“The majority of Scottish secondary schools have moved to faculties, or have initiated the change to this structure. It is important that research such as this is ongoing to monitor the effectiveness of this change while the memory of the discrete subject model still persists.”

So concluded a paper that one of us co-authored with Cherie Anderson in 2010 (see this link). Now, 11 years later, we are working on a sequel. Our research hopes to provide a way in which we can access the collective memory of Scottish secondary schools to ascertain the nature, extent and impact of “facultisation” on multiple areas such as workload, the curriculum, subject specialism, interdisciplinarity, wellbeing, behaviour management, transitions, subject networking and career progression. 

Faculties have emerged in Scotland’s schools, stimulated by 1990s inspection reports that argued for a less fragmented experience for learners, a flatter and more cost-effective management structure, and some means by which able teachers would remain at the chalkface. At the same time the then Scottish Executive’s McCrone Report of 2001 posited a flatter management structure, which would be enabled by enhanced professional autonomy devolved to classroom teachers, in exchange for a 22.5 per cent pay rise over three years and the (now defunct) chartered teacher scheme. 

The 2010 paper revealed that 17 local authorities had adopted the faculty model. That research revealed a range of approaches to the evolution of faculties. Although the Scottish Executive and local authorities’ body Cosla had recommended groupings of cognate disciplines, there were a number of non-cognate faculties where, for example, schools had grouped business studies with music.

Reform: National consultation on Scottish education launches

Related: New ‘lead teacher’ posts to be introduced in August

Losing their faculties: Dundee teachers reject controversial school ‘faculty’ plans

From the archive: School ‘faculties’ dilute learning, warns Swinney

A view from 2003: ‘Faculties won’t do it’

Election 2021: Bring back principal Stem teachers, say Lib Dems

Opinion: How can teachers progress if they don’t want promotion?

The 2010 research surveyed local authority and inspectorate reports, which offered evidence that these nascent faculties could enhance interdisciplinarity and simplify quality assurance. However, there were also concerns about promotion opportunities, mentoring for probationers and students, marginalisation of subjects, and loss of teacher and subject voice, as well as increased workload without remuneration for classroom teachers. At the same time there were very positive comments from participants for the retention of a discrete subject leadership model.

The shift to faculty structures in Scotland’s schools

Now, 20 years on from the McCrone Report and 11 years on from the Anderson and Nixon paper, we are conducting a national survey of secondary schools about this development, hoping to gain the views of those who have only worked in either management model, as well as those who have experience of both faculties and subject departments.

In preparing for our survey, we have looked at a range of literature. In particular, we have been drawn to the multiple editions of Scottish Education, that canon of national expertise, to see what views were expressed about the evolution of faculties. The 1999 and 2003 editions, for example, have authors arguing for the need to have a simpler structure across subject specialisms.

However, later editions of Scottish Education are less positive. Faculties are described as purely cost-cutting, diminishing distinctive knowledge, reducing teacher decision-making, reducing career prospects, narrowing the curriculum and increasing workload expectations on classroom teachers. The balance of views within the five editions of Scottish Education’s tome is very much towards the negative.

For us this raises important questions, not just about the emergence of this management model, but also about the weight given to educational research by policymakers. Our hope is therefore to capture a significant number of voices in our national survey that may convey the texture of this development across the country, and lead to research that may inform future decisions in this area.

Our survey is open until 31 October and can be accessed here.

Professor Graeme Nixon and Dr Will Barlow are researchers at the University of Aberdeen