This workshop explored a range of approaches to improving professionalism at all levels in education, drawing on recent inspection information. Specific reference was made to the general strengths in Scottish education and how the need for further and faster improvement has grown in response to the changing context within which education operates in an increasingly competitive world.
35. HM Inspectorate of Education Who said …… ? “ As a young man, my fondest dream was to become a geographer. However, while working in the customs office I thought deeply about the matter and concluded it was too difficult a subject. With some reluctance I then turned to physics as a substitute. ” Albert Einstein
And that future is one in which there are major challenges, set by change. The list shows some of them. They all demand people who are skilled in various contexts, and who are above all skilled in learning, in interacting with others, in applying technology and in providing quality. Intellectual ’value-added’ – the knowledge economy – is with us now. This is within a Scottish context of an ageing population – it is in OUR interests to ensure that the younger generations will be able to support us in our pensioned age. We are increasingly in a world where the ’waking giants’ like China, India and Brazil or former Eastern European-bloc countries are able to produce manufactured goods at prices well below those which wages in this country would demand. There are simply not the jobs we used to have. Our learners must be enabled to ’move up the value-chain’, contributing at higher services and entrepreneurial levels than currently. For that, they need more and different skills from those which might have sustained them well over the last half-century. There is also here a running theme about citizenship – we need an educationally skilled population, yes, but also one with value-conscious citizens who will be able to deal with complex moral issues. We need a system which embraces change, takes the change agenda forward and itself seeks creative and innovative responses rather than waiting for a central directive and then maybe not following it anyway.
From Ms Watt’s speech 12 th August 2008
Broader achievements fill out the picture beyond a learner’s attainments and need also to be more systematically valued and recognised. We must have learners who are capable of learning throughout life. Teaching must allow the development of independent learning skills and empowerment of learners, and the capacity of ICT must be applied to learning situations. There must be a focus on the individual – his/her personal and learning needs, the opportunities he/she needs to develop and grow and be as successful in the four capacities as he/she can be. We need to combine forces in education with other services and agencies, get better at joint working and working in partnership to achieve ends which any one service alone is not going to achieve. Within education we need to ensure that our teachers can fulfil their professional role. They need to embrace fully their role and accept the responsibility outlined for them. This will empower them, provide them with professional space and space in which to provide learners with the best possible learning experiences. We need dynamic, vibrant and exciting leaders, unafraid to bring in well-judged innovative practices and empower staff at all level also to take on the role of leader.
At the heart of things is the Curriculum for Excellence and at the heart of this lie the four capacities. JTE and ACE all focus on achieving these capacities for young learners. If they are the capacities of future generations of young people, they are also desirable for today's adults including staff and all members of the local community! What challenges does that present? Responsible citizens Effective contributors Successful learners Confident individuals Bearing in mind the principles of: Challenge and enjoyment Breadth Progression Depth Personalisation and choice Coherence Relevance
Schools and centres have been using self-evaluation for around about 15 years We need to take more account of the maturity of Scottish schools and place their self-evaluation at the centre of inspection. The new approach to inspection does just that.
As Scottish schools ‘grow up’ in their approaches to and experience with self-evaluation, we need to focus more on its purpose. What comes after self-evaluation – ACTION! Are there other activities – Support/challenge and challenge/support - appreciate enquiry through building on strengths – visioning whereby you paint a picture of the future – where you want your school or service to be in three years time – and create that future.
Focus on better learning – for all, including staff, the community ….borrowed from Macbeath
1 minute task for the audience – only press the forward key after the audience has considered the task question and the results have been discussed in plenary briefly. A useful discussion to round off the role of those present from schools and EAs.
Some people need to focus on the craft of teaching. For too long we have not focused sufficiently on this.
I am pleased that we are able to publish two reports today which will help schools and pre-school centres to refine their approaches to self-evaluation. These guides provide additional advice to supplement that in How good is our school? and The Child at the Centre
The wider backdrop is for all services to work together to achieve success for all in the vision statement for children.
In summary, Improving Scottish Education attests to the many strengths of our Scottish system and the quality of the experiences provided for and outcomes achieved by our learners. We need to sort some aspects and the sooner we act towards that end, the better for ALL of our learners. But we also need to act now to equip our youngsters for the increasingly complex and uncertain world in which they will be citizens. All we can do is provide them with the highest possible quality of education.