Could a ‘cooperative leadership’ break the political impasse?

Could a ‘cooperative leadership’ break the political impasse?

Leadership is everywhere in the national media just now. It is always a key feature of news stories, but pre-election the escalation of usage of the term is tantamount.  British politics, with its first past the post system usually  leading to majority governments, and the layout of the House of Commons, often leads to adversarial clashes and leadership dynamics reflect this.

Clearly there are differences in leadership philosophy determined by political orientation.  Those pursuing equality and ‘power to the people’ might be more attracted to distributed, heterarchical  leadership models. Meanwhile the meritocratic politics of the right might naturally lead to more hierarchal leadership tendencies.  However, the reality of that can be far more complex in politics.

We watched Theresa May try in vain to implement the result of the referendum, a result she voted against in the referendum however worked to achieve.  Her attempted action demonstrated a perhaps too often forgotten aspect of public and political leadership: legitimacy and support.  Professor Mark Moore (Harvard) in outlining his Public Value construct noted that leaders do not work in a vacuum with complete free reign.  Leaders need to have the operational capacity but also the democratic legitimacy (i.e. the constituent group supporting it) and the support of the authorizing environment (i.e. boards of directors for organisations; local elected members for public service officials; and the electorate for politicians).  These two component parts are needed alongside any compelling purpose/mission/goals/objectives.  Collectively they define Moore’s public value construct.

Prime Minister May also perhaps demonstrated servant leadership (Greenleaf, 1970,  2003, 1977, 2002, 1998, 1996, 1996) ) given that she put the result of the referendum before her personal or political position, even as a staunch ‘Remain’ campaigner.  However, whether she would stand up to Greenleaf’s original essay (1970) is questionable; “effective servant leaders who move in these ways emerge strong and speak with authority and when the values and goals of those who go with them are truly served by their actions.”  ‘Strong and Stable’ was a key part of her communications message however May could not win the support of her party, far less the parliament, in securing the various Brexit deals proposed under her leadership.

Her exit brought about another leadership style under Boris Johnston.  Many will write about his leadership for years to come.  In a nut shell can it be best aligned to traditional transformational leadership forms?  Leadership theory started with Scots historian Thomas Carlyle and his 1841 published ‘Great Man’ lecture series.  The model pertains to the belief that great leaders are born and exhibit specific traits. Since then many leadership models have come and gone, but none of them have either sustained or proved satisfactorily successful, hence the constant change.  Nevertheless many future models are simply variants of Carlyle’s 19^th century thoughts.

In business there is an emergent field in disruptive innovation.  Certainly, current leadership may feel ‘disruptive.’  However, can it continue?  Especially as politicians seek to build consensus around diverse views, and it appears with slim majorities, across political divides.  Is there a need for a new leadership model to emerge?

Boris Johnston’s leadership hero, Winston Churchill, is analysed through Johnston’s biography on the wartime Prime Minister The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History.” Here Johnston proclaims “he [Churchill] had led my country to victory against all odds.”  Up to calling an election, Johnston Boris maybe thought he was against the odds and is seeking ‘victory’ as he presented his political challenge in battle like terms.  The debate shifted from a purely political one to being pitted as people against parliament.    However, he is still battling for his victory- ‘get Brexit done.’

Parliaments across Europe are shifting both in democratic process and in the lay out of their parliament from the adversarial style which the Johnston-Corbyn TV debate epitomises.  First past the post remains in the UK however we see other models operating across the world: Single Transferable Vote (Ireland, Scottish Local Elections, Northern Ireland Assembly, Malta); Additional Members System (Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, Germany, New Zealand), Two Round System (France), Alternative Vote (Australia, Irish President).[1]  Those are all aimed at increasing proportionality, voter choice and local representation.

The opposing benches of Westminster are not replicated in every other country.  The Bundestag was in fact designed by a British architect and like many other European parliaments is in semi-circle format similar to the European and Scottish parliaments.  The design perhaps harks back to Greek or Roman amphitheatres.  Members seem more connected and ‘around’ the issues’ than when sat opposite each other in adversarial benches, ones which even have red lines still in place to mark two swords width, thus keeping opponents apart.

Design is one thing physically, but how can we design a new paradigm in leadership.  If existing models are not working, is there a potential new model?  There is certainly an appetite to move towards a new leadership paradigm with attempts to ‘democratises leadership.’  However, a compelling case for that has not been found thus far.

In education, ‘distributed leadership’ entered policy rhetoric and thus leadership lexicon. However, it has been critiqued as being theoretically weak, economically driven and retaining shared leadership ‘issued’ from the top of a hierarchy (Torrance 2015, 2013a 2013b, 2013c 2013d,2009).  Hybrid leadership has been proposed as an alternative (Gronn, 2009).  And we see eco, green and transcendent models as emergent potential sustainable leadership models.

Whilst education it seems has not found an new leadership model, it is in fact in education that perhaps a new leadership paradigm might be sought.  North American educationalists (Johnston & Johnston, Kagan, Slavin) work analysing group dynamics led to a pedagogical tool which has changed and improved learning in many schools across the world.  Cooperative learning is a structured programme of learning built around five principles:  group formation; positive interdependence;  group and individual accountability; social skills (/behaviours); and face to face interactions.  Much could be learned from it and applied to political leadership going forward.  Judging political leaders against these principals might bring interesting reflections. Moreover, acting upon the principals might progress the political impasse.

Group formation is going to be vital after the election.  The country has felt broken for some time, how can people be brought back together.  Whilst independence has been the Brexit rallying call and will be the call post election north of the border, how interdependences can be sought and capitalised on will be vital for political leaders.  On an individual level, the face to face interactions of political leaders will be interesting as a series of challenges are navigated.  Accountability continues to be an issue both for individuals and group accountability for the promises made.  The coming months and years will affirm or otherwise if manifestos turn into actions.

Cooperative leadership may sound utopian, however a leadership model was has a set of principles underpinning it as opposed to headline titles; a model which has a blend of leadership and management; and a model which might broker a progressive future- surely all of this can only be worth looking at.

[1] https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/voting-systems/types-of-voting-system/

Do we value our values?

Two separate pieces on #SpeakingOfValues:-

First and article in the AGCC Business Bulletin (page 40):- https://issuu.com/aberdeenchamber/docs/june_2019_business_bulletin_v25_sin

And then my early July 2019 Times Thunderer piece and responses:-

ORIGINAL TIMES THUNDERER ARTICLE,

JULY 1ST 2019:- 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/holyrood-s-mace-needs-inscribing-with-new-values-kz03jkhl7

Could a new ceremonial mace for Scotland’s parliament help to give value to our values?

Today is the 20th anniversary of the Scottish parliament, which is sitting when the mace — presented by the Queen at the opening ceremony on July 1, 1999 — is laid in front of the presiding officer. It is inscribed with four words: wisdom, justice, compassion and integrity. These are reproduced on trinkets in the parliament shop and on colouring-in sheets for children. They have also filtered into Scottish public policy. The Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) states that these are its values, in the top left-hand corner of its busy policy diagram.

Sadly, the values are a myth. They are not the values of Scottish parliamentarians, nor are they the ideals that Scottish people aspire to for their parliamentarians, far less the values of Scottish education. There was no consultation, analysis or research done on Scottish values historically, the values of Scottish people today or the values of the first parliamentarians in the new Scottish parliament. The values were made up by the mace silversmith, Michael Lloyd. The craftsmanship of the mace is truly tremendous, but the values require refreshing 20 years on from the opening of the parliament.

At present, they add to the many myths of Scotland, including Nessie, kelpies and unicorns, and that the first Scottish saltire flag was blue and white. If Scotland is serious about being a progressive nation and returning to the enlightenment state it once occupied, it needs to start to use evidence, evaluation and education again.

Refreshing the mace would be an apt starting point. Discussions with Scottish parliamentarians on the complexity of values followed by analysis of their own predispositions would be both insightful and helpful. For values are diverse, just as the country is diverse.

As the parliament moves into its next phase, the values on the mace should be re-evaluated and added to. Or, indeed, a new modern mace manufactured. My own suggestion is that after consultation and evaluation, the values of the Scottish public and their parliamentarians are etched into a wooden quaich which symbolises Scottish friendship. A wooden quaich would be traditional and a hallmark of the importance of Scotland’s land. A humble gesture, as opposed to grand ceremonial maces that have roots in militarism, power and authority.

By giving more thought to the words engraved on it, this would show that we value our values.

July 4th 2019 Times letter Response:- https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/times-letters-obesity-and-the-link-to-deaths-from-cancer-ppcctt968

HOLYROOD MACE
Sir, As the silversmith who designed and made the Holyrood mace, may I respond to Neil McLennan’s article “Holyrood’s mace needs inscribing with new values” (Comment, Scotland edition, Jul 1)? It was with some surprise that I read that the values inscribed upon the Holyrood mace are “not the values of Scottish parliamentarians, nor are they the ideals that Scottish people aspire to for their parliamentarians, far less the values of Scottish education”.

I find it depressing that Mr McLennan feels that the values of justice, wisdom, compassion and integrity belong to a different age. I am not sure what type of society he wishes his students to enter but I would suggest that the majority of ills in society have been created by the absence of one or more of the inscribed values — values that any progressive society holds very dear and will fight hard to preserve. An opinion that at the time of the mace being commissioned was shared by Donald Dewer and the panel which selected both the design and the inscription it bore.
Michael Lloyd
Auchencairn, Dumfries & Galloway

NMc response:-

Sir, I appreciate Michael Lloyd’s response (Holyrood Mace, 4 Jul) my Jul 1 Thunderer.  Being able to openly discuss and debate is a hallmark of something we all value- democracy.

Sadly, the people of Scotland had no input to the values inscribed on the mace.  Again, I affirm congratulations on the mace’s craftmanship.  However, the values are certainly not values chosen by parliamentarians (were they all consulted?), the public (were they consulted at all?) nor education (were schools, colleges or universities involved?)  Thus, we consider democracy beyond symbolism.  The quaich proposal and process for the future symbolises togetherness, friendship, inclusion and unity; not the power and authority symbolism maces developed from.

Many organisations proclaim and publish values.  Often they blend values, virtues and indeed behaviours, skills, competences and themes of their work.  Clarity and consultation may make them more compelling.  How choose values is as important as what appears.

Neil McLennan, Stonehaven, Kincardinshire.

It should also be noted that since the publications Michael and I have been in touch and continue discussing the formation and importance of values.  I have also been in correspondence with the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, the Rt. Hon. Ken Macintosh MSP.

From Peacemakers to Sleepwalkers

[Written on 100th anniversary of day of Treaty of Versailles signing]

One hundred years ago today leaders of the Great Powers assembled in the Hall of Mirrors within the Palace of Versailles to sign the Treaty of the Versailles.

The armistice has been signed on 11^th November 1918 and peace talks started on 19^th January 1919.  On one level, what the delegates achieved in six months is quite remarkable.  However, final weeks of the talks descended into farce.  The role of Versailles in sowing seeds for another 20^th century war remains debated.

A century on, with Brexit and international tensions swirling, we might reflect on the peace talks and lessons learned from them.

American President Woodrow Wilson had gone into talks idealistic and confident.  International idealist was however not backed by strong stateside support.  America did not want to be the world’s policeman.  This reveals leadership challenges of legitimacy and support.

French Premier Clemenceau sought revenge, although General Foch did not think he had gone far enough.  Finding middle ground remains complicated.

Frustrated British diplomat Harold Nicolson said delegates had gone to Paris confident of establishing a New World Order and left convinced the new order has merely fouled the old.

Perverse incentives were aplenty at Versailles and Germany remained Europe’s largest country.  And despite incursions on German militarism, Hitler simply ignored them.  Only economic sanctions applied, and these merely fuelled the fire.

What would have been if Germany had been included at Versailles talks instead of being summonsed to sign?  ‘What if history’ is always risky.

The eyes of the world are on our leaders today.  Clear worldwide trends are appearing:  isolationism, militarism and the rise of the right. Early warnings were not heeded in the early part of the 20^th century and one wonders if anyone is hearing today’s claxon.  The world slipped too readily into war in 1914.  It blundered into war in 1939 when early inclusion may have prevented or robust diplomatic action averted.  What reckoning will history have for us, eking  our way through the current malaise, confusion and complexity.  Historians may ask; ‘Why did people allow it to happen?’, ‘Who stood for election?’,  ‘Who took direct action?’ The blunt truth is very few.  Burke was right, evil arises when people do nothing.

Where there is no leadership, something will always fill the void.  Getting into conflict is bad enough, but sleepwalking into it is perhaps worse.  One wonders what this generation will be called in history.  Leaders at Versailles were supposed to be ‘Peacemakers’. They became ‘the guilty men’.  Our generation risks becoming ‘the sleepwalkers.’

Neil McLennan is Senior Lecturer & Director of Leadership Programmes, University of Aberdeen.  He is also the founder of #iPlay4Peace international orchestra for cooperation.

Initial thoughts on Wales new curriculum

Having read this document ( https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/hwb-live-storage/cd/b4/f8/7c/b7d34ffb968d9a09de4d460c/a-guide-to-curriculum-for-wales-2022.pdf )this morning, some initial thoughts as we view the evolution of the curriculum in Wales, at the same time as considering how Scotland might progress towards CfE2.0.

Initial thoughts:-

The national mission is to “raise”, “reduce” “deliver”.  The lexicon sets out that  Improvement is clearly at the heart of this; as opposed to the four purposes, set out so well later in the document.  Those four purposes broadly state education is to know; to do; to be; and to be together (albeit notably a national and global model of citizenship with no mention of regional or more micro locality or indeed school community).  Later there is mention of identity at those three layers- locality, Wales and the wider world. It is interesting to note that in that layers, Britain and Europe do not feature as geographic constructs.    Headteachers have responsibilities to set outcomes and so the improvement sense of the work is clear with PMO/NGM all potential.  Again this featuring as a duty in legislation raises interesting issues around roles, responsibilities, agency and trust.  Essentially, are we saying that each child will have the equivalent of a ‘child’s plan’. On one hand, not bad thing.  As a PT I remember having tracking folders for each student where after each unit they took on board feedback, set their next steps and gave predicted aspiration grades.  At each stage they were to visualise their next grade and reflect on progress thus far.  One might say this is helpful for senior phase students given the examinations, high stakes testing they are going through. Alas, is this performance management model required throughout education, and, what are the implications of this?  On the other hand, does this monitoring approach change the dynamic of what education should be about. Is it all about target-setting, testing, progress and performance, or is education not as straight forward as that.

Agency enabling innovation and creativity.  Can this be so with a “national model” and legislative requirements?

Complex world- is it any more complex than before?  Is “complexity” the hallmark of education agents and snake oil sellers.

Legislation interesting.  “schools will be under a duty to provide a broad and balanced curriculum”.  In two way accountability, will government be under legislation to ensure schools are adequately staffed and resources to ensure this can happen?

Six areas of ‘broad learning’ do not seem very broad:- Welsh, English, religious education, relationship and sexuality education, literacy, numeracy and digital competence.  The inclusion of digital competence is an interesting addition.  However, overall, one might ask if this is a narrow offer with areas such as social studies, sciences, creative arts not featuring in this area.  Whilst teaching of Welsh is commendable to protect native languages, one might consider the success of similar measures in Ireland and also compare to Scotland where students are entitled to a a Gaelic experience.”  The issue of agency and whether it is better to have conscripts of volunteers to these areas is one worthy of further critique.

It is interesting to view the six learning areas in the Welsh model compared to the Scottish CfE model:-

Wales 2019 paper	Scottish CfE Model
Expressive Arts
Health and well-being
Humanities
Languages, Literacy and communication
Mathematics and Numeracy
Science and Technology

 

It is interesting to see the broader construct of literacy to capture communication as well.

___

“Funded non-maintained settings and schools will have a discretion as to how far they design their curriculum to meet their education duties” is an interesting phrase.  There is flexibility, but within constraints.  How much flexibility headteachers and teachers actually feel will be interesting.

The pioneer network model of evolving the curriculum remains interesting.  It is a clear message of “get on board” or miss out on the chance to shape the reforms.  How this metes out in practice will be interesting in terms of consistent quality and the eclectic bottom up model which is being attempted.

The next phase of co-construction involves children and parents and guardians.  One might question whether they should have been involved as equal partners in stage one with the education profession.  There are still clear hierarchies in education and when various stakeholders get to enter the planning process.

The equity issue needs to consider how those at most risk of not achieving are supported.  It is interesting to note that “pupil referral units” will be required to teach a board and balanced curriculum but will not be required to teach the whole of the curriculum.  There is much to consider here in terms of philosophy of education, practice and positive outcomes that come from this potentially restrictive approach. Ultimately, will this enhance those students core skills in literacy and numeracy?  Only time will tell.

Experiences, knowledge and skills is all together and also very vague and limited.  The Welsh documents states “the statements of experiences, knowledge and skills are not exhaustive but are provided in support of what matters statements, as a common starting point for curriculum design…”.  One might reflect on the issues Scotland faced with such broad statements in CfE.  On one hand, the flexibility of this was welcomed.  Alas, within tight performance management models on children and headteachers, do the requirements need to be clearer.  I reflect on this having last week reflected on the open and flexible employee review processes of Netflix. On one hand the approach seems liberating and refreshing.  However, as someone pointed out, that flexibility opens up potential for many interpretations and for the weakest to struggle and be sidelined, persecuted and victimised given the lack of clarity, equity and protections that structure can offer.

Skills are returned to and the wider skills “integral to the curriculum” are all higher level.  Whilst these are required, one wonders if more consideration is needed around skills hierarchies, skills progression and taxonomies of skills in order to support effective progression, especially in a target setting and performative culture.  A table is given which notes characteristics, attributes , values and wider skills. One wonders (as one does with many similar ‘corporate’ images in education) as to the value of the presentation of these int his way.  And also whether each of the four areas is in fact well enough covered.

The inclusion of relationships and sexuality education is of interest, not least its mandatory nature.    There is more notes on this in the document than there is on , skills for example.  One wonders if parents might wish to withdraw children, as they can in religious education, from aspects of the learning.  One of my contacts recently questioned whether there will be law suits against education in the next decade or so, with children feeling they were exposed to aspects of life that they were not necessarily well equipped or emotionally ready to fully grasp.  This brings into question the whole essence of education- what is free to discover, what is prescribed to be taught. What is flexible and what is fixed?  And who decides?

The document closes on the UN Rights of the Child which perhaps helps to answer some of the last question.  Whilst the aim is child centred, the influences on design are international.  Getting the balance of best practice from around the world but not following internationalist agendas is important; how do we balance the individual against the impersonal international influences.

 

Narrowing Education? Bring back the broad general education.

Article for Herald, 4 February 2019.  Thankfully, there has been some progress with music in Midlothian since then.

Narrowing Education? Bring back the broad general education.

The narrowing of Scottish education has been long noted in the senior phase, most recently by Professor Scott’s sharing of evidence with the Education Committee.  In the early years of education Upstart have also raised concerns about curriculum narrowing.  Senior phase narrowing was a perverse outcomes of qualification reform.  Meanwhile, concerns in the early years are around the national assessments potentially hollowing out teaching and learning focussing only on literacy and numeracy.

Last week two events signalled the continued retraction of Scotland’s once proud broad general education.  Innovative approaches also withered on the vine.

Firstly, Midlothian became the first authority in the country to signal an potential end to music tuition.  There has been a long campaign, trumpeted by #changethetune amongst others, to protect music tuition and promote music education.  Sadly, it seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

The second sad story was the demise of entrepreneurial attempts to enhance education through a new type of schooling, Newlands College.  Established with the backing of Scottish businessman Jim McColl, Newlands College provided senior schooling for students who had disengaged from traditional education.  It reported a 100% success in getting its students into employment:- no mean feat and a tremendous achievement given the individual and societal risk of lost human talent if something different was not done with these young people.  The school was led by innovative headteacher Iain White.  He previously led Govan High on a model which focussed the curriculum and learning on a consulted set of skills for learning, life and work.

Many had much hope for Newlands.  Having led an alternative education programme in West Lothian many years before I welcomed the move. The DEANS (Developing Enterprise Attitude and New Skills) Programme saw students maintain key curriculum area of literacy and numeracy, whilst actively learning entrepreneurial skills, social skills and vocational craft and technical skills in a partnership between the council, schools and local training providers.

Such schemes are still however ‘bolt-on’ rather than the norm in Scottish education and the demise of Newlands marks the end of an era of potential in Scottish education.

Our system is regressing to narrow measures to please promised political policy priorities.  The focus on closing the attainment gap is hard aligned to ‘qualification’ statistical outcomes.  The policy misses the bits in the middle, those which are the root cause of poverty and depravation.  As well as not giving enough attention to the middle part, it has also seen the education system morph from the original broad aims of CfE to narrow outcomes to achieve set goals.  Unintended outcomes are aplenty.  So far, success is being acknowledged in the new policy landscape is the increased number of low socio-economic decile students attending university.  This continues as school results fail to demonstrate the significant progress heralded and hoped for.  However, even the university results require scrutiny. For one, simply by widening and opening access to more students from lower SIMD deciles, we can alter statistics.  However, the more worrying trend is as follows.  Whilst more students might be accessing HE, especially in some new universities, the numbers who are completing courses is not always as positive.  We might ask where positive outcomes for people feature in this policy pursuit.

Whilst universities should be open and accessible to all, they should not always be seen as the ultimate goal.  A rich tapestry of “education” exists in Scotland if we continue to protect it.  In his introduction to a recent ‘Learner Journey’ document the education minister set out his aims for education.  He noted three of the four aims of the UNESCO schooling purposes (knowledge gain, skill development, and self-actualisation & protection) (community cohesion was not explicitly noted).

We need all purposes promoted to thrive individually, locally, nationally and as global citizens.  Scotland is a diverse and rich country, with a rich and diverse past.  Its future prosperity relies upon rich and diverse thinking.  All need inclusion in ‘education’: English and maths; music and arts; STEM and humanities; central and community inputs; schools, colleges, training providers and universities; work and play.  The day we start hollowing out education, is the day we step back from strong pillars of our past and future foundations.  We need a broad education and enlightened educational thinking.

More with less- Teachers pay and school improvement

I was asked to contribute a thought piece for the Sunday Post a good few weeks ago.  During the week, the news change and the focus of publication altered.  However, here was my thoughts on teacher pay, the philosophy of what education is about and improving education.

In Summer 2017 I attended a leadership residential course with senior level leaders from across UK public and private services.  Major issues were discussed from nationalism, isolationism, Russia, China and …. Education.  Education was threaded through all the areas we discussed.  It remains an issue of utmost importance.

“Pay teachers more and that will improve education,” one course delegate said.  If only it were that simple.  He was ‘educated’ in the complexity of school improvement.  Furthermore, one delegate told him “my sister teaches, and she certainly does not do it for the money.”  Monetary value and public value are of course two very different things.

In last week’s Sunday Times Magnus Linklater showed his value for teachers.  “Value education- value teachers,” Linklater started with, quoting the teachers’ union slogan in their campaign for a 10% pay rise. However, it seems Linklater does not value our teachers or their current contribution to educational improvement.

Values, in the philosophical rather than economic sense, might be worth further exploration. For what do we value in education? The truth is, in Scotland we don’t know.  Teachers have been led a merry dance in a world of uncertainty and lack of clarity.  Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) started as a halcyon experiment in educational progressivism. Since its inception it has morphed and most recently we have returned to national assessments.

Scottish education needs a conversation on what schooling is for in modern Scotland. CfE gave a chance for a breath of fresh air with a modern enlightened education system supporting many aims. However, it Has been hollowed out by renewed emphasis on exam results and statistical measures with inbuilt potential perverse incentives including narrowing of the curriculum and decreases in the attractiveness of the job of teaching.

Political leaders have acted quickly but not always thoughtfully in attempts to reverse apparent trends showing a decrease in education standards.  There have been multiple policy publications, but no one has sat back to look at the purpose of schools and how we achieve those broad aims.  We can all point to the areas of Scottish education that need improving, however how to change them is another thing.  The truth is, the best people to secure improvement in education are teachers.  To do this we need to support them with clarity on purpose and the training, development, resources and time in the classroom to provide the very highest standards of education.

There has been much focus on leadership lately in education but has this been at all levels, including the most senior at systems level?  Have teachers been provided with effective leadership at the most senior levels of the education system?   In that ‘leadership world’ we have seen passing responsibility and accountability from the most senior positions of Scottish education to headteachers in schools and teachers.  Teachers posts have been difficult to recruit to but then so to has headteacher posts, particularly primary headteacher posts.  Like teachers work, there has been much ‘busy work’ to change things.  However not all change leads to improvement.  On the issues of difficulties in finding primary headteachers, we cannot avoid the fact that the pay differential between a primary depute head and the headteacher is not enough of an incentive to attract many people into this challenging, but rewarding, position.

And so, pay is an issue.  However, it is only one issue which is going to help recruit more into the profession, and moreover, improve it.  Do teachers deserve more pay? The simple answer is, no more than any other public service worker. Teachers also require clarity on purpose and an informed broad perspective on their profession in order to contribute to an informed, educated modern Scotland. At present the perception is that schools are failing. More with less may be the war cry. However I would argue education provides a whole lot more than the narrow exam results show. We just need to value that wider contribution of teachers and education.  Then we may claim to be ‘better educated.’

Increases of 10% in pay is a very real possibility for teachers.  It will be the latest in a long line of policy pragmatism without a long-term plan or philosophical underpinning.

Neil McLennan is Director of Leadership Programmes and Senior Lecturer, School of Education, University of Aberdeen

Reviewing thinking on reviewing CfE

Today has brought two news stories about CfE reform which piqued my interest. The first in TESS magazine builds on my earlier calls for a whoelscale review and reform  of CfE in Scotland (Rod Grant, TESS, February 2014: https://www.tes.com/news/scottish-education-system-needs-fundamental-reboot).  The second from much respected academic, author and commentator Professor Walter Humes http://sceptical.scot/2019/02/the-parochialism-of-the-present/ suggests that we are now looking back enough in order to guide our future thinking on education in Scotland.

The two articles prompted me to review my own thinking and where I am going next.  The undernoted is just a skirting over the surface of some of my writing and thinking on education over recent years.  My initial review thoughts are that I have tried to champion two things:- a broad education system that promotes knowledge, skills, self-actualisation & humanism; and community cohesion (at all levels- group, local community and society wide).   I have also tried to guide History education away from the risky waters and narrow lense of nationalism towards an understanding of locality, regions, nations (Scotland and UK), Europe and the wider world.   Some of my articles below were explicitly on this topic. In recent months have been asking government officials for a copy of the last update that was made on the action plan which was instigated after my report , as SATH President, into History teaching.  I will share this as soon as I get a hold of it. The action plan was many years ago, however I wish to see how it finished off. Or, like many other things in Scottish education was it started and then never completed.  It seems that within Scottish education we know the issues that need changing, alas our ability to instigate change and achieve improvement is the issue of the present.  Some of this does however come back to a need to re-philosophise, what are we about?  What is education for in Scotland?

Reforming CfE-

April 2012 https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/neil-mclennan-we-need-enterprise-education-more-than-ever-1-2239453

May 2012:- https://neilsgleeeclub.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/battle-still-to-be-won-over-history/

May 2012 a review of that above article https://www.tes.com/news/back-future-past

September 2012 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-19673111

February 2013:- https://neilsgleeeclub.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/history-in-the-making/

2013 Chapter in Scottish Education:- https://www.worldcat.org/title/scottish-education-referendum/oclc/876005401

November 2013:- https://researchtheheadlines.org/2013/11/06/battle-over-homework-is-false-dichotomy/

In 2013 I also led work to make numeracy skills relevantly linked to workplace experiences:- https://www.youngacademyofscotland.org.uk/numeracy.html

https://www.youngacademyofscotland.org.uk/news/as-ssln-2013-report-released-astrophysicist-and-heart-doctor-show-that-numeracy-counts-1.html

https://www.youngacademyofscotland.org.uk/news/astrophysicist-and-heart-doctor-show-that-numeracy-counts.html

January 2014:- http://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/educating-the-nations-history-identity-and-citizenship-after-devolution/

Audio files of lecturing at University of Huddersfield on the development of history curriculum over 4the four UK nations.

PP of lecture:- https://www.slideserve.com/sef/holding-a-mirror-to-english-curriculum

More info on this can be found here alongside 2 articles I had written relating to issues of history curriculum reform.

https://neilsgleeeclub.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/educating-the-nations/

June 2014:- https://researchtheheadlines.org/2014/05/06/literacy-skills-would-enhance-knowledge-of-numeracy-skills/

October 2014:- I led the RSE YAS Excellence in Education Working Group enquiry into Inter-Disciplinary Learning https://www.youngacademyofscotland.org.uk/images/Makgin20Strong20Links20Report.compressed.pdf

The enquiry led to this academic publication:- http://www.scotedreview.org.uk/media/microsites/scottish-educational-review/documents/358.pdf

December 2014:- https://researchtheheadlines.org/2014/12/03/what-makes-great-teaching/

January 2015:- https://researchtheheadlines.org/2015/01/13/what-makes-a-great-teacher/

November 2015:- https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/columnists/13929357.Vital_lessons_from_the_past_for_the_youth_of_today/

Having published books (with Kevin Murphy) on Skills (Determined to Succeed, 2013, and Art of Achievement, 2014) the next focus was on values, perhaps promoted by this review of our work:- http://www.sec-ed.co.uk/blog/how-should-we-measure-success

Speaking of Values was published in 2016 with Emma Fossay and Gary Walsh.  www.bit.ly/SpeakingOfValues or access here:-  https://speakingofvaluesblog.edublogs.org/

The undernoted four blogs had been brewing for a while although I never got them out until towards the end of 2016

August 2016:- https://neilsgleeeclub.wordpress.com/2016/08/31/the-education-revolution-is-coming/

September 2016:- https://neilsgleeeclub.wordpress.com/2016/09/05/the-strange-death-of-cfe/

September 2016:- https://neilsgleeeclub.wordpress.com/2016/09/08/the-panacea-of-school-improvement-and-raising-attainment-looking-for-solutions-and-finding-answers/

September 2016:- https://neilsgleeeclub.wordpress.com/2016/10/26/resetting-the-dial-5as-for-scottish-education-the-answer-to-all-our-problems/

December 2016:- https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/14950018.neil-mclennan-how-the-mace-can-spice-up-values/

April 2017:- https://researchtheheadlines.org/2017/04/26/mind-the-gap/

October 2017:- https://curriculumforequity.org/2017/10/18/school-values-in-scotland/

March 2018:- Full access to my transcript from the undernoted conference at the RSE can be accessed from Scotland Policy Conferences.

https://www.scotlandpolicyconferences.co.uk/sample/Curriculum_Scotland_Mar18_example_pages.pdf

https://www.scotlandpolicyconferences.co.uk/agenda/curriculum-SPC-18-agenda.pdf

The front page of The Herald ran with my part of my speech; “CfE is dead”; more of the story can be found here:-

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/education/16084301.Parents____paying_for_counselling____to_help_pupils_cope_with_stress/

This blogger shared one of the issues I flagged up, that Scottish education is trying to achieve an egalitarian meritocracy.  http://www.kathleenleslie.co.uk/2018/03/next-steps-for-curriculum-for-excellence.html This is at school level.  At system level we speak of social justice but then adopt neoliberalist GERM type management, passing autonomy and high accountability down the system and only focussed on school without clear links with the other levers of social justice within public services.

The undernoted article was a follow up to the conference above:-

April 2018 https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-curriculum-for-excellence-is-dead-now-we-need-to-clarify-our-aims-v3bm8l28d

September 2018:- https://researched.org.uk/event/researched-scotland-2018/ Lectured in a) Values and CfE architecture and also how we can learn lessons of past to support adverse experiences; looking through lense of Geddes, Brock and ergotherapy thinking.

More on the latter can be found via this BERA blog.

October 2018:- https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/regeneration-re-education-and-an-anthem-for-peace

December 2018:- https://www.tes.com/news/scotlands-curriculum-needs-change-fast

#iPlay4Peace

A copy of the 12th November Thunderer article I wrote for The Times which has now sparked #iPlay4Peace moving from a concept to a reality across the world

https://www.napier.ac.uk/about-us/events/play-for-peace-a-concert-for-cooperation

http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/news_and_events/news/2018/musicians_invited_to_play_for_peace_this_november

In May 1919 Australian soldier journalist Edward George Honey wrote to the London Evening News.  As the first anniversary of the ending of the ‘Great’ War approached, all that was planned were veterans’ celebratory dinners.   ‘Foster’ (Honey’s pseudonym) appealed for five minutes silence. This led eventually to King George V calling for two minutes silence, arranged only days before 11/11/1919.

One hundred years of silences are soon to pass.  We might ask, ‘what have we learned from it all and how have we progressed?’  Commemoration activity has taken place, yet conflict continues.  Commemorations have been sombre, respectful and reverent. Planners have navigated political milestones of the Scottish independence referendum and Brexit.  These may have tapered activity, indeed made some events almost anonymous.  Some events have not extend beyond those who would normally don a poppy and attend remembrance parades or lectures about military history.  There had been discussion on whether there should have been a number of events or a few larger scale events?  Community interest events extended activities beyond ‘Red Tab’ committees’ proposals.  The powerful embryonic growth of creative, commemorative activity is a symbolic marker of how strongly communities feel about paying their respect to ‘The Fallen.’ One example was the “We Are Here” voluntary re-enactors leaving a subtle, emotive mark on some British towns.

‘Passchendaele’ events were perhaps the most ambitious commemorative event.  However, perhaps ‘Passchendaele’ missed an opportunity, historically and literally, then and now.  The youth choir sung truly wonderfully.  However, where were young voices presenting readings?  Their views more powerful now, and for the future, than the well-known celebrities featured. And what about German voices? All suffer in war.

After 100 years of silence we might ask “what is the legacy of it all?”  And, “what is humanity’s mark of respect?”  Whilst not wanting to in any way interfere with the reverend and respectful activity of Armistice morning, might one respectfully request an activity to pay our respects a century on and to promote the key message that should come from the lesson of war:- cooperation over conflict.

On the afternoon/evening of future Armistice Sundays, might musicians across the globe strike up in unison, playing the international language, recognised and revered by all? Music to the ears – a symbol of our ability to work together.  The respectful silence must remain but then united voices need heard if we really want to end war and live in peaceful coexistence.

Neil McLennan is a former history teacher and has chaired Wilfred Owen’s Edinburgh commemorative events committee in 2017.

 

Charlottesville Chaos needs multi-perspective historical reasoning

Events in Charlottesville expose some of the clashes of ideas, values and beliefs which not only are the root of tensions, historically and now, but also expose the multi-faceted make up of some of those at the centre of the tensions.  A fuller understanding of history, as ever, can help to understand the issues and could also prevent them.

The Charlottesville protests started first and foremost with attempts to remove statues to Confederate Civil War generals. In particular the removal of Confederate Commander Robert E. Lee and the renaming of parkland around the site as Emancipation Park (formerly Lee Park) has sparked controversy.  Both ante bellum and post Civil War America are complex at best.  Whether Lee was a racist, by modern standards, as much of standards of the day, is ripe for debate, just as the racism or otherwise of ‘The Great Emancipator’ Lincoln in equally not clear cut.  (I know that for sure having undertaken my CSYS Dissertation on Lee and then studied and Edinburgh University Course on the American Civil War).

What is clear cut is that protesters were clearly carrying and waving Nazi and neo Nazis flags and symbols. The irony of this extends to many levels.  First and foremost the fact that these protesters can reconcile being American and neo Nazi is one strange conundrum.  America along with almost the rest of the world (eventually) fought against the Nazis.  Moreover the conundrum extends to pre 1939 activity.  For swastika waving things to protest at the removal of statues and history is ironic given the Nazi’s attempts to re-write history and destroy our knowledge of many areas.  Perhaps that part of the Nazi’s eradicating history has been blindly forgotten by the protestors.

If we are looking at America in distain and pointing the finger at Trump we would do well to take a multi-perspective approach, both looking back to history but also looking for trends in other settings in the current day. For in Scotland too we have altered what is taught in history classrooms, we have seen freedom of speech attacked on twitter and elsewhere and we have seen flag waving protests and animosity.  Thankfully we have not seen deaths as a result of nationalist outpourings.  However, as Edmund Burke warned “The Rise of Evil happens because a few good men do nothing.”  We must keep in our guard to curb the ever present potential excesses.  Everyone has a role to play in this.

Reconciling our history will always prove challenging, not least as all of our history is never clear cut. With many layers it is often complex, changing and sometimes even enigmatic.  And so to solutions to the Charlottesville sad saga:-  Like entrenched work issues such as Israel and the Middle East, these will not come about quickly or simply. However they will also not come about without suggestion, though leadership and influence.  A start for ten would be to leave the Lee statue where it is.  Removing it is akin to the burning of books carried out by the Nazi’s in the 1930s.  Secondly, proceed to rename the park Emancipation Park goes some way to recognise progress.  The change of name reflects the prevalent culture and trends and our greater understanding and acknowledgment of period in history and shifts in how we have shed light on it.  Leaving the statue shows some conciliation to commemorating the past whilst renaming the park shows progress and potential for change. Many many places across the world have had multiple uses, names and influences. Charlottesville would be no different in this regards.

Meantime, the biggest challenge now is how to protect freedom of speech and freedom to protest and marching alongside charging those responsible for crimes during the bloody events. Diplomatic but firm and consistent leadership at ground level will be required.  At a more senior level political leadership sets the tone and the ‘thought leadership’ as we move forward. In America and elsewhere we need to be careful not to trust those whose conflicting messages promise “all things to all men.”  They are likely to be the source of ongoing tensions.  Closely interpreting their messages and greater understanding of history will be vital if we are to progress as society, as civilization, as humanity.  Hopefully many places in the world can return to the latter sometime soon.  It is humans after all that make history –for better or for worse!  If we are to agree with philosopher Hume on passion rather than reason informing human behaviour and experience cementing our knowledge base, then it is time for the “good guys and girls” to step forward- whoever they are?

Neil McLennan is a former Institute of Contemporary Scotland, Young Scot of the Year and also a former President of the Scottish Association of Teachers of History.

 

 

 

Championing Aspiration

 

“Aspiration is the educational fashion” according to Lindsay Patterson (Sunday Times 15 January 2016). However might it be used to effectively reconceptualise education at this time of turmoil, bad news and ongoing reform?

At present government ministers and civil servants as well as leaders in school education are scrambling about trying to steer the education system as international league tables show a sinking position in the education standards against international comparators. Pressure is mounting throughout the good ship Vital Spark, not least around closing the attainment related poverty gap, where edu-neers are being instructed, “full steam ahead” despite some well publicised reservations around the policy potential.  I have written before on the need for a multi-faceted approach to alleviating or, moreover ending, poverty which includes education inputs.  This area will require many more inputs across public services before reduced poverty gap outcomes are achieved.   Leaving this only to schools is irresponsible, although schools have a vital role to play.

During this debate ‘aspiration’ has entered the policy narrative although only around the edges. Some might cast aspiration into, at worst, a neoliberalist campaign aligned with grit and resilience, and, at best, American psychological approaches creeping into every day UK and Scottish education.  However there are some things worth considering.  As with everything in education:- do not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

A campaign run by the Royal Society of Edinburgh Young Academy of Scotland over the past two years revealed a showed a wide range of aspirational advice being shared with young people across Scotland and indeed across the world. The campaign also revealed a broad range of views on advice for young people but also some indications on what education is really all about and might look like.  Whilst UNESCO offered four purposes for school education (to know, to do, to be and to be together) not all of these have been taken up with gusto by Scottish education.  Then again its own four capacities have never been reviewed so the chances of UNESCO aims being looked at are perhaps limited.

The #aspirationaladvice campaign gathered a range of views from creativity to motivation to being true to oneself. Moreover, it showed that having a dream, having goals, having role models and having purpose meant something.

Education is for many more things than government hard statistics. We should be finding out what the aspirations are of our young people.  Moreover we should be learning from them. Furthermore, are we meeting the aspirations of our children?  That study might reveal that the education system is achieving much.  At an individual level self-actualisation and at a national level something defined from within rather than international comparators or even a middle class view of what the world should be like layered onto communities.

Naysayers and would-be soothsayers will say that not everyone is going to become a rocket scientist. This is true however one might recall the story of the janitor sweeping the floor at NASA.  “What do you do?” he was asked by the President.  “I help send people to the moon” was his famous reply.

On the other hand some might suggest that aspirations to “a trade” or vocational work are not enough. One might look at the economy for some answers to the questions emanating from that one.

Many similar stories of aspiration and self-actualisation and aspiration can be told. What is more gratifying when progress made as a result of that dream.  I know of one doctor who did not get the Higher grades to get into Medicine during her pretty unsuccessful time at school. However her keenness to serve others as a doctor saw her achieve the grades there through alternative means.  An alternative but still a robust root.  Today she is one of the key servants on the NHS supporting us all.  What about her aspiration? Was it just fashionable?  God help us and all the patients who benefit from her expertise if she did not have aspirations.

As a teacher I recall taking over a new a class in a new school. I was going through the class list with the previous teacher.  He told me one student was a “7/foundation” (the lowest grade you could get at Standard Grade).  I made it my mission to make sure she got a higher grade than Foundation Standard Grade.  With my aspiration for her and her aspiration we achieved a “1/Credit” (the top grade you could achieve in Standard Grade).  Was aspiration just fashionable there?

More needs to be investigated about aspiration before we write it off as trendy and fashionable. If it were the case then those Lindsay Paterson notes ‘without talent’ and born into ‘the wrong families’ would fail completely.  Is that the aspiration we have for Scottish education?

 

 

Neil McLennan is the co-author of Determined to Succeed, The Art of Achievement and Speaking of Values. He was the founder and curator of the RSE Young Academy of Scotland #aspirationaladvice campaign, and organisation where he was also Co-Chair.