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Keynote: A weight of great responsibility
By Anthony Finn, Chief Executive, GTC Scotland
As members of the McCormac Review of Teacher Employment in Scotland begin to review the continued suitability of A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century (TP21), the 2001 agreement which promised to enhance the professionalism of teachers, committee members will certainly recognise the huge challenge that they now face. Theirs is, indeed, a poisoned chalice of political and professional expectations, of budget constraints and professional standards, a chalice from which teachers will expect some semblance of justice.
Given current pressures, who would have sought a place on such a committee? It will be difficult for these good, honest people to keep a clear focus on educational matters but that is their responsibility over the coming months. Building on the positive foundations of both TP21 and the recent Donaldson report, they will consider how to improve current arrangements for teachers and to secure improved outcomes for pupils.
These are, of course, very difficult times in Scottish Education. Everyone knows that there is not enough money to sustain current provision in schools and that difficult choices must be made. Indeed, teachers have already felt, perhaps disproportionately, the implications of budget constraints: in their salary negotiations, pension arrangements and in changes already proposed for 2011/12. Currently, too, there are many voices suggesting further dilution of the support which teachers have come to expect as normal. It is perhaps not surprising, therefore, that some teachers are already expressing concern about a review of what is widely known as the McCrone Agreement.
Is such pessimism justified? What could any serious review of teaching in Scotland in 2011 find? Is there not sufficient evidence that teachers are professional, committed and hard-working? Can there be any plausible reason to argue that teachers no longer need appropriate time and support to promote high standards of learning and to develop their own skills and expertise as professionals? After 10 years, however, it may well be time to review progress and to adjust the balance of some components of TP21 to reflect today's priorities and to consider the needs of schools - and of the new curriculum - in the years to come.
Although it is widely accepted that some elements of TP21 have worked better than others, it is important to remember the stability, which this agreement has brought to Scottish Education over the last 10 years. And, in 2011, schools across Scotland are currently finalising plans for the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence and awaiting with anticipation the publication of further advice on assessment. In the meantime, constructive changes to teacher education have recently been proposed by the Donaldson Report, changes which will have important implications for the development of a culture of career-long learning for teachers, with significant potential benefits for pupils in due course. There is much to look forward to if these plans are fully developed.
I wish the McCormac Committee well and urge its members to keep issues of teacher professionalism and pupil learning at the very centre of their deliberations. I hope that the McCormac report will build on the strong foundations of McCrone, while addressing areas in which improvement may be helpful to the future professionalism of Scotland's teachers. This would not, however, be a good time for short-term, budget-driven solutions which would put at risk all that has been gained in the last 10 years.