What on earth has happened to Scottish education?
Once the jewel in our crown, now reduced to the bottom half of the international league tables. Just to be average would be an improvement. From ahead of the pack 15 years ago, to behind it now.
Politicians and experts have pored over the issue for the last few days. Blame has been apportioned. Excuses have been made and humble pie consumed.
But what’s has struck me most is how much of the commentary has focused on process and structure. Who reports to who, the Curriculum for Excellence and about how much is being spent.
It all paints a picture that if we just get these things right, all will be rosy.
Of course there is some truth in that. Resources are important and bureaucracy can stifle and strangle our schools. And the jury is out on the new curriculum. It is a seemingly never-ending debate.
But surely it is what goes on the classroom which matters most. We must turn our focus and listen more to those at the chalk face – our teachers and what they teach and how they teach it.
My daughter is in her first year at university. She has a passion to be a primary teacher.
That doesn’t mark her out as special (although of course she is) but just the same as thousands more for whom teaching is a profession and a vocation, rarely just a job.
They only want the best for their kids. To equip them for life. To find the spark in each child. To boost their self esteem and wellbeing. And yes, to make sure that they can read and write and add up.
Academic standards aren’t the be-all and end-all but they are important, especially when it comes to the basics of the three “Rs”. The international tables have demonstrated that for too long now we just aren’t getting it right.
So my plaintive cry is this: debate, if you have to, the “who does what and how” of the organisation of education. Sort out the structure of who reports to who. But please sort it soon because enough is enough.
In the meantime, here’s a novel idea: get the focus back into the classrooms and targeted on the children. Lets equip teachers with all the best ideas from around the world and learn from those countries who are doing it better. I bet that Finland and Singapore and Estonia are doing better than us because of what goes on in the schools, rather than just who runs the schools.
So trust the teachers. Miss and Mister usually do know best. They want the chance to try new ideas. They can be trusted to follow their instincts. They know the kids better than any of us. Let them innovate, educate and nurture and then every child can flourish.
Let the teachers teach, and then the kids can learn.
A-Z on Alex Johnstone
So farewell to Alex Johnstone MSP.
Husband, father, grandfather, friend and colleague and all round top bloke.
The tributes paid to him from across the political spectrum have been heartfelt. He was a man whom you couldn’t help but like.
Alex: a big man but a big softie too, invariably magnanimous but rarely malicious.
So I took to social media last week to ask people which one word summed him up.
Here is the A-Z of AJ:
- Avuncular. Bovine. Cuddly.
- Delilah-singing-Doric. Effervescent. Friend.
- Gentle-giant. Happy. Infectious.
- Jocular. Kind. Larger-than-life.
- Monumental. Noisy. Opinionated.
- Popular. Quality. Rumbustious.
- Scottish. Tory. Unionist.
- Vivacious. Wonderful. Xmas-loving, Yarn-loving.
- Zinger.
RIP Alex, the big hearted, big bloke of Holyrood.
We couldn’t miss you when you walked into a room. But by heck we miss you now.
A drink with my ham cheese croissant
I was flying back to Scotland last week with FlyBe. It was on time. The aircrew were helpful and the flight was a delight.
It had been a long day and sustenance was needed.
I turned to the in-flight menu. What to have to drink with my ham and cheese croissant and mini tube of Pringles?
I chose a cup of tea.
But my eye was drawn to the caption on the back page: “Be Social” declared the banner above a list of the wine, beers and spirits on offer.
Be social? What do they mean? That its OK to do booze because its a “social” thing to do? That you’re not social if you don’t drink?
It is, as somebody commented to me, an interesting marketing strategy.
As it happens, I get a migraine if a drop crosses my lips – but I don’t think that makes me less social for choosing a cup of Rosy Lee.
And are we really saying to people, “Go on… Have a drink… Be social…”
I’m sure this is just an honest marketing mistake. But it sends out the wrong message. If people fancy a drink, it’s because they fancy a drink. If they don’t, they don’t. The days of insisting it is the social thing to do should be long gone.
And by the way, I am a cantankerous old git with or without a drink.
