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ANNEX C - Oral and Associated Written
Evidence
Tuesday 11 June 2002 (18th meeting 2002 (Session1)), Written
Evidence
SUBMISSION FROM EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SCOTLAND
1 Preamble
1.1 We welcome the opportunity to respond to this Inquiry of
the Education, Culture and Sport Committee of the Parliament.
We believe that it is a mark of the strength both of the Parliament
and of Scottish education that such an Inquiry can be launched
confidently while the Executive promotes a National Debate on
the future of school education. Such discussion and investigation
presumes the existence of a strong and confident education system
which is already disposed to develop and improve. We note as
evidence of this, not only the published performance indicators
within Scotland, but also the outcomes of international comparisons,
most recently the OECD PISA report Knowledge and Skills for
Life which demonstrates the success of Scotland's schools in
preparing young people for a range of roles in adult life through
the successful development of critical and problem solving skills.
1.2 In addressing the future it is appropriate firstly to recognise
publicly and without hesitation the successes of Scotland's
comprehensive school system, secondly to acknowledge clearly
the contribution of such recent developments as the Standards
in Scotland's Schools Act and the introduction of National Priorities
to developing our education system to meet the needs of the
future and thirdly to recognise the existence of an active culture
of critical reflection within our education system.
1.3 While we recognise that this Inquiry and our response focus
on school education, it is our strong belief that school education
cannot be considered in isolation from the rest of life and
from learning for life. This has implications for schools not
only in terms of curriculum, assessment, pedagogy and internal
organisation but also in terms of community relationships and
of the contribution of schools to community leadership.
2 Introduction
Is there a need in a rapidly changing world for radical
change in the education system?
2.1 We agree in general with the argument developed in the
Context statement within the Introduction to this discussion
paper. While we recognise and accept that the education system
must continue to develop in ways which take account of the changes
taking place in society, we would argue strongly that change
in the education system should take the form of an evolutionary
rather than a revolutionary process. This does not imply that
change should be slow but rather that it should be based on
existing good practice. We believe that this approach is essential
if the education system is to be capable of playing successfully
the role which we seek, of assisting our pupils and the communities
which we serve in developing the skills to be capable of meeting
the changes in their lives - including changes still to be met.
Our view is based partly on our belief that Scottish education
when afforded the opportunity and resources has demonstrated
the ability to change and develop and partly because we believe
that change cannot be imposed but must incorporate the views
of stakeholders.
3 Theme 1: Coping with Change and Uncertainty
How can the education system help children and young people
to cope with high levels of uncertainty and the rapid pace of
change?
3.1 We believe that the education system must do more than
help children and young people to cope with change: the word
`cope' carries connotations of `getting by', `just managing'
or `muddling through'; rather we believe that children and young
people must be encouraged and supported to participate in change
and to contribute to planning and developing their own futures
and the future of our society. Schools must be resourced and
staffed adequately both to allow for more effective teaching
and learning and to provide pastoral support for all pupils.
3.2 Resilience is a powerful concept which we believe merits
further examination: resilience on the part of young people
faced by difficulties; resilience in the sense of preparing
young people to live in a world of change; and resilience on
the part of teachers when faced by the pressures of change.
3.3 In relation to learning, schools will have to move beyond
any restriction of the concept of learning to the inculcation
of knowledge. Schools will require to move further to develop
critical thinking, emotional intelligence and pupils' sense
of self-efficacy. We are aware that populist versions of such
concepts (sometimes motivated by commercialism) have led to
some lack of credibility but we acknowledge the need to develop
thinking and practice in these areas.
3.4 Creativity is a concept that allows us to move on from
debates about education for work through employability to broader
themes such as critical thinking, the Arts, emotional intelligence
and Science & Technology. Again fostering creativity is
applicable not only in the case of pupils but also in the case
of teachers and other education workers who merit support in
this area rather than being constrained by bureaucracy as has
been the case in recent years.
3.5 Developments of the type proposed within the discussion
paper and the need to deal with change require learning schools
in a learning system. In such a system research will inform
policy. All too often in the recent past research in Scottish
education has been limited to playing one of a small number
of roles:
(i) evaluations of policies already decided upon and likely
to be extended regardless of the outcomes of the evaluation
(ii) research centred on focus groups and/or carefully limited
questionnaires which has sometimes been little more than PR
(iii) over inflating the importance of small pieces of research
(including that alleged to underpin commercial packages) which
have been heralded as providing a populist and allegedly definitive
answer to some long-standing issue.
There is a need for a more imaginative use of research and
a more open approach to planning, funding and supporting research
in Scottish education and schools. This is certainly the case
for complex and far-reaching issues, such as ICT, which gives
rise to potentially serious problems as well as to potentially
enormous benefits for the education service.
3.6 In a learning education system all of those involved in
education, whether as teachers or managers or as parents will
be encouraged and supported in reading, researching and coming
to their own conclusions. Within this system schools themselves
become learning organisations; while this phrase can be used
in vacuous ways it does refer to a key aspect of the life of
any organisation in a period of change; in a learning organisation
all members are able to initiate, support and inform the development
of the establishment. Development Planning is a step, though
a limited one, towards this process. It is regrettable, therefore,
that even that limited step continues to be resisted in parts
of the education system (or has not yet been universally achieved).
3.7 A necessary prerequisite of any fundamental change is the
creation and maintenance of a culture of mutual respect and
support.
3.8 While there are possibilities for new means of funding,
managing and governing education, we believe that any changes
in this field must recognise that education in our society and
in the sort of inclusive society we would wish to promote in
Scotland must recognise that education is a public good the
provision of which cannot be determined primarily by market
forces or by the desires or interests of any single individual.
An inclusive society requires an inclusive education system.
In this context we would point to the discussion within the
OECD Schooling for Tomorrow programme, the accompanying report
"Schooling for Tomorrow: What Schools for the Future?"
and the clear concerns demonstrated there regarding privatisation
and marketisation; we would also point up the work of Harry
Brighouse of London University Institute of Education on the
falsity of the premises which underlie Westminster privatisation
policies in education.
4 Theme 2: Engaging with Ideas
How far should education encourage children and young people
to be capable of engaging with existing knowledge and developing
innovative ideas as the basis for questioning authority and
social conventions?
4.1 The concept of education for citizenship as articulated
in Scotland (eg in the Learning and Teaching Scotland Paper
for Discussion and Development) recognises explicitly that young
people are not only citizens of the future or citizens in training
but are currently citizens. It is evident that many young people
have strongly held views about the society in which they live
and about the immediate environments, including schools, in
which they live. It would, therefore, be inappropriate to regard
initial education simply or merely as a period of apprenticeship.
4.2 It is essential that individuals contribute to society
on the basis of well-informed thoughts. However it is self-evident
that no single individual, group or institution can hold or
control all the necessary, far less all the desirable information
on some issue. While schools will seek to ensure that young
people are provided with some knowledge, their more important
tasks will be to ensure that young people have the means of
accessing information from a wide range of sources (friends,
the local community, other individuals, books, ICT sources)
and that, in considering that information, young people will
exercise a range of skills which could be described as critical.
4.3 Schools will therefore have to encourage and foster the
development of a range of skills and, equally importantly, encourage
and foster the ability of young people to recognise, appreciate
and evaluate their personal attitudes and values. For some in
our society this will be perceived as threatening in that schools
will not pass on uncritically the views of any particular group;
the questioning of authority may not be welcome to those who
have traditionally exercised authority. While the implications
for teachers will often be immediately evident, it is necessary
to recognise that this will be equally true for many parents,
for many in positions of official authority and for many cultural
organisations and communities of interest.
4.4 Schools are capable of becoming more democratic and we
would argue that in many cases, but not yet all, this process
has been underway in recent years. This has influenced the situation
within the classroom where young people may have a greater say
in teaching and learning and where pupils now expect to have
the rationale for decisions explained to them even if they cannot
directly affect them. It is also true in such recent procedures
as the determination of the school's educational priorities
(in the development planning process) and the financial priorities
(in the allocation of the devolved school budget). It is vital
that these welcome trends should continue and should flourish,
for we believe strongly that commitment and motivation are greatly
enhanced if a genuine sense of partnership and involvement is
generated.
5 Theme 3: Keeping Everyone involved with Learning
Is what we are currently doing in schools an adequate proxy
for what we think education ought to do?
5.1 We consider the phrase `adequate proxy' a strange choice
in that it suggests that what is done in schools is unrelated
to what education ought to do. The EIS does not accept that
merely "adequate" is acceptable. The context also
suggests that there is some confusion as to what education ought
to do.
5.2 Schools must not, and indeed do not, simply mirror and
reproduce the structures of society. Scottish education and
schools already seek to promote a more inclusive and just society.
An inclusive system must be defined not only in terms of the
inclusion of individual pupils whose learning needs are greater
than those of most of their peers but also in terms of social
inclusion. Ministers have described this in straightforward
terms as reducing the gap in attainment between the most and
the least advantaged. While the comprehensive education system
in Scotland has indeed demonstrated that this is possible, we
recognise that much remains to be done in reducing the gap in
attainment between the most and least advantaged young people
in terms of socio-economic status in our schools. While schools
can take steps to reduce this inequality, the international
evidence is incontrovertible: societies with a high level of
socio-economic inequality are marked by high levels of inequality
in educational attainment. Since the UK in general and Scotland
in particular is marked by some of the highest levels of inequality
within the European Union it will not be possible wholly to
reduce this attainment gap without financial and economic policies
which promote much greater income equality. This requires a
range of economic, taxation and social policies which go beyond
the limited action taken by successive governments.
5.3 However, schools seek to model a more inclusive society
through other means than addressing the raising of attainment.
As a trade union organisation we are committed to contributing
to the building of a more equitable society. We agree with the
proposal in the paper that issues of gender and race must be
addressed in so doing.
5.4 While we recognise that some boys and young men are involved
in a culture of `laddism', we would not wish policy to be driven
by media headlines and stereotyping. We would point out that
many boys and young men are not active participants in this
culture and that there is evidence that some who are influenced
by this regret it; it is necessary to develop our knowledge
and understanding of how young people become socialised in this
way and of how conformity to this stereotyping can be prevented.
It is evident that while schools can make a significant contribution
to reducing both the causes and the effects of this stereotyping,
other agencies and the community in general must contribute
to this process. We note that this culture is widely promoted
by commercial interests which have no interest in the welfare
of young people and that little action has been taken to counter
their promotion. In making their contribution, schools should
be seeking to reduce the culture of "laddism" rather
than adopting strategies which reinforce it and stereotyping
in general. We note that this emphasis on the underachievement
of boys ignores the effects of deprivation on girls and the
effects of institutional sexism on girls as a group. Some strategies
which schools are being encouraged to use to address the underachievement
of boys may further disadvantage girls.
5.5 We believe that there is no strong evidence that congenital
differences between males and females contribute to inequity
in the educational experiences of girls and boys. Many schools
have demonstrated their ability to take action to promote equity
between male and female pupils; but to be fully effective schools
and the education system requires the support of society. This
requires action and commitment by the UK government, by the
Scottish Executive, and the empowerment of women through a wide
range of organisations, including the trade union movement.
5.6 Considerable work has been done both to recognise cultural
diversity and to combat racism. However, we agree that the full
variety of Scotland's multi-cultural society is not yet being
addressed nor reflected within schools but we would argue that
the work that has begun by Scotland's schools has often been
constrained by lack of resources. Actions and statements by
the UK Government have often had a negative effect, particularly
in its treatment of asylum seekers.
5.7 An inclusive system will also recognise the roles of stakeholders
in contributing to determining the direction of the school system
in Scotland; in particular it will develop and sustain the consultative
culture introduced within the Standards in Scotland's Schools
Act and within A Teaching Profession for the 21st
Century. Further if a school system is to provide a model of
a more just society, it will also require the recognition of
the rights of other workers within the education system including
the right to dignity within employment through fair levels of
pay, security of employment and the recognitions of the right
to trade union membership and activity.
6 Theme 4: Promoting a Sense of Identity
Is there something distinctive and special about the way
that Scotland should respond to change?
6.1 Education for citizenship is a key issue in Scotland: in
terms of promoting a more inclusive society, in terms of policies
on disability, race, gender and sexuality, in terms of developing
relevant skills and dispositions among pupils, in terms of relationships
among pupils and between pupils and staff, and in terms of developing
democracy and social solidarity.
6.2 We believe that considerable work has been done within
Scotland (by Learning and Teaching Scotland and its predecessor
the SCCC, by the Equal Opportunities Commission and by the Commission
for Racial Equality) on the issues referred to in this section.
This work can be built upon in developing practice in this area.
7 Theme 5: Developing Necessary Skills
What skills are needed to make sense of large amounts of
information, and to bring them together into a coherent response
to change?
7.1 In responding to the questions posed in this section we
would direct attention to points raised explicitly and implicitly
elsewhere within our response, particularly in sections 3 and
4.
7.2 We agree with the fundamental assumptions underpinning
the statements within this section. We believe that many of
Scotland's schools have already begun to consider the means
of addressing the questions posed within this section.
7.3 We have been concerned that the target setting regimes
imposed by previous administrations have encouraged schools
to concentrate on a very limited range of easily assessed skills
at the expense of a much wider range of skills such as creative
and critical thinking, practical and craft skills and skills
in the performing arts, many of which are becoming ever more
important.
8 Theme 6: Fitting Structure to Purpose
Are schools the right places for all young people?
8.1 This question is posed in a simplistic way which does not
reflect the bullet points that develop the argument. Given the
central roles that schools play in our society, given the level
of expenditure and investment that schools require and given
the existence of universal schooling in all comparable societies,
it is unlikely that enrolment and attendance at schools is simply
the result of social inertia as this question might imply. Schools
carry out important roles in our society.
8.2 However, it has to be recognised that not all pupils integrated
within mainstream classes will readily benefit from the process,
nor work constructively with other children in the class. For
many teachers (as evidenced by the recent research commissioned
from SCRE by the EIS) the perspective is that the price being
paid for policies of social inclusion/integration is increased
pupil disruption. Social inclusion must be supported fully so
that the additional burden of disruption is avoided. And where
disruption does occur this must be dealt with directly and immediately,
if necessary by identifying alternative forms of education for
pupils who cause that disruption. Policies of social inclusion
are not cost free.
8.3 Having re-stated the central function of the school in
education provision, we recognise also that young people also
learn in a wide range of contexts and from a wide range of other
people. This has always been true but, while avoiding the simplistic
views of some on, for example, the likely roles of ICT, we recognise
that we have available a much wider range of resources which
will support a wider range of ways of learning than has been
the custom in the past and that young people will display a
wider range of learning behaviour than we have allowed in classroom
in the past.
8.4 Learning is not constrained within the walls of the schools.
Out of school learning in the limited sense of the phrase can
be promoted by or provided by schools through a variety of schemes
whether run by the school itself or in cooperation with other
agencies; these have included a wide range of residential experiences,
homework groups, clubs or teams. In a wider sense of the phrase,
schools do recognise the positive roles that parents, peers
and the community play in the education of young people; and
schools also recognise that they do not control or manage all
of this learning. If schools acknowledge this then so also must
those in authority who have sought to constrain learning within
easily measurable performance indicators based on targets.
8.5 We recognise that the curriculum and the range of learning
experiences of young people cannot be limited solely to the
formal curriculum of the school. This plays a central role in
developing pupils' learning. Considerable work has been done
within Scotland in seeking to develop curricular structures
which recognise that knowledge and understanding are only part
of what schools seek to foster; equally important are skills
and attitudes. Traditional subject areas must be considered
in the light of the need to include a wide range of skills and
dispositions.
8.6 We believe that the development of specialist schools is
likely to be inimical to the development of the culture and
practice of inclusion. This is already strongly manifest in
England where there is clear evidence that the promotion of
diversity has permitted schools to select overtly or covertly
those pupils who are likely to be to the benefit of the school
and exclude those who are likely in one way or another to provide
challenges to the system.
8.7 We believe that the mainstream school is suitable for the
vast majority of young people. A small number will receive part
or all of their education in alternative provision such as outreach
centres and on site education provision for travellers. Some
adolescents may find a further education college more appropriate
to providing the opportunities which they require. Some pupils
with special educational needs should be educated in special
schools. This has tended to focus on pupils with behavioural
problems (see also paragraph 8.2); however, special schools
have a major positive contribution to make to the education
of other pupils with particular needs. Certain pre-vocational
courses will require education outwith the mainstream. However,
alternatives to school should never mean alternatives to education
provision. There should be planned education provision for all
young people, whatever their needs.
SUBMISSION FROM THE ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY
TEACHERS
Introduction
The Association of University Teachers (Scotland) represents
nearly 6,000 academic and academic-related staff in Scottish
higher education institutions. We welcome the opportunity to
comment on the Inquiry into the Purposes of Scottish Education.
Overall key question
Is there a need in a rapidly changing world for radical change
in the education system?
Education itself has to move with the rapidly changing world
and adapt to the changes in technology. The structures for delivering
education should allow for seamless changes in curriculum to
reflect this rapid change.
Theme 1: Coping with Change and Uncertainty
Key question
How can the education system help children and young people
to cope with high levels of uncertainty and the rapid pace of
change?
Pupils require an education that prepares them to deal with
civic Scotland and a culture of lifelong learning. It should
allow them to apply knowledge learnt at School to work or further
study. Education should prepare pupils for an environment where
self motivation and discipline are important. Students studying
in higher education will have less formal teaching and will
have to study alone outside the formal lectures. Although teachers
have to apply discipline and formal methods in classrooms, we
note that this may not be the best preparation for post compulsory
study and the work environment.
School education is just the beginning of education and as
such should be about developing basic skills and knowledge leaving
work based training or further and higher education to apply
the advanced and specialist skills. In a modern age these basic
skills will include use of computers.
Theme 2: Engaging with Ideas
Key question
How far should education encourage children and young people
to be capable of engaging with existing knowledge and developing
innovative ideas as the basis for questioning authority and
social conventions?
In the new era of technology, knowledge is easily available.
Hence, pupils may not need to learn facts to simply reproduce
them in examinations. Schools should teach pupils to gather
knowledge from all forms of media and to think about the knowledge.
Theme 3: Keeping Everyone Involved with Learning
Key question
Is what we are currently doing in schools an adequate proxy
for what we think education ought to do?
Schools cannot be expected to alleviate society's ills. Young
people, in areas of low employment and deprivation, see education
as irrelevant. Only increasing employment and raising aspiration
will solve this problem.
Teachers manage to educate pupils despite the lack of resources.
This is the best education possible and schools are not a proxy
for education.
Extensive research has been performed on many of the issues
behind the alienation of pupils and of health issues including
the concept of health promoting schools. The committee should
consult this research and take evidence from the experts in
these fields.
Theme 4: Promoting a Sense of Identity
Key question
Is there something distinctive and special about the way that
Scotland should respond to change?
Scottish education has always been different, and we would
say better, than the rest of the UK in offering diversity to
a higher level of study in Schools. This diversity is continued
in the first years of Scottish degrees. However, Scotland's
education is similar to that in mainland Europe and should resist
moving towards the outmoded and separatist British model. With
devolution there is a greater Scottish identity which should
be reflected in its education. The Scottish Parliament puts
a greater emphasis than the rest of the UK on lifelong learning
and the knowledge economy and this should be reflected in school
education.
Schools should also promote a multitude of cultures and tolerance
for other ethnic groups. We believe that separate religious
schools increase prejudice and should be phased out rather than
increased.
Theme 5: Developing Necessary Skills
Key question
What skills are needed to make sense of large amounts of information,
and to bring them together into a coherent response to change?
Pupils should be taught to think not just learn facts and should
be encouraged to use and develop their imagination. The great
Scottish inventions are due to imaginative solutions rather
than hard work and application of knowledge.
Theme 6: Fitting Structure to Purpose
Key question
Are schools the right places for all young people?
We believe that the formal structures of schools prepare pupils
for work and further study. It also allows for social skills
to be developed. Professional expertise over a broad range of
subjects is only available in schools.
Dr Tony L Axon
Research Officer
AUT
SUBMISSION FROM HEADTEACHERS¹ ASSOCIATION
OF SCOTLAND
The Structure
1. General
2. Our Children
3. Our Teacher Force
4. The Curriculum
5. Raising attainment
6. Social Inclusion
7. The School Environment
8. The School In The Community
9. Conclusion
1. General
It is appropriate that informed debate takes place on all facets
of Education in any society and so the Minister for Children
is to be congratulated on launching this debate at this time.
It is also appropriate that HAS, representing 74% of Senior
Managers in our secondary schools should have a major input
to this debate. The importance of education must also be reflected
in the value placed upon it by all sectors of our society. It
must be reflected in the allocation of resourcing given to it
by the government of that society and so it is our hope that
the paths followed and the conclusions reached in this paper,
if deemed acceptable to that society, will attract the inevitable
resource requirements from government. Debate without subsequent
action may come to be regarded as a sterile exercise and not
helpful to society's perception of government itself. While
a pathway into this debate was indicated by the series of six
key questions posed in the Minister's introductory paper we
believe that a more relevant approach from our perspective is
to follow the route mapped out at the beginning of this paper.
2. Our Children
It is self-evident, but not always appreciated, that the quality
of education available to our children represents the future
of our country. With the demise of heavy industry, globalisation
of economies and a requirement for a skilled and flexible labour
force to permit us to compete, it is essential that the following
factors are met.
·an ability to reason
·an ability to assimilate and use knowledge
·an ability to evaluate
·an ability to recognise rights
·an ability to accept responsibilities
In addition there is a need to ensure that our educational
system allows our children to recognise the strengths and weaknesses
to be found in a modern multi-cultural society and to learn
to work to promote a culture of equality and opportunity.
3. Our Teacher Force
To ensure that our educational system meets its requirements
as set out above, it will be necessary to meet the following
conditions
·a highly trained and motivated teacher
workforce
·a profession attractive to new recruits
·a profession which demonstrates a clear
and broad career progression to permit teachers to move to the
highest levels if proved capable and if desired by the practitioner
·a profession which will encourage practitioners
to develop their skills to offer the highest quality of teaching
and learning
·a profession which is structured to
permit the acquisition and use of continually updated management
skills both in the classroom situation and in establishments
·a profession which sees its members
recognised and rewarded on a scale which reflects the value
of the service they provide a profession supported but not replaced
by a strong force of paraprofessionals
·a profession which is well resourced
by both local and national government
The resource requirements and career paths require to be addressed
in an age where a professional footballer can earn more in one
week than the head of one of our largest schools in one year.
4. The Curriculum
To meet the requirements of our society of the future the curriculum
on offer in our schools will have to-
·reflect the needs of society including
industry.
·give the opportunity to our children
to acquire all the skills as listed before.
·offer an educational experience which
gives an insight into the structures and needs of our society.
·promote toleration and understanding.
·be suitable to meet the needs of all
of our children.
·be structured to maximise individual
opportunities for learning including on-line resources.
·be structured to decentralise control
and allow establishments to tailor a broad national curriculum
to meet the needs of the individual learner,
·free from the artificial and often meaningless
barriers of imposed targets.
·be funded in a fair, consistent and
transparent manner which permits regular investment on both
a short and long term basis
·be adaptable to meet the question of
curricular flexibility and maximise
·opportunity for all
Once again the needs of an advanced technological age will
require heavy and appropriate investment and commitment on the
part of local and national government
5. Raising Attainment
The ongoing momentum to raise attainment will remain a priority
for our education system. To do this will require a recognition
of the importance of maintaining an appropriate direction and
evaluation of the learning and teaching process. As stated above,
this should be seen as supportive of the learning process and
neither an adjunct to nor, in the worst scenario, a set of obstacles
to impede progress. In this respect the improvement agenda should
no be restricted to academic achievement but should also include
issues of sport, cultural and citizenship.
ICT provision, a flexible curriculum, new technologies and
communication systems to provide educational bridges within
and across establishments will all require investment, maintenance
and a suitable replacement programme to address these needs.
6. Social Inclusion
The school of the future must be capable of meeting the needs
of every pupil. This should range from meeting the specific
needs of those with learning difficulties or physical disability
through learning plans for all ranges of ability to recognising
and encouraging the development of the exceptionally able. It
would also be appropriate to consider issues relating to parental
responsibilities in the provision of quality education to our
children.
Social exclusion should continue to be fought and suitable
investment of all kinds given to minimising the destructive
effects of a society divided into haves and have nots. All forms
of discrimination should be discouraged and levels of conduct
appropriate to illustrate a society acceptable to all should
be actively promoted.
The current trend towards the one-stop shop supporting our
children through the combined efforts of teachers, social workers
and medical support services may be less than successful in
embryonic form but the concept is worthy of investment and development
to make it work, with the requirement to provide the highest
level of learning and teaching paramount.
Again this will require a heavy level of investment by local
and national government to provide the levels of support in
schools necessary to attain this ideal. Conversely, failure
to recognise and act upon social exclusion may destroy the very
fabric of our society itself.
7. The School Environment
Too often the physical environment of 20th century schools
has reflected the lack of investment made by national and local
government. The clear message to our children must be that the
physical condition of the school where they are educated indicates
a lack of importance in the educational process.
The environment of the school of the future must reflect the
value placed on education by our society. Safe, warm, bright,
dry, well-heated (or cooled), well equipped, welcoming are all
adjectives which should apply to our schools to encourage involvement
and commitment on the part of the pupils of the future.
Services on offer should include attractive learning areas,
leisure areas, food courts, sports and cultural facilities,
medical facilities and study areas with good ICT facilities.
The requirements of resourcing are self-evident in this respect.
In addition, main holiday periods could be standardised across
the country to remove the strange variations within a relatively
small geographic area which prove so troublesome.
8. The School in its Community
One of the growing strengths and recognised successes of present
schools has been the rapidly expanding links between the school
and its community. Areas such as EIL, enterprise, charity works,
support to the very young and the elderly have all come to be
recognised as essential and desirable parts of the life o! the
school.
Traditional barriers between the different sectors of education
have been attacked and breached.
The school of the future may well be part of a learning community
which provides a seamless path from pre-5 to Higher and Further
Education. The phrase Learning for Life should be reflected
in the new combined structures in education.
Conclusions
Current levels of investment in education are unlikely to
meet the requirement to provide the educational structure of
the future as set out above. The duty to do this rests unequivocally
with our government systems.
Present recruitment, training and support mechanisms for teachers
fail to address the difficulties of workload and morale present
in the profession. The conditions of the so-called McCrone Settlement
have failed to resolve these difficulties.
A professional organisation such as the Headteachers¹
Association of Scotland (HAS) is essential to the success of
the school of the future in providing leadership, professional
expertise and management skills.
The opportunity given by the Minister to debate these issues
is to be welcomed. The need for action following the debate
is imperative.
Let us hope that the National Debate leads to acceptable action
on the part of the organs of government in Scotland. Failure
to do so might well prove
disastrous for the future of our children
SUBMISSION FROM SCOTTISH PARENT TEACHER COUNCIL
Coping with Change and Uncertainty
We deceive ourselves if we believe that change is either more
dramatic or at a greater relative speed than that faced by previous
generations. The new millennium has made us more sensitive to
change, but has not altered the amount of change. Coping with
change is simply part of the human condition. Mankind is very
adaptable. Moreover, new generations born into new environments
simply absorb that new environment as normal vide the way children
are born knowing how to programme a video whilst older generations
had to wait for video plus to be developed.
Within this context of change, education is a stable part of
the environment. Of some 85 European institutions that have
survived from the 16th century, fulfilling a recognisable
and sustained function, 75 are Universities. The others are
bodies such as the Papacy, the British Monarchy and the Bank
of Sienna. Education is at the cutting edge of change, indeed
it is often the starting point, and so it is most adaptable.
In contrast manufacturing and industry have relatively short
lives as new and better products constantly come on stream.
We have regularly to update skills but knowledge is more durable
and can be built upon. To paraphrase Einstein, we see further
because we stand on the shoulders of giants. So, the theory
of electromagnetism, developed by James Clark Maxwell in the
19th century, is fundamental to the subsequent development
of modern ICT.
With the basis for ICT, cloning and space travel already established,
it is hard to anticipate what discoveries will revolutionise
the 21st century in the way that the 20th
century was revolutionised. It has been suggested that if the
20th century was dominated by physics, the 21st will be the
age of life sciences. However, one likely change is already
apparent - population decline. In 1964 there were just over
104,000 live births in Scotland. In 2001 this was down to 51,000.
On current birth rates, this will fall to 40,000 within 25 years.
The first effect of this is an ageing population. The next step
will be population decline.
Key Question How can the education system help children
and young people to cope with high levels of uncertainty and
the rapid pace of change?
In many respects education has to offer youngsters the constants
both in terms of knowledge and values. It then has to teach
youngsters to assess these critically so that they can apply
them appropriately.
The role of ICT offers an interesting exemplar. ICT enables
information to be transferred more quickly and more completely
than ever before. It provides the user with more access to more
resources. It enables us to handle vastly more data efficiently
and accurately. However, like all technological advances it
has limitations. The technology has to work. The information
entered has to be accurate. There is a tendency to do unnecessary
tasks simply because they can be done quickly and easily. Such
unnecessary tasks are often made into requirements but do not
significantly add anything. However, because tasks are effortless,
produce reams of data, their value is not subjected to critical
analysis. It is not clear how much the whole audit industry
has contributed to efficiency or progress, although it has been
a very good middle class job creation scheme. Moreover, dependence
on data processing undermines people's ability to make decisions.
For example, in the past doctors were able to diagnose patients'
illness on the basis of their professional judgement. Now they
are dependent on a battery of tests often to come to the same
conclusion.
Education has not been "transformed" by ICT in the
way that banking and financial services have, because the nature
of the knowledge and skills that are transferred in education
is different from the nature of the data and information used
in the key area of banking that has most benefited from the
use of ICT. In our meetings for the national debate, parents
have constantly stressed the importance of the pupil/teacher
and pupil to pupil links to the learning process. They see ICT
as providing back-up in terms of information exchange, but not
replacing the important pupil/teacher relationship. Recent studies
have shown that when the best computer learning is compared
to the best teacher-pupil learning, the computer learning is
less efficient.
Key Question How far should education encourage children
and young people to be capable of engaging with existing knowledge
and developing innovative ideas as the basis for questioning
authority and social conventions.
It is the nature of childhood to question authority. We use
education to generate conformity. It is not clear that we really
want too many people to question authority and social conventions.
We only want this to happen when we can control the level of
challenge. For example the amazing spirit of enterprise and
inventiveness that is a feature of the whole drugs trade is
not one which society wishes to encourage. Recent studies have
shown that truants have the greatest entrepreneurial spirit
and yet we invest much energy into ending truancy.
However, education has become more conformist as it has been
required more and more to meet centrally imposed targets. The
Executive measures schools by league tables so exam results
have become critical and education focuses on getting children
through exams. Initiative, innovation and challenge are squeezed
out of the system by the drive to raise standards because those
standards are only interpreted in one way.
The new theme is for diversity, but if we are to have real
diversity, we have to remove the trappings of conformity - league
tables, measurable targets etc. We have to return to a system
of trusting professionals to educate. One of the themes emerging
from our parents' meetings is that parents want to see an end
to this focus on league tables and examination results. All
meetings have produced the same message - parents want the school
week expanded, with the extra time given to Art, Music, PE and
Drama taught by specialists.
Citizenship is a term used very loosely. On the one hand there
is the concept of a good member of society who does his/her
duty and picks up the litter. On the other hand citizenship
is about people engaging in the democratic process. However,
those with power in the democratic process do not actually wish
citizens to engage and change the course of an action. They
merely want the appearance of engagement. Politicians regard
people voting as being good but people rebelling against policy
as being bad. On the other hand, we have a representative democracy,
which means that politicians have to make decisions on behalf
of people, based on their better understanding of the facts.
What is necessary for this form of democracy to work is for
politicians to explain their actions openly and honestly, not
distorted through ubiquitous spin.
In truth citizens have to be
·critics of the state
·able to stop its excesses
·able to exercise judgement between clearly
different courses of action
When the state merely responds to popularity polls, and all
parties fight for the middle ground, there is no choice for
the citizen to make and so engagement is pointless.
Key Question Is what we are currently doing in schools
an adequate proxy for what we think education ought to do?
It is frequently said that a teacher of forty years ago could
walk into a class and take up as though there had been no change.
In fact, the education children receive today is very different
from that offered forty years ago.
·The curriculum has changed both in terms
of subjects on offer and the content of subjects.
·The style of teaching has changed. There
is more student participation.
·There is more inclusion. Youngsters
are not put into different categories and taught separately.
·Children are less deferential and more
challenging.
·Although as a society people are much
healthier and live longer, children are less fit and more obese.
·The gender gap has been reversed.
·Female characteristics of diligence
and care for details are now more valued than the traditional
male characteristics of strength and co-ordination. If this
is a problem, it is for society as a whole, not just for education.
Education has become a positional good. The prevailing wisdom
is that there is only one route to succeed - through continuing
or higher education. We have a very middle class desk bound
view of the world whilst bemoaning the shortage of good plumbers,
joiners or long distance lorry drivers. We need to get the balance
right in society at large and not place so much emphasis on
one type of activity.
Key Question Is there something distinctive and special
about the way that Scotland should respond to change?
One product of improved communication links is the globalisation
of culture. Throughout the world people can enjoy the same music,
have the same idols. Scottish youngsters participate in this
global culture. However, Scotland still has its own distinctive
culture which is the product of its history and the population
movements that have characterised that history. Scotland has
been more successful than many countries in exporting its culture
and thereby contributing to the global culture. This change
is inevitable, but it its highly likely that local differences
will continue so that the global culture enjoyed in Thailand
will be different from the global culture enjoyed in Scotland.
Culture changes as it is passed from generation to generation,
with myth often replacing truth and being a more powerful influence.
Culture is dynamic. Artificial culture has little meaning. It
is not possible to preserve that which is not relevant to the
next generation, therefore if there are some aspects of Scottishness
which seem particularly important, they will only continue if
youngsters are convinced of them.
Key Question What skills are needed to make sense of
large amounts of information and to bring them together into
a coherent response?
As learning to talk and count are early and essential human
skills, so literacy and numeracy are central as they form the
basis for communication and the exchange of ideas.
Thinking skills and analytical skills are essential if we are
to make sense of the information which is available to us in
the 21st century and if we are not to get swamped
by minutiae. However, the practical skills needed are constantly
changing. The headline that "grey surfing is increasing"
shows how able and willing people are to adopt new skills when
they see their relevance.
Key Question Are schools the right places for all young
people?
In our public meetings, parents made it clear that they thought
that schools were very important because they gave a social
context to education. However, there was a recognition that
some youngsters at some stages did not fit easily into the school
environment. ICT was seen as valuable in supporting home learning
if youngsters by reason of health - both physical and mental
- could not attend school.
There was no support for streaming but there was support for
more diversity, in particular recognition that not all youngsters
thrive with a conventional curriculum. We have already mentioned
the call for an extended school week to incorporate more Art,
Sport, Music and Drama. The idea of modern apprenticeships being
offered in secondary school was also supported. For some youngsters
there is a need to link education more directly with work opportunities
in order to make it seem relevant. The converse of this was
also stated strongly - that university was neither a desirable
nor necessary route for all youngsters or for all work.
In terms of the links between primary and secondary, there
was no support for having all-through education but there was
an interesting discussion on whether the secondary system of
subject lessons should be introduced into P6 and P7 or whether
the topic-focused teaching of primary should be used in S1 and
S2.
Finally, in terms of life-long learning, recognition should
be given to all the informal learning that takes place outwith
the educational system. This starts for children in the home
where parents play a critical role. People were keen that school
did not intrude or take over this role. This informal learning
continues through life as individuals learn from each other.
It is important to recognise that learning does not always need
to be certificated in order to happen.
Judith Gillespie
Development Manager
SPTC
SUBMISSION FROM SCOTTISH SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION
Introduction
The Association welcomes the decision of the Education, Culture
and Sport Committee to set up an inquiry into purposes of Scottish
education, this to run in parallel with the Executive's National
Debate on the Future of School Education but to have a longer
`middle distance' perspective. We would also like to commend
the Committee on the quality of the discussion paper that it
has produced and the key questions it raises.
Firstly may we comment on the Introduction to your paper. We
are very glad to note the `plurality' of the word `Purposes'.
This holds promise that no `current orthodoxy' is likely to
emerge as a result of the Committee's side of the partnership
of consultation with the Executive's simultaneous National Debate.
What this means for a parental organisation such as SSBA is
that, in the changing climate originating from the Standards
in Scotland's Schools etc Act 2000, the views of School Boards
and parents will rank alongside those of professionals, industrialists,
universities, teachers, students and others. It also implies
that the academic, the value added, the economic, and the political
aspects will all be regarded as worthy of discussion.
Also welcome is the undertaking to have scrutiny of all education
issues - which for us implies a thorough airing of issues of
curriculum, policy, learning and teaching, partnership with
all other stakeholders in an integrated and shared self evaluation
of the individual school and the whole system. We agree that
there is a wide range of positive thinking about all of these.
What must surely come out of this consultation is the networking
of these views from all to all, so that the situation in the
next 5/10/20 years is not one of compartmentalisation and faulty
communication, but an automatic and systematic teamwork among
all parties. In particular we are anxious that others should
know and realise fully the way in which parents, through their
School Boards, are now a force to be reckoned with in terms
of the contribution they can make at all levels from school
to cluster, to education authority to Scottish Executive.
The Association, which recently celebrated the tenth anniversary
of its foundation, currently represents 1969 School Boards.
24 of the 32 education authorities support and participate in
the Association's group membership scheme, which facilitates
the adherence of Boards to the Association without making this
obligatory. As well as acting as the collective voice of School
Boards, the SSBA is the principal provider of training for School
Board members and Headteachers in regard to their working with
School Boards. The Association is also the main publisher of
handbooks, newsletters and information packs on the subject
of School Board procedures.
School Boards all have a majority of elected parents, though
they also contain elected staff members and members co-opted
to represent the wider school community. They are statutory
bodies, set up under the School Boards (Scotland) Act 1988,
with later amendments to their constitutions and powers in terms
of the Education (Scotland) Act 1996 and the Standards in Scotland's
Schools etc Act 2000. Therefore they are the only statutory
bodies representing parents. They are also under a legal obligation
to encourage the formation of parent associations or parent-teacher
associations. Many School Boards now encourage the setting up
of sub-committees to encourage social inclusion amongst their
parent body and their communities.
SSBA Comment
May we now turn to the six Themes and respond to each. Since
many others will have their own angles of view on this, we shall
attempt to select those areas which have a special bearing on
the stance of School Boards and parents.
`Change' is a settled characteristic of life for children and
young people in the 21st Century, so that an enhanced
ability in parents to support, counsel and advise their families
is an urgent need. Flexibility in the provision of education,
eg to allow individuals to move at appropriate speeds towards
their own particular potential has been and will continue to
be a welcome characteristic. This ought to mean that in the
future, parents should not have traditional tunnel vision about
their own offspring only, but be able corporately to focus on
the larger horizons for all the children in at least their own
school.
The issue of Children's rights has become prominent in recent
years. There needs to be a conscious rebalancing of this with
emphasis during this new century on RESPONSIBILITIES too, so
that education for citizenship becomes a healthy preparation
for life in a society where one hopes effective relationships
will be coloured by both elements. Leadership of the school
and the education system is not and should not be a purely teacher-professional
matter, but something which parents can support. The foundation
for this idea has been laid in Section 26 of the 2000 Act.
Theme 1 - Coping with change and uncertainty
Here the issue is the need to help young people to cope with
uncertainty. Since they spend 85% of their lives in the home,
it seems evident that parents should be fully recognised as
a prime source of such support. Education will, one hopes, in
the next decades recognise this and ensure that communication
with parents is a priority. If parents understand the curriculum,
the school's policy, the ethos and the culture/subcultures of
the school and the pressures of the peer group upon their youngsters,
they will be enabled to deal with problems more effectively
in the home context, and by implication, help to create an effective
learning environment.
In 1996 SSBA carried out a consultation exercise with its member
Boards. This showed a 98% support for local authorities to run
schools. In 2001 SSBA repeated this exercise. The level of support
had fallen to 88%. It isn't likely that Scottish parents will
ever wish for power and control in schools, but rather for partnership,
in areas to be identified with the school as potentially fruitful.
SSBA welcomes the ongoing review of Devolved School Management.
The 2000 Act places a responsibility on School Boards to raise
the standard of education in their schools. It is hoped that
the review of Devolved School Management will encourage the
linking of responsibilities with School Development Plans in
order that School Boards, teachers and the wider community can
play a greater part in the life and understanding of school
management system. SSBA's extensive research into the training
and funding of School Boards shows that there is a great deal
of difference in the amount of support given to Boards. The
Ministerial Review group of the level of support to School Boards
is currently underway. The group consists of members of SSBA,
SEED, HMIE, ADES and a consultant has been appointed by SEED
to produce a report on this issue before schools return in August.
It is logical that parents should have an increasing voice
at cluster, education authority and national levels as well
as in one school. ... via membership of Education Committees,
on national education agencies and as members of the SSBA Executive
Board. (SSBA Executive Board is made up of 33 Directors - 1
from each of the 32 local authorities and 1 representing Special
Educational Needs schools. All Directors are elected by School
Boards in their own areas).
Theme 2 - Engaging with ideas
Socialisation is something which must have carefully balanced
definition, since it must inevitably concentrate both on preparing
effective citizens of a cohesive, inclusive and democratic society,
but also must have an ability to `produce' the kind of innovative
and inventive individuals that society needs to remain politically
healthy, to develop technologically, to cater for all needs
and to thrive. Parents need to be helped by schools to understand
fully this `wider than academic' agenda and to realise they
have a part to play in `growing' youngsters who have these personal
and professional attributes. Our schools ARE becoming more democratic,
and should certainly continue to develop in that direction for
a long time ahead.
Once again, there is a dearth of information available to parents,
particularly on how to help their children learn. The old Strathclyde
`Parents Prompts' were an extremely good tool for helping parents
become involved in their children's curriculum, especially those
parents who were hard to reach, those who felt they couldn't
help because they weren't clever enough and those who felt they
simply didn't have the time. These should be reviewed and made
available to parents and schools.
Theme 3 - Keeping Everyone Involved with Learning
As far as poverty, alienation, drugs, racism and gender issues
are concerned, firstly we recognise that in these areas there
is a hard core minority of parents who do not or cannot for
good reasons pull their weight in a partnership between home
and school. Education or rather teachers alone cannot be expected
to deal with this kind of situation. For this reason we welcome
the growing use of `New Community School' approaches, the role
of multi-professional teams, of mentoring, buddy systems, chaplaincy,
after school clubs, study clubs, and the like.
However, this alienation is not only happening outside the
classroom it is also impinging on the life of the teacher in
the classroom. Better support must be instigated to ensure that
teacher morale does not drop any further due to the increase
of violence towards them both in and out of the classroom by
pupils and their parents.
Theme 4 - Promoting a Sense of Identity
Heritage is something which should in the discernible future
have an increasing role to play. In general Scottish children
are fairly ignorant of their own history, the part that Scotland
has played in fostering change, development, technology, commerce,
the environment and similar in many, many parts of the world.
It can only do good for young Scots to achieve a sense of their
international role in the past, and logically how it could continue
in the future. The template for a successful curriculum in the
future is a set of concentric circles which focus national identity,
role within the UK, and a global awareness of world issues.
In the context of national identity, this must move inexorably
away from any sense of a `wha's like us' mentality to a sense
of Scotland as a new and fascinating multiculture within which
there is huge scope for the development in school curricula
of the relationships which are needed by such a society. Emphasis
must grow on eradicating the attitudinal weaknesses of Scottish
society, eg bigotry, lack of self confidence, and the insistence
on narrowing the definition of excellence to an academic one.
School Boards and parents have a future role to play in such
an agenda.
Theme 5 - Developing Necessary Skills
Areas which stand out here as of significance within the school/home
partnership might arguably include: the shared concern which
will inevitably grow as technology develops about the ethical
aspects of ICT, and in particular the content of the Internet
to which future generations of highly computer literate young
people have access and the need to educate parents who come
from an earlier pre ICT generation about the problem. The recognized
core skills as set out in the document are supported by SSBA.
Basic skills in literacy and numeracy must be prioritized in
primary schools. The basic grounding in these `core skills'
will ensure that our young people will be able to progress.
Class numbers will also require to be lowered. SSBA policy on
class numbers is currently 25 and 20 as opposed to present standards
of 33 and 25. (single age and composite classes respectively).
Theme 6 - Fitting Structure to Purpose
Out first response to the question `Are schools the right places
for all young people?' is to forecast that the coming years
may see a growth in Home Education as parents become increasingly
sophisticated in their awareness of the possibility of such
an alternative to school.
As to the possible reappraisal of the comprehensive school
itself, there will in all probability be a growing realisation
that, although research has shown the success of the idea and
practice in Scotland over the last 40 years in boosting the
attainment of the vast mass of its students, attention will
need to be focussed both on those of the highest ability and
those with the most intense learning difficulties. In the case
of the former, much debate will focus on the implications of
realising the existence of many kinds of ability and the need
to cater in some form for them, and in the latter, the issue
may well be whether the principle of social inclusion (in the
case of severe learning difficulties) means mainstreaming or
special schools to ensure social justice and equality of opportunity.
We hope that these points may constitute a useful contribution
to the ongoing debate.
Ann Hill
Chief Executive
SSBA
Tuesday 11 June
2002 (18th meeting 2002, Session 1) Oral Evidence
Tuesday 18 June 2002 (19th meeting 2002
(Session1)), Written Evidence
SUBMISSION FROM PROFESSOR MICHAEL PETERS
Executive Summary
This paper provides an answer to the question "Why educational
futures?", providing necessary background in terms of the
main trends and pressure facing education in an age of globalisation
which has meant significant changes in the production and legitimation
of knowledge. It provides a discussion of the question also
in terms of the knowledge economy and discourses that focus
on futures. In a separate appendice the paper puts up a model
for The Centre for Educational Futures.
Contents
1. Theoretical Preamble: Why Educational Futures?
2. The Knowledge Economy and the Discourse of Futurology
3. Futurology, Futures Research, Forecasting and Foresight
4. References
Figures
1. Main Trends & Pressures Facing Education
2. Globalisation as World Economic Integration
3. Shifts in the production and Legitimation of Knowledge
Appendix: Proposal for a Centre for Educational Futures
1. Organisation
2. Aims of the Centre
3. Possible Research Themes
4. Some Futures Resources
5. Futures Websites
6. References for Educational Futures
Educational Futures
Miranda: "Oh brave new world that has such people in it".
Shakespeare, The Tempest (ca. 1611)
Theoretical Preamble: Why Educational Futures?
There is always the temptation to think that the point, which
we occupy historically, is a period of transformation and unprecedented
change. This prevailing ethos, since Baudelaire, at least in
aesthetic terms, is a self-constituting moment of modernity.
Yet there are some signs that there are some very powerful forces
at work reshaping advanced liberal societies - our normative
orientations, our subjectivities and our institutions. These
forces have been encapsulated in handy slogans such as `postmodernity',
`globalisation', `reflexive modernisation', `postindustialisation',
`postmodernisation' and the like. Many of these developments
focus on the importance of changes to the organisation of knowledge,
the development of new forms of communication, and the centrality
of knowledge institutions to an emerging info-capitalism. Often
these epithets are conceptualised in metaphors such as the `information
society', `learning society' or the `knowledge economy' and
often work as official policy metanarratives to both prescribe
and describe futures.
What is clear from these various theoretical descriptions of
the futures we face is that `knowledge' and `learning' are central
both to modes of production and social organisation. `Knowledge'
and `learning' also have undergone certain technical and social
transformations as advanced societies enter the networked global
knowledge economy and the same forces of change have begun to
transform traditional `knowledge institutions' such as universities
and schools.
Fundamental to understanding the new global economy has been
a rediscovery of the economic importance of education (Papadopoulos,
1994: 170). The OECD and the World Bank have stressed the significance
of education and training for the development of "human
resources", for upskilling and increasing the competencies
of workers, and for the production of research and scientific
knowledge, as keys to participation in the new global economy.
Both Peter Drucker (1993) and Michael Porter (1990) emphasise
the importance of knowledge - its economics and productivity
- as the basis for national competition within the international
marketplace. Lester Thurow (1996: 68) suggests "a technological
shift to an era dominated by man-made brainpower industries"
is one of five economic tectonic plates, which constitute a
new game with new rules: "Today knowledge and skills now
stand alone as the only source of comparative advantage. They
have become the key ingredient in the late twentieth century's
location of economic activity."
Equipped with this central understanding and guided by theories
of human capital, public choice, and new public management,
western governments have begun the process of restructuring
universities, obliterating the distinction between education
and training in the development of a massified system of education
designed for the twenty-first century.
Today the traditional liberal ideal of education is undergoing
radical change. In short, as the knowledge functions have become
even more important economically, external pressures and forces
have seriously impinged upon its structural protections and
traditional freedoms. Increasingly, the emphasis in reforming
educational institutions has fallen upon two main issues: the
resourcing of research and teaching, with a demand from central
government to reduce unit costs while accommodating further
expansion of the system, on the one hand; and changes in the
nature of governance and enhanced accountability, on the other.
In the post-war period, and especially since the 1980s, national
education systems have experienced a huge growth in both participation
and demand, leading to the phenomenon of "massification".
This growth is, in part, the result of demographic changes,
but also of deliberate policies designed to recognise and harness
the economic and social importance of "second chance"
education and "lifelong" education. In a competitive
global economy the accent has fallen on the development of human
capital. Educational institutions have become more market-oriented
and consumer-driven as a consequence of funding policies designed
to encourage access at the same time as containing government
expenditure. As a result, the costs of education in many countries
has been transferred to the students themselves or their parents
and governments have moved away from the premises of universal
provision to favour targeting as a means of addressing questions
of equity of access.
In some OECD countries there have been strong moves to change
both the size and composition of governing bodies, from a fully
representative stakeholders or "democratic" model
to one based upon a board of directors, modelled on the private
corporation. Enhanced accountability arrangements, influenced
by managerialism, have followed the principles of New Public
Management, designed not only to improve allocative and productive
efficiency but also to create incentives to pass costs on to
government and consumers.
National education systems in the western world have had to
face external pressures, which come with increased access, "lifelong
learning", continuing reductions in the level of state
resourcing (on a per capita basis), and greater competition
both nationally and internationally. Both tertiary and secondary
education systems in some OECD countries have been incrementally
privatised: a regime of competitive neutrality has increasingly
blurred the distinction between public and private ownership;
the introduction user-pays policies has created a consumer-driven
system; and recourse has been made to various forms of contract
including "contracting out" and the institution of
performance contracting. Privatisation has involved reductions
in state subsidy (and a parallel move to private subsidy), reductions
in state provision, and reductions in state regulation.
In addition, educational institutions like other parts of society
and economy, face the challenges inherent in the new communications
and information technologies (C&IT) which, effecting a shift
from "knowledge" to "information" and from
teaching to learning, threaten to further commercialise and
commodify the university, substituting technology-based learning
systems for the traditional forms of the lecture, tutorial and
seminar. The introduction of technology-based learning systems
is blurring the boundaries between on-site and distance learning.
It is transforming the nature of scholarship and research, and
brings in its wake many problems for reconceptualising academic
labour. Some policy-makers see C&IT as the means by which
the problem of growth and expansion in age of steadily reducing
state subsidy (and unit costs) can be overcome. The virtual
university, the virtual classroom and the virtual laboratory
are heralded by what we shall call the techno-utopians as the
answer.
Some of the main trends facing education, together with the
pressures they bring to bear, are summarised in Figure 1.
Figure 1
Main Trends and Pressures Facing Education
1. Globalisation and increasing competition
·Increased globalisation (as world economic
integration).
·Increased levels of national and international
competition.
·Increased power and importance of global
and multinational corporations.
·Increased importance of research to
global multinationals.
·Importance of regional and international
trade and investment agreements.
·The growing economic and political importance
of the Asian economies, including China.
2. Public sector changes
·Declining socio-political priority of
education as an entirely state-funded activity.
·Corporatisation and privatisation of
the public sector.
·Greater interpenetration of public and
private enterprises.
·Growth of managerialism (New Public
Management) and new contractualism.
·Localisation and autonomy: Decentralisation,
devolution and delegation of authority to local communities
and government agencies.
·Demands for increased efficiency and
accountability.
3. Increasing importance of knowledge
·Increasing economic, social and cultural
importance of knowledge.
·Commodification and mecantilisation
of knowledge.
·Increasing role and importance of telecommunications
and information technologies.
·New political, legal and ethical problems
of "information economy" (e.g., intellectual property,
copyright, plagiarism).
4. Employment
·Changing nature of advanced economies
to knowledge-based industries.
·Changing structure of labour market
(e.g., casualisation, feminisation of workforce).
·Demand for highly skilled technically
competent workforce with an emphasis on generic and transferable
`core' skills.
5. Education policy
·Increasing multicultural and international
nature of societies and education institutions.
·Increased demand from a highly diversified,
"massified", student population.
·Need for lifelong learning and "second
chance" education.
·The vocationalisation of education through
partnerships with business and the promotion of entrepreneurial
culture.
·Erosion of State education by non-traditional
providers.
·Individualisation and customisation
of programmes for learners.
These trends are, of course, very much-interrelated phenomena
and each one by itself represents a significant level of political-economic
complexity. Considered together, the whole is both uncertain
and unpredictable. Certainly, one can say the future has not
been "written upon" or determined. To briefly illustrate
the level of complexity I will schematically review the way
the UK review of tertiary education - the Dearing Report (1997)
(named after its chairman, Lord Dearing) - elaborates the implications
of globalisation for higher education.
Figure 2
Globalisation as World Economic Integration
Main Causes
·technological changes in telecommunications,
information and transport
·the (political) promotion of free trade
and the reduction in trade protection
Main Elements
·the organisation of production on a
global scale
·the acquisition of inputs and services
from around the world which reduces costs
·the formation of cross-border alliances
and ventures, enabling companies to combine assets, share their
costs and penetrate new markets
·integration of world capital markets
·availability of information on international
benchmarking of commercial performance
·better consumer knowledge and more spending
power, hence, more discriminating choices
·greater competition from outside the
established industrial centres
Consequences for the Labour Market
·downward pressure on pay, particularly
for unskilled labour
·upward pressure on the quality of labour
input
·competition is increasingly based on
quality rather than price
·people and ideas assume greater significance
in economic success because they are less mobile than other
investments such as capital, information and technology
·unemployment rates of unskilled workers
relative to skilled workers have increased
·more, probably smaller, companies whose
business is knowledge and ways of handling knowledge and information
are needed
Implications for Higher Education
·high quality, relevant higher education
provision will be a key factor in attracting and anchoring the
operations of global corporations
·institutions will need to be at the
forefront in offering opportunities for lifelong learning
·institutions will need to meet the aspirations
of individuals to re-equip themselves for a succession of jobs
over a working lifetime
·higher education must continue to provide
a steady stream of technically skilled people to meet needs
of global corporations
·higher education will become a global
international service and tradable commodity
·higher education institutions, organisationally,
may need to emulate private sector enterprises in order to flourish
in a fast-changing global economy
·the new economic order will place a
premium on knowledge and institutions, therefore, will need
to recognise the knowledge, skills and understanding which individuals
can use as a basis to secure further knowledge and skills
·the development of a research base to
provide new knowledge, understanding and ideas to attract high
technology companies
·(Source: Compiled from Dearing (1997),
"The Wider Context". Available at:
·
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/niche/index.htm
Clearly, the Dearing Report recognises globalisation as a major
influence upon the UK economy and the labour market with strong
implications for higher education. Analysing the Dearing Report
it is possible to talk of the globalisation of tertiary or higher
education, according to three interrelated functions: the knowledge
function, the labour function, and the institutional function.
We can talk of the primacy of the knowledge function and its
globalisation, which has a number of dimensions: knowledge,
its production and transmission or acquisition, is still primary
as it was with the idea of the modern university, but now its
value is legitimated increasingly in terms of its attraction
to and service of, global corporations. The globalisation of
the labour function is formulated in terms of both the production
of technically skilled people to meet the needs of global corporations
and the ideology of lifelong learning, where individuals can
"re-equip themselves for a succession of jobs over a working
lifetime". The institutional function is summed up in the
phrase "higher education will become a global international
service and tradable commodity". The coqmpetitive survival
of institutions is tied to the globalisation of its organisational
form (emulating private sector enterprises) and the globalisation
of its "services". Clearly, with this function there
are possibilities for the emergence of both a closer alliance
between global corporations and universities, especially in
terms of the funding of research and development, and, in some
cases, the university as a global corporation. The latter is
a likely development with the world integration and convergence
of media, telecommunications and publishing industries.
The developments described here under the banner of globalisation
which accentuate the primacy of knowledge, are further underwritten
by recent advances in so-called "growth theory". Neoclassical
economics does not specify how knowledge accumulation occurs.
As a result there is no mention of human capital and there is
no direct role for education. Further, in the neoclassical model
there is no income "left over" (all output is paid
to either capital or labour) to act as a reward or incentive
for knowledge accumulation. Accordingly, there are no externalities
to knowledge accumulation. By contrast, new growth theory has
highlighted the role of education in the creation of human capital
and in the production of new knowledge. On this basis it has
explored the possibilities of education-related externalities.
In short, while the evidence is far from conclusive at this
stage there is a consensus emerging that (i) education is important
for successful research activities (e.g., by producing scientists
and engineers), which are, in turn, important for productivity
growth, and (ii) education creates human capital, which directly
affects knowledge accumulation and therefore productivity growth
(see Report 8, "Externalities in Higher Education",
Dearing, 1997).
2. The Knowledge Economy and the Discourse of Futurology
In the attempt to re-position and structurally adjust their
national economies to take advantage of the main global trends,
British, Australian and New Zealand governments have begun to
recognise the importance of education, and especially higher
education, as an "industry" of the future. There is
an emerging understanding of the way in which education is now
central to economic (post)modernisation and the key to competing
successfully within the global economy. This understanding has
emerged from the shifts that are purportedly taking place in
the production and consumption of knowledge which are impacting
on traditional knowledge institutions like universities.
Figure 3
Shifts in the Production and Legitimation of Knowledge
The role of the university is undergoing a transition in late
modernity as a result of structural shifts in the production
and legitimation of knowledge. The older goal of the democratisation
of the university has now been superseded by new challenges
arising from the dual processes of the globalisation and fragmentation
of knowledge cultures. These arise from the following developments:
·the separation of knowledge (research)
from the post-sovereign state that no longer exclusively supports
Big Science;
·the rise of new regulatory regimes that
impose an "audit society" on the previously autonomous
society;
·a separation of research from teaching
(education);
·the decoupling of knowledge from society
and the replacement of the public by target constituencies;
·the functional contradiction between
science and economy in the increasing specialisation of knowledge
and the decline in occupational opportunities;
·the de-territorialisation of knowledge
as a result of new communication technologies and knowledge
flows;
·the crisis of scientific rationality
under conditions of the "risk society", reflexivity
and the new demands for the legitimation of knowledge.
Source: Delanty (1998)
Senior managers and policy analysts have begun to develop over-arching
concepts or visions of the future as a method of picturing these
changes. Thus, the terms "information society" (which
has been around since the late 1960s) and "global information
economy" abound in policy documents. More recently, the
terms "knowledge" and "learning" have been
moved to centre stage by those reviewing higher education. Thus,
the Dearing Report uses the central concept of the "learning
society" to interpret the likely impact of imminent global
trends on the national economy and, accordingly, to reform higher
education.
The discourses of the knowledge economy and other futurist
discourses are often given a certain shape in relation to education,
science and technology planning and policy through the development
of what I shall call futures research.
3. Futurology, Futures Research, Forecasting & Foresight
This is a relatively new constellation of fields and disciplines
that address the impact of world trends and develop visions
of the future with the idea of bridging business, science and
technology and government. This new area has had a strong impact
recently on policy.
Foresight planning is often conceived as a future-oriented
public discussion designed to encourage a consensus among various
sector groups concerning a "desirable future". The
exercise is based on a notion of foresight which is neither
a form of prediction or planning but rather an analysis of global
trends, how they will affect us and how (given our resources)
we might take advantage of them.
Foresight planning tends to link government investment with
development towards becoming a knowledge society or economy.
Typically, the path by which this will be achieved is seen as
an active process that recognises four key imperatives:
·The focus on the future must not be
constrained by what we have been doing in the past.
·Technology (in its broadest sense) is
a key driver for the knowledge revolution. It will have wide-ranging
implications for the structure of society and the way in which
we deal with environmental issues.
·A globalised economy requires us to
be internationally competitive.
·The Government's strategic investment
in public good science and technology must be used effectively
to underpin development as a knowledge society ·(The
Foresight Project,
http://www.morst.govt.nz/foresight/front.html)
Foresight planning is used to underpin the comprehensive review
of the priorities for public good science and technology. It
is claimed that while the future is not entirely predictable,
there are trends, which are presently unfolding that, must be
taken into the foresight process. The Foresight Project in New
Zealand (
http://www.morst.govt.nz/foresight/front.html)
specifies seven such trends, including: The Knowledge Revolution;
Globalisation; Global Science and Technology Trends; Changing
Consumer Behaviours and Preferences; Industry Convergence; Environmental
Issues; and, Social Organisation. We are informed that the "knowledge
revolution" constitutes a significant global paradigm shift,
which is changing the structure of New Zealand's economy and
society. Knowledge is the key to the future because it, rather
than capital or labour, drives productivity and economic growth
and, unlike either capital or labour, it cannot lose its value
which may even increase with future applications. Knowledge,
we are informed, "includes information in any form, but
also includes know-how and know-why, and involves the way we
interact as individuals and as a community" (MoRST, 1998:
8).
The UK Foresight programme was launched in 1994 (
http://www.foresight.gov.uk/
). It states:
The UK's Government-led Foresight programme brings people,
knowledge and ideas together to look ahead and prepare for the
future. Business, the science base, Government, the voluntary
sector and others work through thirteen Foresight panels to
think about what might happen in the future and what we can
do about it now to increase prosperity and enhance the quality
of life for all.
Education, Training and Skills is one of two underpinning themes
which all the Panels have been asked to consider. It is vital
that people are given every chance through education, training
and work to realise their full potential and thus build an inclusive
and fair society and a competitive economy.
The Foresight Education and Training Strategy Group (FETS)
is the primary interface between Foresight Panels and the DfEE
and their counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Its terms of reference are:
·Establish a network of education, skills
and training experts on Foresight Panels;
·Co-ordinate briefing for Government
and Foresights particiapnts on areas of common interest, both
to assist the induction of Panels and on a continuing basis
as the Foresight Programme evolve;
·Establish and co-ordinate education,
skills and training activities across Foresight panels so that
they build on, are informed by, and inform, developments in
Government policy;
·Periodically convene a Forum of education
and training experts from the Foresights programme to discuss
progress and maintain a common agenda;
·Contribute to the development of Foresight
findings in education, skills and training and promote their
implementation, and;
·Monitor and evaluate the impact of Foresights
on education, skills and training.
One of the earliest futures study was Alvin Toffler's 1972
collection The Futurists. His subsequent work,
which is well known. (See also my University Futures, Peters
& Roberts 1999, on which this preamble draws.)
In an excellent collection entitled Global Futures Jan Nederveen
Pieterse (2000) distinguishes among the mainstream managerial
approach to futures based on forecasting and risk analysis contrasting
it with critical approaches to futures that are critical of
dominant futures reflecting institutional vested interests,
and with alternative futures, which seeks to be inclusive without
being alarmist. He asserts that there have been many critiques
but few constructive proposals, which reflects the political
and ideological malaise that has existed since the 1980s. He
states:
It would be exciting to see an ensemble of forward-looking
and affirmative programmes for futures of social policy, gender,
culture, human rights, cities, in a context of proposals for
transformation of the world economy, global politics, development
politics, international financial institutions and ecological
economics (p. xvii).
I agree with Pieterse, yet it is strange to see no mention
of education and knowledge in the various proposals and approaches
in his collection. Arguably, transformations to education and
the organisation of knowledge are at the centre of global futures
for many of the reasons mentioned above. The changing relationship
between education and knowledge, on the one hand and the economy
on the other, has received much attention in official and academic
discourse. It has been subject to mainstream managerial approach
to futures.
In a separate Appendix to this paper I discuss a concrete proposal
for The Centre for Educational Futures which would not be wedded
to any particular methodology, theory or approach but would
encourage a pragmatic diversity, with an accent on critical
and alternative futures.
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