A New Year hope - the National Discussion leads to new opportunities

Having had our national conversation on education at the tailend of 2022, Scotland must hold its collective breath on the findings. I have a few hopes for the process. They include that the outcome doesn’t sound bland as many of these exercises seem to be with the distinct messages being squeezed as the responses are distilled down. I also hope there is a clear recognition that there is a lot of very good practice in the system at present and huge amount of hard work put in by students and staff alike. I would also like to see the particular Scottish identity of our education system being retained and not going down the road of being a clone of Singapore or England or Finland.

Some people have criticised the questions asked but I feel the 10 questions gave enough scope for people to comment on what we have and to visualise as to what the future could or should look like.

What follows is a summary of my responses. While we await the official outcome, I think it is important to keep the conversation going on what is one of the most important aspects of Scotland’s future. I strongly believe that education should prepare our children and young people for a world where they have the flexibility of knowledge and character to meet fast changing challenges by encouraging the importance of soft skills alongside qualifications and as well as academic subjects providing a wide range of courses in a variety of subjects to capture the interests and imagination of all pupils. I feel it is imperative that prior learning, needs, interests, achievements, and potential are captured in a profile of children’s strengths and areas of development from early years so that these are known and can be met as they progress through their school years.  In this national reflection on Scottish education, it is, as I said in the opening paragraph, important to recognise what is already good and effective and retain it. One of the key strengths is the Scottish comprehensive system: as far as possible this should be retained with a range of specialisms available in the local secondary school to retain the large measure of social cohesion which is a positive mark of Scottish society. As far as future priorities I argued that they were to prepare pupils for a changing world and to emphasise all aspects of a person’s humanity, not just their suitability for a job or further study. To keep people informed and involved in the discussions and decision making on Scottish education I believe regular consultation and information at school, council and National level is vital. It is vitally important for the education and political community to explain proposed changes in straightforward terms avoiding jargon which excludes.

The welfare and wellbeing of our children and young people was one of the key questions and rightly so. The first strand of this is always going to be the family supported by the correct professionals in a sensitive way when appropriate. It is important that mental health is given equal priority in focus and resources as physical health. All through the stages of education, cognisance should be given to building resilience in children and giving them coping mechanisms to deal with setbacks. The rights of children must be at the centre of our system as a whole and in each of our schools. I would also contend that it is unfair in preparing our young people for future society that we also introduce the notions of responsibility and consequences. Not to do this would be irresponsible of us.

Of course, formal examinations and qualifications are important but to see them as the lone pinnacle and way of judging the system’s success is wrong now and will be further off the mark in a future of a rapidly changing and flexible world. Achievement in all areas, not just formal summative exams, should be encouraged, developed, and celebrated.

We want young Scots to take their place confidently in the world of the future. Social studies in primary schools can and does play an important role in developing an awareness in pupils of their immediate and wider environment: this should be encouraged and embedded. The great work on encouraging pupil voice, participation and leadership found in our schools must continue and grow. The last question in the National discussion was an open- ended invitation to describe a vision for or of the future Scottish Education.

To try to describe a vision for the future, it is important to acknowledge and nurture the very good practice already seen in Scottish schools. We must firstly be better at acknowledging this and secondly much faster and better at spreading effective practice and success across the system. My vision would be for a Scottish education system where our highly professional staff are paid a professional wage; our schools are genuine at the heart of their communities and that there is flexibility in the curriculum and exam system to cater and recognise the talents, needs and aspirations of all our children and young people.