Lifting the burden from our teachers

EACHERS will appreciate the clarity on offer in new streamlined guidance from Education Scotland designed to simplify implementation of the curriculum.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has made plain education is to be her key policy priority but it has been left to her deputy John Swinney, as the Education Secretary, to finesse the detail about how he plans to boost basic skills, close the attainment gap and make sure pupils from all backgrounds have the same chance to proceed to further and higher education.

An emphasis on literacy and numeracy almost goes without saying, especially given the troubling statistics on numeracy that coincided with his appointment and showed achievement was dropping back. Opponents have criticised aspects of the new guidance as platitudinous and there is an element of the blindingly obvious about a lot of what is included. But Mr Swinney’s latest step towards reducing teacher workload by reducing paperwork and assessment is a welcome one.

Teachers complain that the arrival of the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) has been accompanied by ever-increasing amounts of guidance from official bodies such as Education Scotland and the Scottish Qualifications Agency (SQA). Not only is this burdensome, some of it is even contradictory, they argue.

The curriculum was always meant to be about trusting teachers to teach and be more autonomous. Anything that helps tip the balance back towards that goal is to be lauded. The fact teachers are also to be encouraged to be more plainspeaking in their dealings with parents and pupils is also welcome. Families want to know if children are keeping up, learning and focused in class; not whether they are “secure” at level two or “consolidating” at level three. A worthwhile next step would be for school inspection reports to become similarly more lucid.

The trouble is that there seems to be precious little reflection on offer, at least in public, as to how so crucial and forward-thinking a development as CfE became bogged down in paperwork and stultifying education-speak.

Teachers have always been in the best position to assess and report back on their pupils’ progress. That does not require 20 examples of evidence for each learning point, or jargon-ridden reports to parents, as Education Scotland’s guidance makes clear but it must take its share of the blame. A briefing paper directed at the body as to how to write clear and concise guidance for schools might be just as appropriate.

Teaching unions have welcomed the new document but also highlighted the major concerns on workload that continue to plague secondary schools. Mr Swinney has acknowledged the need for a reduction in the burden of assessment associated with SQA exams, but there is an impasse between unions and the exam body on what to do about it.

Mr Swinney has pledged to set out his thinking in this area shortly. With the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association being balloted on industrial action and the Educational Institute of Scotland already taking part in a work to rule, he had better not wait too long.