Must do better: Teachers told to stop jargon in report cards
Call is included in guidance which aims to reduce amount of paperwork
TEACHERS have been told to stop using educational jargon when they communicate with parents.
The call is made in new guidance which aims to free up classroom teachers from red tape and unnecessary paperwork.
The statement from Education Scotland follows concern school reports and classroom discussions at parents’ evenings are conducted in unfamiliar professional language.
For example, school reports sometimes track pupils’ progress with terms such as “developing”, “consolidating” or “secure”, which the guidance says should not be used.
It states: “Do not spend time writing long reports for parents, which describe lots of classwork or use professional jargon.
“Reporting to parents should highlight latest progress, identify next steps in learning and... highlight ways in which parents can support their child’s progress.”
The guidance goes on to provide practical advice on how to reduce classroom workload such as calling on staff not to spend too long on repetitive assessment activities and to stop writing overly-long plans or evaluations.
And it says all staff should keep their focus on improvements in literacy and numeracy, as well as the health and wellbeing of pupils.
The guidance was deemed necessary after teaching unions complained the roll-out of the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) reforms – designed to enrich learning for all age groups – had led to a “deluge” of advice and guidance which left classroom teachers confused over priorities.
John Swinney, the Education Secretary, who asked Education Scotland to produce the new guidance, said some teachers had felt it necessary to draw up “whole files” of assessment material for each pupil, which was unnecessary.
He said: “In the short period in which I have been in post I have been taking measures to simplify and clarify the experience of teachers and reduce the burden of bureaucracy.
“The guidance is designed to do that across the whole of Scottish education.”
Mr Swinney stressed the focus on reducing workload for secondary teachers which has increased with the introduction of new exams would be continuing.
Bill Maxwell, chief executive of Education Scotland, said the introduction of CfE had led to an “unintentional increase” in workload as a variety of different guidance had built up.
He said: “This is a step towards addressing those issues by stripping this back to provide a single source of very clear guidance that, if followed by teachers, will help reduce clutter.”
The move was welcomed by Joanna Murphy, chairwoman of the National Parent Forum of Scotland, who said reporting to parents should be clear and concise.
She said: “Teachers have to remember parents are not education specialists and they want a realistic view of their children’s progress and practical examples how they can help.
“When professional terms are used teachers need to ensure parents understand them before discussions takes place.”
Eileen Prior, executive director of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, added: “The curriculum is full of jargon that most people don’t understand. What parents want to know is how their child is doing and what can they do to help.”
Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland, welcomed the guidance, but struck a note of caution.
He said: “We need to see concrete change in our schools with clear results sooner rather than later and the issue of excessive assessment in secondary remains to tackled.”
And the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association said it would press ahead with a ballot for industrial action on reducing teacher workload.
Seamus Searson, the union’s general secretary, said workload was unlikely to be significantly reduced in the current school session – especially in the area of new qualifications.