‘Teaching Scotland’s Future’ TEACHING SCOTLAND’S FUTURE Professor Graham Donaldson CB University of Glasgow

‘Teaching Scotland’s Future’

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

Professor Graham Donaldson CBUniversity of Glasgow

Who am I?

• Former head of Scottish education inspectorate (HMIE) and Chief Professional Advisor on Education to Scottish Government 2004-2010

• Former President of Standing International Conference of Inspectorates (SICI)

• Author of ‘Teaching Scotland’s Future’

• OECD international ‘expert’ – reviews of Australian and Portuguese education

• Honorary Professor University of Glasgow


Powerful Drivers

School education is one of the most important and contested policy areas for governments across the world.

Evidence of relative performance internationally has become a key driver of policy.

Human capital in the form of a highly educated population is seen as a key determinant of social justice and economic success.

The pace and character of social, economic and technological change has profound implications for how we conceive education in the future.

Ambitious and radical educational reform programme of Scottish Government


International Trends in Educational Policy

Central to broader government policy – innovation the norm

Increased expectations – scope, relevance, standards

Inputs to outcomes – data dominanceInternational benchmarkingIncreased school autonomyFocus on teacher qualityMultiple accountabilitiesViral ideas

More = better

1957 Sputnik - Alphabet soup curriculum reform

Standards movement - measurement mania

School effectiveness

Curriculum specification

Professional conspiracies – competition & inspection

Teachers Matter - “It’s the teacher, stupid”

?????????

Storming the citadel?

TSF Remit

To consider the best arrangements for the full continuum of teacher education in Scotland.

The Review will consider initial teacher education, induction and professional development, and the interaction between them.


Why now?

Commitment to review of teacher education stemming from 2001 McCrone Review

Implications for teachers arising from curriculum reform

Ministerial aspirations and commitment

International context


Approach

Form teamLiterature reviewCall for evidenceTeacher surveyStructured visits to providers and usersMeetings with professional associationsExperience elsewhereOn-line discussions and eventsOther professional examplesIndividual discussionsReport to address multiple audiences


Treat as a relatively closed system?

Fix problems

OR

Ask more fundamental questions?


Fundamental Review Questions

What kind of education do/will our young people need?

What promotes necessary educational change?

How much do teachers matter?What kind of teachers do we/will they

need?What needs to happen?What about teacher education?


Curriculum Reform Programme

Broad, twenty-first century education (four capacities / outcomes-based general education between 3 and 15/Senior Phase)

Deep learning and higher standards Target literacy and numeracyEngaging, imaginative and purposeful

pedagogyAssess what we profess – wider achievement

ANDA new paradigm of governance and change


Lessons from High-Performing Systems

Clarity of purpose – values and curriculum

High expectations of achievement Enabling all young people to achieve their

potentialEmphasis on early learningHigh quality teachersCulture of professional learningHigh quality leadership at all levelsOutward looking – open to but not

beguiled by innovationIntelligent accountabilityReflective and self-evaluative

How much do Teachers Matter?Overall, the research results indicate that

raising teacher quality is vital for improving student achievement, and is perhaps the policy direction most likely to lead to substantial gains in school performance.(OECD 2005)

Students of the most effective teachers have learning gains four times greater than the learning gains of the least effective teachers (Sanders and Rivers 1996).

Over 3 yrs, learning with a high performing teacher instead of a low performing teacher can make a 53 percentile difference (McKinsey 2007)


William ‘Embedded Formative Assessment (2011)

“We now know that the teacher is the most powerful influence on how much a student learns and that teachers can continue to make significant improvements in their practice throughout their entire careers”

Teachers Matter but…

“For commitment to flourish and for teachers to be resilient and effective, they need a strong and enduring sense of efficacy…They need to work in schools in which leadership is supportive, clear, strong and passionately committed to maintaining the quality of their commitment.”

Day et al ‘Teachers Matter’ OUP 2007 quoted in Hargreaves & Fullan ‘Professional Capital’ Routledge 2012

Teachers and change

85 percent are resistant to change what works for them; ten percent are willing to change to be more efficient; and five percent are willing to try new innovations. Hence the moves to use accountability, government pressure, compulsion and the stick rarely change the conceptions or lens of teachers.

Hattie ‘Visible Learning ’ 2009 Routledge

And much teacher knowledge is

TacitIntuitiveSituation boundChance

Wikman (Teacher Education Policy in Europe 2010)

What kind of teachers matter for sustained success?Versatile teachers who -have high-levels of expertise – subject,

pedagogy and theoryhave secure values – personal and professional

accountability for the wellbeing of all young people

take prime responsibility for their own development

use and contribute to the collective understanding of successful teaching and learning

see professional learning as an integral part of educational change

engage in well-planned and well-researched innovation.


SPECIFIC TEACHER EDUCATIONISSUESCultural dissonance - train / educateBelief, evidence and impactWeak partnershipsMonotechnic inside polytechnic?Perception of higher quality NQTs but

concerns about aspects of students’ abilities/capacities

‘Quart into pint pot’ problemRigour and depth – particularly CPDLeadership


Key Themes in ReportSchool education can realise the high aspirations Scotland has for its young people through supporting and strengthening, firstly, the quality of teaching, and secondly, the quality of leadership.

Teaching should be recognised as both complex and challenging, requiring the highest standards of professional competence and commitment.

Leadership is based on fundamental values and habits of mind which must be acquired and fostered from entry into the teaching profession.

The nature, pace and extent of change in the future will require professional learning to be more the engine than the disseminator of innovation


Key Themes (2)

The imperatives which gave rise to Curriculum for Excellence still remain powerful and the future well being of Scotland is dependent in large measure on its potential being realised. That has profound and, as yet, not fully addressed implications for the teaching profession and its leadership.

Career-long teacher education, which is currently too fragmented and often haphazard, should be at the heart of this process, with implications for its philosophy, quality, coherence, efficiency and impact.


Intended Results

Reinvigoration of professionalism and a re-conceptualisation of teacher education.

Rigorous and broadly-based selection of students applying to enter teacher education

Concurrent undergraduate degree courses which are both vocationally and academically challenging and which engage students with the wider university

Efficient use of time – before, during and after initial teacher education – Early Phase

Aligned assessment of students’ progress.


Intended Results (2)

Practical experience set in a much more reflective and inquiring culture

Make optimum use of ICT for professional learning.

A coherent approach to teacher education which is underpinned by a framework of standards which signpost the ways in which professional capacity should grow progressively across a career.

Development of leadership qualities from the start and throughout a career.


Intended Results (3)A new concept of partnership among

universities, local authorities, schools, national agencies and other services which embraces selection, course content and assessment

Teacher educators should be directly engaged with practice –theory/research/practice not separate

A professional culture within which Masters-level study is the norm

A national and local infrastructure which sets, promotes and evaluates teacher education in ways which relate both current practice and innovation to their beneficial impact on learning.


So far• Teaching Scotland’s Future published Jan 2011

• 50 Recommendations

• All recommendations accepted in whole or in part by Scottish Government

• Very wide and continuing stakeholder acceptance

• Structure and timeline for implementation established – National Partnership Group Report Oct2012

• Significant developments by GTCS, Education Scotland, universities, and individual authorities/schools

• Implementation Board Dec 2012

Three pillars of reform in Scotland

Big Messages

Build on the past but do not be imprisoned by itDucks in a row –

teaching/leadership/curriculum/accountabilityFocus on strong teacher professionalism -

values and expectations Build from the start and expect and support

career-long professional growthMore professional engagement in educational

change - flexibilityLeadership focus on peopleRelevant and challenging professional

development

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‘Teaching Scotland’s Future’ TEACHING SCOTLAND’S FUTURE Professor Graham Donaldson CB University of Glasgow