Building a bright future

The Teacher Education Review has reached a crucial stage, writes Daniel Lambie.

The adage 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' may be true, but that doesn't mean to say 'it' can't be improved.

That's the drive behind the Teacher Education Review which, under the co-ordination of Graham Donaldson, is now coming to a crucial stage. The review will build on the strong foundations that have made our teacher education system a worldwide benchmark to create a structure that can support the profession in the coming decades.

Throughout 2010, Graham's team has been gathering the thoughts and ideas of educational practitioners and stakeholders across Scotland, as well as scrutinising the teacher education programmes in other countries. They are now in a position to analyse these findings and begin to formulate the recommendations that will ensure our system remains fit for purpose.

Graham has been encouraged by the level of enthusiasm shown by the profession during the consultation. He said: "We enjoyed the exercise greatly, thanks to the hugely constructive and creative engagement shown from all quarters.

"The information we have gathered has been crucial and will ensure that whatever we recommend is appropriate and addresses the challenges and opportunities that the teaching profession will face in the coming years."

One of those challenges is bound to be finance. So how does Graham see his review balancing the need to preserve quality, with the prevailing pressure on public expenditure?

He said: "We can't be naive as regards current financial pressures, but we need to be informed rather than dictated by them. What this review is doing is looking beyond these; five, 15, 25 years into the future. We therefore can't lose sight of the bigger picture.

"Sure, we need to be flexible and creative, but our decisions cannot solely be driven by the need to cut costs.

"We need to be aware of the significance of the decisions we take now, and the implications they will have on a generation of teachers. We must create an aspirational environment which allows the profession to maintain and raise standards."

Standards are an area of teaching keenly - some may say disproportionately - scrutinised by the media. Case in point being the stories of alleged poor literacy and numeracy skills among new teachers that made the front page of the papers earlier in the year. So how will the review address these concerns? First of all, said Graham, the issues need to be put in perspective. "Most newly qualified teachers will have no issues with literacy and numeracy. But we do have a duty to ensure that all teachers in the classroom have a competence that allows them to deliver to the high standards we should expect.

"Our review has identified that there is an occasional gap in this area, but it is by no means one that cannot be bridged. We need to ensure that we do not discourage perfectly good teachers on the grounds of literacy and numeracy, when we can address these through the teacher education system."

Key themes emerging

While too early to define exact recommendations, Graham is able to identify several key themes that are emerging. These include:

  • Making sure the various education programmes which teachers will touch, from Induction, through CPD to headship, flow together and support one an other
  • Building the mechanisms to allow teachers to more independently manage their own CPD
  • Developing the relationship between universities and schools to further enhance the Induction Scheme
  • Exploring routes into teaching to promote flexibility and opportunity to enter the profession
  • Getting the right balance between the development of how we teach and what we teach throughout an individual's career.
ISSUE 37
October 2010