In 2016, Angus Maclennan became headteacher of the Western Isles Council’s e-Sgoil (or e-School, in English). Its aim was to beam live lessons into schools to enhance the curriculum on offer and ensure access to a wide range of subjects for pupils, irrespective of how big their school was or how remote their area. Now, as a response to the all-encompassing impact of the coronavirus, the e-Sgoil has gone national - and its expertise has proved crucial in keeping learning going in lockdown.

We speak to Maclennan, not only about the innovation of the e-Sgoil but also his formative years growing up in a hamlet on North Harris speaking only Gaelic, and why he thinks parity of esteem for vocational subjects is the key to closing the attainment gap.

Who was your most memorable teacher and why?

I spoke no English growing up. Gaelic was the language of the home and of the community. I suppose you are most impressionable when you are young and it is likely that the most memorable person is someone early in your school experience.

For me, my most memorable teacher was Alex John Macleod, a native of St Kilda - his father was the missionary there, who doubled as the school master - and he taught at Sir Edward Scott School on Harris. He was my Gaelic teacher and was very old-fashioned in many respects. He delivered his lessons with a dry wit and a gentle sarcasm that was near routine.

I was in his class in first and second year, in particular. He had high expectations of us as pupils and real cultural depth. He gave us a great grounding, not just in Gaelic but across the curriculum, and I’m extremely grateful for that.

What were the best and worst things about your time at school?

I was born and raised in a hamlet on North Harris called Govig, with just three houses. There was no road into Govig when I started school so we had to walk a mile to get a bus. My father and a neighbour constructed a road themselves - Inverness County Council wouldn’t provide one. It’s difficult to believe that this was only 50 years ago.

When they say it takes a village to raise a child, that was true of our area. Every house was a home and we were in and out day and night. I had two siblings and we were the only children in a four-mile radius, so we were spoilt in many ways. My primary school was six miles away and secondary school was 14 miles away.

In terms of the good things, there was a real community feel to these schools. My primary was a P1-7 composite class of 15 pupils - that was the maximum number of pupils in the school while I was there. The teacher had taught there for more than 25 years and never had a single parent question her judgement.

I then moved on to a small secondary where the teachers knew you as a learner, and personally, and the teachers were known to you personally and professionally. That made a huge difference. There was a genuine interest in the pupils as individuals. That always stayed with me and, even when I was working in a school of 1,200 pupils, I recognised it was really important to make pupils feel valued as individuals.

The worst thing about my primary and S1-4 experience was there was little opportunity to play team sport or music and, by the time we got to the stage we could participate in these things, the opportunity had almost passed us by. We had plenty of other things to do and had a great upbringing - there was fishing, and we were out in the hills doing everything you can do in a rural environment. But, looking back, I would have enjoyed access to team sports and music.

Subject choice was also restricted by the availability of teachers in the senior school and there was a lack of work-related experiences to enable us to make informed choices about career pathways. I spent many weeks and months on the back of my father’s bin lorry - that was my career experience.

Why do you work in education?

I think I was inspired by the teachers at Sir Edward Scott and the Nicolson [Institute, in Stornoway] - where I went for fifth and sixth year. Their support was what enabled me to become the first person in my extended family to go to university. Teaching also provided me with the opportunity to live and work in an island community and get involved in the social, cultural and economic life I was so familiar with. It was always my ambition to come back and live in a small community with a more holistic approach to education.

What are you most proud of in your career and what is your biggest regret?

Being able to widen the choice for young people in terms of their courses and subjects, not just here in the Outer Hebrides but across Scotland. That’s the thing that sticks out most. I’m also proud of the fact that the e-Sgoil has been able to create jobs that are more flexible for teachers across the Western Isles and rural areas of Scotland. It’s hugely, hugely important that we don’t lose teachers who are coming towards the end of their careers or young mothers who can only devote so much time a week to delivering education.

My biggest regret is not having done something else before coming into teaching. Those who come into teaching from industry or the media have a wealth of experience and come to the job with a different perspective. They enrich the profession. If I had my life again, I would maybe have spent a couple of years doing something else - but only if it led to the life I now have.

Who would be your colleagues in the perfect staffroom?

That’s a difficult question because the staffroom never was my natural habitat. I spent a great deal of time in the playground and corridors at break times. I think that is one of the most important and enjoyable parts of the job - knowing the pupils, them knowing you, and being out with them is so, so important, and even more so when you become a school manager.

When I was in the staffroom, I gravitated towards colleagues with a sense of humour, who did not take themselves too seriously: the calculated risk-takers, people who were not satisfied with the status quo, who see the opportunity in any challenge and who get the job done rather than talking about it.

What are the best and worst aspects of our schools system today?

The worst first: schools are a microcosm of society, and the whole of society is becoming so risk averse that it has killed the spirit of creativity and humour in the classroom. Those are the things in teachers that made school enjoyable for me as a pupil, and I think that’s quite sad that people are so risk averse - but it’s not just in teaching, it’s across the piece.

I also think too many senior pupils are in school all day, every day, when a blended approach would be preferable. Some of these young people might only need to be doing two or three Highers and, the rest of the time, they might be studying an apprenticeship and working - or they could be getting some real-life work experience that would make the transition from school more natural.

People should be able to earn and learn at the same time, even when they are 16 to 18. There needs to be more flexibility in the way pupils learn.

The best aspect is inclusion. When you think of what used to happen 30 or 40 years ago, it’s great to see pupils who would have previously been marginalised thriving in a normal school setting.

By far the most satisfying aspect of the job we do at e-Sgoil is getting emails from parents and teachers of pupils with additional support needs, who have had their learning interrupted, saying that our provision made a difference and put a smile on a child’s face. We have examples of pupils who have been out of formal school for health reasons or mental health reasons for anything up to two years. Many of these pupils have come on in leaps and bounds.

Your own teachers aside, who in education has influenced you the most?

Bernard Chisholm, a former education director in the Western Isles [who retired last year], was both inspiring and unconventional. Without his foresight, e-Sgoil never would have got off the ground.

He was a really interesting character, from an educational psychology background, who placed a tremendous emphasis on pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds or those who struggled to fit into the traditional school structure - probably because he left school without any formal qualifications himself. His passion for equality of opportunity for all learners was something that really rubbed off on me.

I also think that the interrupted learners and pupils with additional support needs, who I have come into contact with, have influenced me hugely. Data is fantastic in so many ways but hearing their stories is even more important because it brings the data to life.

If you became education secretary tomorrow, what’s the first thing you would do?

Parity of esteem for applied learning and academic subjects is the first thing I would bring in. The right amount of funding and positive promotion of such courses would do more to address the attainment gap than anything else I can think of, because it would lead to pupils engaging in courses that actually appeal to them and are useful to them.

What will our schools be like in 30 years?

I don’t think I could answer that question even if you asked me what education is going to look like in 30 days! Who on earth would have imagined, 18 months ago, we would be in the position we are now where schools are the kitchen table or the cupboard under the stairs - wherever pupils can find a quiet place to study?

In 30 years, there will still be teachers. Bernard [Chisholm] always used to say that technology will never replace teachers, but teachers who use technology will replace those who don’t.

School buildings will probably be less prison-like and have more creative spaces, break-out areas, as well as areas where they can do science experiments and be involved in construction - a mix of a primary school and a college, rather than the traditional secondary building we all know.

And I hope school itself is more flexible. We are finding that fewer learners engage if we put courses on at 9am than if we run them mid-morning, or afternoon or evening. We get a tremendous uptake for our evening study support.

It’s also likely that schools will be community hubs rather than stand-alone buildings, which have huge advantages in terms of intergenerational learning and being able to give pupils real-life work experience.

What one person do you think made the biggest difference to schools and education more generally in 2020?

In a strange way, I think Joe Wicks [whose “PE with Joe” online fitness sessions were a huge lockdown hit] had the biggest impact. Everybody was so stressed about attainment and achievement, and I think what Joe Wicks did was give pupils another focus on activity, and mental health and wellbeing - what’s the good in having an education if you don’t have your health and feel good about yourself?

It was a positive subliminal message about what we should be valuing. It’s really important that we try to support these kids, and that nothing we do reinforces the feelings of failure that they may have.

Interview by Tes Scotland reporter Emma Seith

This article originally appeared in the 12 March 2021 issue