The Distinctiveness of Scottish Education

Walter Humes and Tom Bryce

Education has traditionally been identified as one of the three institutions which mark the social and cultural life of Scotland as distinctive, especially when compared to England. (The other two are the law and the church.) With the establishment of a Scottish Parliament in 1999, and particularly after the election of a minority Scottish National Party (SNP) administration in 2007, followed by SNP victories in 2011 and 2016, a new focus for the political identity of Scotland has been created. And despite the electorate's rejection of complete independence at a referendum in 2014, the status of Scotland as a nation remains at the forefront of constitutional debate. Throughout the post-devolution period education has been high on the agenda of all parties and there has been much reflection on the particular contribution which the educational system has made and continues to make to national life. This chapter attempts to address this issue in a number of ways. It first looks at one influential account of the Scottish educational tradition, before going on to examine its formal distinctiveness as reflected in key educational institutions. It then attempts to uncover the values and principles which underlie the formal structures, noting the views of critics of the dominant Scottish tradition. Finally, it considers possible future directions, taking account both of developments elsewhere in the UK and international pressures which make it difficult for educational systems to diverge markedly from global trends.

A useful reference point for the discussion that follows can be found in James Scotland's two-volume history of Scottish educa-tion, published in 1969. In his final chapter, Scotland attempted to define the Scottish tradition in education. He summed up his interpretation in six propositions which, he suggested, encapsulated the essence of Scottish attitudes towards education:

education is, and always has been, of paramount importance in any community; every child should have the right to all the education of which he is capable; such education should be provided as economically and systematically as possible; the training of the intellect should take priority over all other facets of the pupil's personality; experiment is to be attempted only with the greatest caution; and the most important person in the school, no matter what theorists say, is not the pupil but the (inadequately rewarded) teacher. (Scotland, 1969, p. 275)

Much has changed in the period since this list was drawn up and a few of the items no longer seem persuasive, but some at least (the first three?) would still receive widespread endorsement.

And although the pride which Scottish people traditionally have had in the quality of their educational system is now held less confidently, belief in the importance of education, its value both for the individual and for society as a whole, remains unshaken.

Thousands of Scots, many from modest backgrounds, can testify to the power of education to enrich (in some cases, transform) their lives, and even those who have not themselves done particularly well at school are often anxious that their own children should take advantage of the improved opportunities now open to them.

These attitudes, whether laudatory or qualified, help to ensure that the position of education in the national consciousness remains strong. Moreover, belief in the worth and purpose of education is linked to the sense of national identity which is regularly invoked to draw attention to the differences between Scottish and English society. This takes the form of a story or

'myth', shaped by history but not always supported by historical evidence, to the effect that Scotland is less class-conscious than England, that ability and achievement, not rank, should determine success in the world, that public (rather than private) institutions should be the means of trying to bring about the good society, and that, even where merit does justify differential rewards, there are certain basic respects - arising from the common humanity of all men and women - in which human beings deserve equal consideration and treatment. Taken together, these features can be summed up in the phrase used by George Davie for the title of his famous book, The Democratic Intellect (1961). To describe the democratic intellect as constituting a

'myth' is not to dismiss it as untrue. Gray et al. (1983, p. 39) make the point that a myth is a narrative that people tell themselves for two reasons - 'first, to explain the world and, second, to celebrate identity and to express values'. The extent to which the values are actually achieved in practice is a matter for analysis and interpretation. So too is the question of who promotes the myth and who benefits from it. These are crucial issues that will be revisited later in the chapter.

At this point, however, it is necessary to ground the discussion in some factual information about those features of the day-to-day workings of the Scottish educational system which mark it out as distinctive. How are the differences between Scottish and English education reflected in the experiences of pupils, teachers and parents? What is the significance of these differences? And how do they connect with broader questions of consciousness, identity and values?

FORMAL DISTINCTIVENESS

Perhaps the most potent expression of the distinctiveness of Scottish education is the separate legislative framework which sets out the nature of provision and the agencies responsible for its delivery. Chapter 15 provides full detail of Scottish Law as it pertains to education but some preliminary points may be noted here. Legislation is framed by the Scottish Government and formal responsibility for the system as a whole rests with the First Minister. Prior to devolution, Scottish legislation often (but not always) post-dated statutory provision in England, but it did not always follow an identical pattern. A clear example was the legislation relating to parental choice of school enshrined in the Education Act of 1980 (England and Wales) and the Education (Scotland) Act of 1981. Legislative differences were also evident in the arrangements for school boards in Scotland compared to governing bodies in England, devolved school management in Scotland compared to local financial management in England, and the circumstances which required the opening and maintenance of a Record of Needs for children requiring special educational provision in Scotland compared to the Statement of Needs in England. Subsequent amendments to all of these provisions did not lead to greater uniformity in Scottish and English practice.

One of the first Acts of the Scottish Parliament was the Standards in Scotland's Schools etc. Act 2000. It introduced a new school improvement framework, one part of which set out five national priorities for education under the following headings: achievement and attainment; framework for learning; inclusion and equality; values and citizenship; learning for life. The emphasis on inclusion and equality has been a consistent feature of policy throughout the post-devolution period. Provision for pupils with disabilities and additional support needs has been improved, partly through better diagnosis and programmes catering for diverse requirements of individual pupils. The role of learning support teachers and classroom assistants, working in conjunction with classroom teachers, has also been import-ant. While it was left to schools and authorities to implement the national priorities, the legislative framework required them to formulate improvement and development plans accordingly.

This can be seen as a familiar Scottish combination of firm central direction of policy alongside delegation of responsibility for implementation to local government in the interests of democratic accountability.

Evidence of Scottish distinctiveness can be seen in the separate institutional apparatus which maintains the system. There is one national examination body, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), whereas in the rest of the UK there are several examination boards, ostensibly serving different parts of the country though schools are not confined to entering candidates in the board located in their geographical area. Other important bodies expressive of the separate character of the Scottish system include Education Scotland (ES), which since 2011 has had full responsibility for work previously carried out by two predecessor bodies (Learning and Teaching Scotland and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education) and the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS). ES advises the First Minister on all matters relating to the curriculum as they affect the age range 3-18 and has a particular responsibility for leading and supporting the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). Unlike in England, there is no formally prescribed national curriculum though, in practice, most schools follow closely the recommendations contained in national documents such as those deriving from CfE. Other areas of activity for which ES has responsibility include: evaluating the quality of educational provision at school, local authority and national levels; encouraging innovation, particularly in the use of educational technology; increasing the system's capacity for self-evaluation and self-improvement; and promoting high quality professional learning and leadership. Following a consultation on the governance of Scottish education in 2015-16, rather to the surprise of some observers, who had expected that the inspection and curriculum advisory functions of ES might be separated, the organisation was given a 'renewed and revitalised' role, with enhanced powers (Scottish Government, 2017). The governance review was a response to growing concerns about the quality and direction of Scottish education. Although ES emerged in-tact, the role of local authorities was reduced: new 'regional improvement collaboratives' were promised to provide support for teachers and schools. At the time of writing, many of the details of the reforms have still to be fleshed out.

The GTCS, established by statute in 1965, is the body which controls entry to the profession, accredits initial training courses for teachers, and has responsibility for assessing whether probationary teachers can proceed to full registration. In April 2012 GTCS changed from being an advisory non-departmental public body (NDPB) to a fully independent, self-regulatory body under The Public Services Reform (General Teaching Council for Scotland) Order 2011. Among its main areas of activity are setting standards and codes of conduct for teachers, reviewing the training appropriate to teachers, providing opportunities for professional update, and conducting inquiries where there are concerns about teacher competence or misconduct. The GTCS's existence is testimony to the relative status of teaching as a pro-fession in Scotland, compared to England. An English GTC was not established until 1998, with powers that were significantly weaker than those enjoyed by the GTC in Scotland, and only lasted until March 2012, following a decision by the UK Conser-vative/Liberal Democrat coalition to abolish it.

One of the striking characteristics of Scotland's educational policy community is that it is relatively small, with many of the key players (in SQA, ES, GTCS and local authorities) meeting on a regular basis and forming overlapping networks. This perhaps makes it easier to reach a consensus than in a larger, more anonymous system. There is, however, a downside. 'Groupthink' can develop, leading to complacency and a failure to question existing practices in a fundamental way. This may help to explain the relative conservatism identified by James Scotland as an element in the Scottish educational tradition.

A significant feature of Scottish education for which claims are made in respect of distinctiveness is the breadth of the curriculum available to pupils in schools, and it would be fair to say that all the national programmes - Standard Grade, 5-14, Higher Still and CfE - have sought to preserve breadth of study.

The replacement of Standard Grade and Intermediate courses by National level 4 and 5 awards has not diminished that breadth.