and asserting a much more complex and dynamic view of the potential barriers to inclusion.

This paper explores the experiences and changing understandings of key staff (pastoral care, learning support, behaviour support) in three mainstream secondary schools as they worked to translate the new legislation into a coherent, holistic and sustainable set of practices. The paper raises some critical and timely questions about the tensions between competing priorities and roles and responsibilities for those working in education in such challenging times but also offers comment on the emerging potential of the legislation for building new confidence and capacities.
Lifelong learning in Scotland: cohesion, equity and participation
Authors: Field John
Published: April 2022

The Scottish Government, in common with governments elsewhere in Europe, is committed to promoting high and inclusive levels of participation in adult learning. The paper reviews currently available evidence on participation, and concludes that while overall participation in Scotland is high by international standards, there are some indications that it falls slightly below the UK average in some respects. Data for particular sub-groups suggest that participation levels vary considerably, and in some cases there are strong indications that on some criteria, inequality rates are higher for Scotland than for England and Wales. In particular, there is some evidence that older adults and the least well qualified are particularly disadvantaged in Scotland. This suggests that Scottish policy makers face considerable challenges in achieving an inclusive learning society and high skills knowledge economy.
Taking Excellence Outdoors
Authors: Beames Simon , Atencio Matthew , Ross Hamish
Published: April 2022

Scotland’s new Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) appears to support learning outside the classroom but there remains no statutory requirement for Scottish pupils to learn outdoors during their school careers. Commentators have asserted the apparently strong resonance between CfE and outdoor learning but there has been little explanatory argument to support this. This paper argues that the variable provision of school-organised outdoor learning in Scotland is the result of, among other things, the perceived high cost and perceived lack of curricular relevance of such learning. We go on to show how the combination of CfE and a particular kind of outdoor learning pedagogy might tackle these problems. The pedagogy is cross-curricular and place-based; we illustrate it with a case study of a low cost programme that involves pupils planning and undertaking journeys from their school grounds as a means of learning about socio-cultural and geophysical elements of their local landscape. In considering curricular relevance, we show that a historical emphasis on disciplinary subject content is one significant barrier to such outdoor learning. Curriculum for Excellence challenges this emphasis and could legitimise the kinds of outdoor learning we describe.
Reviewing Scottish Teacher Education for the 21st Century: Let Collaborative Partnership Flourish
Authors: Smith Ian
Published: April 2022

At the time of writing, the Donaldson Review of Teacher Education in Scotland is being undertaken for the Scottish Government, covering the continuum from Initial Teacher Education (ITE) through Induction onto Continuing Professional Development (CPD). This paper focuses on ITE, but considers some possible implications for CPD. The paper argues the current Review must take a broader and deeper approach than recent national reviews of ITE, avoiding recommendations which narrow long-term possibilities. The future development of ITE should be based upon a fuller partnership between universities and the teaching profession than currently exists, with a collaborative ’inquiry as stance’ approach to the knowledge-practice relationship within teacher learning, and with collaborative models of ITE partnership replacing outdated duplication models. The paper considers issues to be addressed, including within universities, if such partnership is to be developed. The potential for creative innovation within this partnership is illustrated through the importance of breadth in any new framework of ITE qualifications as these relate to professional development. Challenges are highlighted in achieving support for innovation from other stakeholders involved in the governance of Scottish ITE. However, the paper concludes that stimulating possibilities may follow for CPD, as well as ITE, if the type of ITE envisaged creates the basis for a truly activist teaching profession.
Paradoxes of educational improvement: The Finnish experience
Authors: Sahlberg Pasi
Published: April 2022

International student assessments have become the most significant pretext for education policy development and large-scale reforms. Finland is an example of a nation that has enjoyed global attention and unexpected credit due to its high performance in all four OECD PISA surveys. This article examines the current education system in Finland through three perspectives. First, the basic Finnish educational landscape since WWII until the 1970s will be briefly described. The article then argues that contemporary educational change in Finland can be divided into three phases and respective logics: (a) challenging the theoretical and methodological foundation of schooling, (b) improving education through networking and self-regulated change, and (c) enhancing efficiency of structures and administration. As a conclusion, this article claims that Finland’s educational system can be better understood through paradoxes rather than through the pure logic of change. Futhermore, it concludes that only a few directly transferrable educational ideas from Finland are relevant to the practices of other nations.
Reclaiming scholarship as an integrating dimension of academic work for the impact of research on teaching and learning in Higher Education
Authors: Hudson Brian
Published: April 2022

This paper offers reflections on Ernest Boyer’s conceptions of scholarship which were first outlined twenty years earlier. It considers the ways in which such conceptions have become meaninglessness as part of a wider process of reductionism and how this relates to policy discussions on curriculum, competence and teaching. It argues for the central place of research in, and the central place of, Higher Education in the professional education of teachers. It proposes that in order to develop cultures of inquiry in Higher Education we need to do so in ways that integrate research, teaching and learning. The integration process is seen to be achieved through an understanding of the nature of wholes and through a process of seeing, and therefore thinking and acting, holistically. It is argued that this is part of a wider struggle over values which the academic community needs to advance by reclaiming the meaning of scholarship.
Leadership Development in Scotland: after Donaldson
Authors: Forde Christine , McMahon Margery , Dickson Beth
Published: April 2022

This article examines a number of issues related to the question of 'next practice' in leadership development in Scotland. Educational policy in Scotland recognises the importance of leadership and has some well developed programmes of leadership development but these are by no means comprehensive nor will these be necessarily sufficient to meet the changing role of leaders in education. This article raises a number of questions in order to consider what 'next practice' might be in leadership development in Scotland. The article begins by placing the question of leadership in the wider policy context and then examines a number of issues relating to the leadership continuum, approaches to leadership development and the relationship between leadership and pupil learning.
South and North - Teacher Education Policy in England and Scotland: a comparative textual analysis
Authors: Hulme Moira , Menter Ian
Published: April 2022

Teacher education in the UK is undergoing a period of active development. In order to identify the rationale offered for change and the direction of travel this article reports a textual analysis of two key policy texts recently published in England and Scotland: the English Schools White Paper The Importance of Teaching (Department for Education, 2010a) and Teaching Scotland’s Future (Donaldson, 2011 ). These influential documents are explicitly relevant to the study of teacher education in transition, specifically the extent to which policy formation is premised on different forms of deliberation, different models of professionalism and different visions of a socially just education system. The analysis presented here is ‘critical’ in the sense that it interrogates the claims made in policy language and explores their constitutive effect. Key themes include the construction of ‘partnership/collaboration’ and ‘professionalism’ within these texts and how the ‘re-conceptualisation’ of both is informed by different sets of interests and values. Whilst the focus here is on teacher education, this analysis raises wider questions about the relative health of the public sphere in different jurisdictions of the UK.
Educational research and the literary imagination
Authors: Pirrie Anne
Published: April 2022

This article is intended as a contribution to the debate on the epistemology of educational research. It explores what ‘seeing and thinking at the same time’ means in the context of educational research. What might this look like if it were to borrow from the practices of literary criticism? What might happen if we were to treat a research project as a work of literature? The author attempts to capture the haphazard and unpredictable process through which research ‘data’ are gathered. This article is an invitation to explore what a research project ‘knows’; to examine the contingent and unpredictable way in which it discloses itself; and to illustrate how this disclosure is mediated by the researcher’s locus in an academic field. The article is part of a broader exploration of why literature matters for social science that can be traced back to the work of Pierre Bourdieu.
The relationship between poverty and deprivation, educational attainment and positive school leaver destinations in Glasgow secondary schools
Authors: McKinney Stephen , Hall Stuart , Lowden Kevin , McClung Michele , Cameron Lauren
Published: April 2022

The impact of poverty and deprivation on children and their education is a major source of concern for the United Kingdom and Scottish governments. This article reports on a research project that focussed on Glasgow city secondary schools for the period 2006-2009. The project aimed to establish an association between poverty and deprivation and attainment in public examinations and also in initial leaver destinations. The project constructed a tri-partite means of measuring poverty that used Free School Meal Entitlement, the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation and Staged Intervention. This measure was then compared with attainment figures and initial leaver destinations. Unsurprisingly, the research demonstrates that there is a major association between poverty and deprivation and attainment for the period. However, the research also demonstrates that there is no major association between poverty and deprivation and initial leaver destinations and that some schools serving poorer areas are particularly successful in securing a high proportion of initial leaver destinations.
Glow or Glimmer? A case study of ICT innovation in a Scottish secondary school
Authors: Wilson Alastair , McKinney Stephen
Published: April 2022

This paper argues that effective staff and ICT development are inseparable from the wider ecologies in which schools are positioned. The paper draws on data from a research and development project in which a Scottish secondary school pioneered the use of a virtual learning environment (VLE) before migrating this activity to ‘Glow’, the national schools intranet, in Scotland1. Researchers worked closely with the school over a two year period to try and inform this process. A variety of methods to collect data were employed ranging from interviews and focus groups to the analysis of login frequencies and patterns of usage of VLE tools. These data were shared and facilitated ongoing reflection and understanding throughout the different stages of the project. The findings illustrate the ways in which the school and its teachers have experienced innovation in ICT as a challenge to their organisational and professional development. It is further argued that there is an urgent need to recognize and reconceptualise ICT development from a ‘technology push’ for change into a process of broader educational reform. Such a system wide development is necessary to prevent a deficit view of schools and teachers emerging in which debates about increasing support and resources are dislocated from the wider issues of educational development and transformation.
‘Advancing Professionalism in Teaching’? An exploration of the mobilisation of the concept of professionalism in the McCormac Report on the Review of Teacher Employment in Scotland
Authors: Kennedy Aileen , Barlow William , MacGregor James
Published: April 2022

The report of the recent review of teacher employment in Scotland, commonly known as ‘the McCormac Report’ was published in 2011.This article explores the conceptualisation of professionalism inherent in the Report. Using a critical discourse analysis approach we interrogate the text in relation to three key issues: professionalism; the notion of teacher ‘flexibility’; and the extent to which economic pressures have driven the direction of the Report. The analysis suggests that the dominant form of professionalism being employed in the Report is managerial, and that there is little evidence of alternative conceptions. We conclude that while there is no explicit definition of professionalism in the text of the Report, there is some evidence of the concept being mobilised as a form of control over teacher behaviour.
Teacher education for vocational education and training: a comparative study of the Scottish and English systems set within a European context
Authors: Avis James , Canning Roy , Fisher Roy , Morgan-Klein Brenda , Simmons Robin
Published: April 2022

The paper develops a comparative analysis of teacher education for vocational education and training in Scotland and England, which is set within a European context. A ‘home international’ intra-comparative framework is used for the study, identifying both strengths and weaknesses within both systems. A number of themes are identified and discussed within the study including the issues of governance, regulation, pedagogy and professionalisation. The findings indicate that both countries have responded in different ways to the pressures of neo-liberal competitiveness and globalisation, in particular by adopting different systems of governance and regulation. However, it is argued that although these differences are significant when viewed within a ‘cross-border’ setting, they also underline how both countries have by and large disengaged from European policy making in vocational education teacher training.
The learning life course of at ‘risk’ children aged 3-16: Perceptions of students and parents about ‘succeeding against the odds’.
Authors: Siraj-Blatchford Iram , Mayo Aziza , Melhuish Edward , Taggart Brenda , Sammons Pamela , Sylva Kathy
Published: April 2022

Understanding how we can support children through their learning life course has become a policy imperative, particularly those children from poor homes who would normally be facing a low achiever trajectory. The paper reports on 50 in-depth Child and Family Case Studies (CFCS) that were conducted as part of the Effective Provision of Pre-School, Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE 3-16) research project. The CFCS was designed as a mixed-methods study in order to look at why and when certain children manage to succeed ‘against the odds’ while others do not. Using in-depth interviews with students, parents and teachers, quantitative data available from EPPSE and a literature review on risk and resilience, the CFCS provides ‘thick descriptions’ and explanations of how child, family and school factors interact and contribute to children succeeding against the odds of disadvantage. The study uses over 13 years of data collected from the 50 families and shows that in families with children ‘succeeding against the odds’, parenting is characterised by ‘active cultivation’ and that schools, teachers, peers and the wider community contribute to children’s academic success by providing emotional, practical and relational support. As a result these children are facilitated and encouraged to develop a combination of positive cognitive and socio-behavioural characteristics that helps them become active agents in their learning life-course. The CFCS provide information that can be of use to both policymakers and practitioners. It has implications for parenting and home-school relations and may serve to inform policies and practices that aim to increase the chances of children ‘at risk' and help in closing the gap between those who are academically and socially advantaged and disadvantaged.
Improving education through research: the relationship between research and teaching
Authors: Muschamp Yolande
Published: April 2022

This paper is based on a keynote address to the 2012 Scottish Educational Research Association Annual Conference. It explores the relationship between research and teaching, particularly in the context of teacher education in Scotland but also in terms of wider implications. The paper begins with a discussion of how key terms such as education, teaching, learning and research are approached. The relationship between the tasks of teaching and research in UK teacher education and higher education generally is initially considered from the perspective of Skelton’s ‘three identities’ for university tutors. The paper moves on to analyse the role which research could play in each of Winch’s three models of the teacher: the craft model; the technology model; the professional model. The paper concludes that the craft and technology models provide only limited roles for research, while the professional model requires more significant research skills in methods, theory and scholarship. This model will apply to teacher educators, university teachers more generally, and to the wider teaching profession.
A Productive Relationship? Testing the Connections between Professional Learning and Practitioner Research.
Authors: Reeves Jenny , Drew Valerie
Published: April 2022

This article is written in response to a recent report on a review of teacher education in Scotland undertaken by Graham Donaldson (2011). In particular it questions the recommendation that engaging teachers in professional enquiry and research-informed teaching is the way forward for developing the professional capabilities required of “21st Century teachers”. The report reflects an increasing emphasis in the literature on school effectiveness and improvement of the need to further teachers' professional learning and a pedagogic pressure for them to adopt constructivist approaches to teaching that are based on research evidence about how children and young people learn best. Practitioner research is seen by policy makers as an important strategy for achieving these objectives. This article, based on a series of empirical studies, sets out to identify some of the issues revealed by the attempt to use practitioner research as a vehicle for affecting classroom practice within the context of a policy initiative to support the development of accomplished teaching. It argues that, if such a strategy is to be effective, it is important to conceive of it in systemic terms and to confront the challenges involved in developing the sets of networked relations that will be essential if such a strategy is to prove worthwhile.
Distributed Leadership: Still in the Gift of the Headteacher
Authors: Torrance Deirdre
Published: April 2022

Contemporary efforts to reconceptualise the teaching profession in Scotland as seen with the Donaldson (2011) Review of Teacher Education, the McCormac (2011) Review of Teacher Employment and the GTCS (2012) Review of Professional Standards are aligning themselves to certain principles. Among them, is the core principle that leadership should form an integral feature of the role of every qualified teacher. Teacher leadership is premised on a distributed perspective on leadership. However, defining leadership, distributed leadership and teacher leadership proves problematic. So too does the identification of the expectations and responsibilities related to discrete and complementary roles within school hierarchies within the suite of revised professional standards.

This article takes as its focus the problematic nature of distributed leadership. It reports on a study exploring a distributed perspective on school leadership through three headteacher case studies conducted in Scottish primary schools. It draws from a sequence of in-depth, semi-structured and narrative style interviews conducted with each headteacher, as well as from a semi-structured questionnaire and sociometric analysis conducted with staff. The article reports on six themes emerging from an analysis of the findings. The sixth dominant theme is discussed in detail. To a large extent, distributed leadership was found to be in the gift of the headteacher, actively encouraging, enabling and facilitating distributed leadership at individual and whole staff levels. Implications are drawn for educational leadership in relation to contemporary Scottish policy developments.