Scottish teachers should be able to share their “lived experience of delivering Curriculum for Excellence” during the ongoing review without fear of repercussions from their local authority employers, education secretary John Swinney has said.
During a debate in the Scottish Parliament on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) review of CfE - the timetable for which is now expected to be delayed due to coronavirus - Mr Swinney said he was “particularly keen” for teachers to contribute.
He added that they should be able to do so “without any constraint from their employment relationship with local authorities”.
Long read: ‘Teachers are too afraid to speak out’
Background: Is Scotland’s curriculum really narrowing?
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In 2018, the then Scottish Conservative leader, Ruth Davidson, warned that there was “a culture of fear and secrecy” among teachers in Scotland, and that the threat of “repercussions for their careers” discouraged them from speaking out.
The future of Curriculum for Excellence
Mr Swinney also told Parliament yesterday that the Scottish government planned to commission research into whether or not there was a correlation between the number of subjects being offered in schools and social deprivation.
Researchers at the University of Stirling found the new qualifications - which started to be introduced in 2014 - had led to fewer subjects being taken in S4 generally, but this trend was more pronounced in schools in more deprived areas, as well as in schools with a larger number of students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.
Mr Swinney said: “I hope that teachers have something to say about their experience, because they have lived experience of delivering Curriculum for Excellence, and I want to make sure that Curriculum for Excellence represents the aspirations, hopes and driving direction of our teaching profession. Fundamentally, our education system will be enhanced if the review hears a strong voice from the teaching profession.”
He added: “The government will commission some work on data collection from Scottish schools, on the number of subjects that are offered in the senior phase, with a view to understanding any correlation with social deprivation. That will enable us to understand whether any inadvertent pattern is emerging of young people in areas of deprivation having less educational opportunity. I happen to take the view that they have much more opportunity through creating good pathways, but we will do the work to assess that issue.”
The remit of the OECD review will cover curriculum design; the depth and breadth of learning in the senior phase; local flexibility versus increased prescription; the transition from the broad general education into the senior phase; vocational and academic learning and awards; and roles and responsibilities in relation to the curriculum.
However, Conservative shadow education secretary Jamie Greene said the review should not be seen as “a standalone solution to any perceived weaknesses in the system”.
He said: “The OECD review that we are talking about today is only one step in restoring full confidence and faith in that curriculum. That is the key, because restoring faith - the faith of teachers, of parents and of those who sit in the classrooms - should be at the heart of this.
“Sometimes, perception is as important as the statistics and figures that we politicians often bandy around. Outcomes are important, but so, too, are the anecdotes of those to whom this matters so much.”
