Schools need support, not more obstacles in their way
THE Scottish Government wants councils to improve education by working together more closely. The six new Regional Improvement Collaboratives, set up to deliver this, will be subject to close attention in the coming months. They simply must deliver if they are to achieve credibility as engines of excellence rather than being a mere managerial miasma. As Archie Macpherson would put it, “They’ll have to set out their stall early doors”.
Collaboration is central to Scotland’s education governance arrangements. In delaying the Education Bill, Education Secretary John Swinney wishes for transformation through “collaborative and collegiate” action. My authority, Highland Council, is one of eight in the Northern Alliance. Its byzantine agenda has four priority areas, to be implemented through 16 work streams and six drivers. It seeks connections, networks, synergy, the alignment of progression frameworks and evidence of positive impact.
There are four priorities: improvement in attainment, particularly literacy and numeracy; closing the outcome gap between the most and least disadvantaged children; improvement in children and young people’s health and wellbeing; and improvement in employability skills and sustained, positive school leaver destinations for all young people.
A reasonable set of priorities, drawn from the National Improvement Framework. This document, published in January 2016, serves as a go-to for all improvement planning, including at school level. This is where we might be fearful for the shiny new collaboratives as these overarching national targets, which inform all curriculum design and planning, are already part of the furniture in every locality and associated school group. We in schools already plan, deliver, assess and evaluate in the shade of these targets. So, early days perhaps, but, in a context where the School
We in schools already plan, deliver, assess and evaluate in the shade of National Improvement Framework targets
Improvement Plan has pride of place in every classroom, and Mr Swinney’s empowerment agenda is likely to devolve further functions to school senior management, whither, and wherefore, collaboratives?
Surely its reason for being is against the grain of more localised impetus?
Well, unless such groupings act meaningfully on pedagogical matters, relevantly and supportively analysing and employing the research evidence base, they may struggle to justify their existence. Northern Alliance has an impressive mission statement, promising “to develop and learn as programmes embed and develop … working in partnership nationally, regionally and locally … [to] develop impact and drive improvement across the country”. How useful it would be, for instance, if the excellent Education Endowment Foundation report, Improving Secondary Science, could inform not just its framework but also school-based research and piloting.
Spreading the substantial insights this report gives us into the classroom could add a crosscurricular lustre to collaboratives and their work, otherwise unavailable through their datacollation, conferences for those who won’t be missed at school and generalised exhortations to improve.
In short, how about a regional improvement collaborative as a beacon of ideas and inspiration when actual classrooms in actual schools may be short of resources or even staff? When those in schools and local authorities may be working so hard trying to meet the requirements of the 26 per cent of children with additional support needs, as well as the other 74%? Schools need support, not more Sisyphean boulders.
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