17th March 2022
It’s a week on from the publication of Professor Ken Muir’s report on education reform, Putting Learners at the Centre: Towards a Future Vision for Scottish Education. We have the big-ticket items:
- the Scottish Qualifications Authority is going to be replaced by a new qualifications body
- Education Scotland is going to be replaced by a new national body which will have oversight of the curriculum (and various other things)
- the creation of a new separate inspections body (this currently comes under Education Scotland’s remit).
There is also the commitment that these new bodies will be more accountable to learners, their families, teachers and other education professionals than their predecessors. There’s also to be a ‘national conversation’ about the vision for the future of Scottish education (though we would argue we’ve just had that in the consultation for Professor Muir’s report).
But what does the report say about parental engagement and the important role of families in children and young people’s learning? We’re recognised as stakeholders, but disappointingly not as the primary educators and as an essential part of our children’s education. Some tricks were missed, for instance in terms of potential role for parents/carers in the new inspection body and in inspections as part of a collaborative school improvement process. The proposed new education bodies already seem to be being shaped by educationalists rather than those affected by education. There are spaces where parents and families could fit: however, this needs to be made explicit.
While it promises a structural shake up, the big concern is we could find ourselves back where we started from, with three new unaccountable and uncommunicative bureaucratic bodies instead of two. What we really need is a cultural change, and the report is bang on to identify this.
At the heart of all new proposals must be the recognition that education is for everyone, not just the teaching profession. It’s a pity that the report is so jargon-filled – it is written for educators by educators, as was the consultation. It’s written for the system, not for those on the receiving end. If we are to truly have a ‘national conversation,’ a good starting point would be a children and young people’s version of the report, or at the very least a summary document.
Because at the end of the day it all comes down to supporting children and young people’s learning and supporting them into positive outcomes. You told us in our surveys about Professor Muir’s review that you feel there is a narrow view of the purpose of education - with too much focus on Highers and university entrance as the most desired outcome for learners. But education should be so much more than just an assembly line, funnelling young people towards the universities.
The proof of the pudding will be in the eating in terms of how this report is actually implemented. How do we make education reform about equality, equity and inclusion for all children and young people and their families? The shape, ethos and culture of Scottish education has to change – it can’t only be in the hands of education professionals. Parents and carers in our Education Reform surveys were absolutely clear: they want to be involved, they want the best for all of Scotland’s young people and they want respect and recognition for the achievements of every young person.