Is small beautiful? Policy‐making in teacher education in Scotland

Abstract

This paper examines the extent to which political devolution has influenced the nature of education policy‐making in Scotland, taking initial teacher education and early professional development as a case. Pre‐devolution studies of the policy community in Scotland stressed the close relationships between the various stakeholders and the inherent conservatism that sometimes appeared to ensue from this. It might be anticipated that the removal of formal responsibility for education from the UK government in London to the Scottish Executive in Edinburgh might have unsettled such ‘cosiness’ and also that the influence of New Labour approaches may be less prevalent in Scotland than in England. The processes of change in Scotland appear to have been less radical and at a slower pace than in England; however, they have been achieved through a more consensual process and so in the long term are likely to be more embedded than those in England.

Keywords:

• teacher education
• Scotland
• policy making
• devolution
• New Labour

Notes

1. Learning to teach in post‐devolution UK (August 2006–August 2007) is funded by the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) of the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The study was carried out by a cross‐national team of researchers who led a series of seminars in each of the four countries of the UK. Our collaborators on this project are: Martin Jephcote (University of Cardiff), Pat Mahony (University of Roehampton) and Anne Moran (University of Ulster). Each seminar provided an in‐country analysis of the current system for early professional development. See the project website http://learningtoteach.org for more information.

2. A colloquialism literally meaning ‘a young man of parts’, in other words meaning an ordinary person who has been very successful, in part through education.

3. The creation of alternative routes in England has involved the introduction of graduate apprenticeships where ‘trainees’ receive a salary as unqualified teachers during school‐based training. The Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) oversees three employment‐based routes (EBR): the Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP), the Registered Teacher Programme (RTP) (for trainees completing a degree whilst in training) and the Overseas Trained Teacher Programme (OTTP). In addition, a network of designated Training Schools (DfEE, 1998) has been established to further promote School‐Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT). Schools have been given greater influence over ITE through changes in funding, prescriptions on how partnerships are to be formed, increasing the period ‘trainees’ spend in schools, and affording a greater role for school‐based mentors.

4. The primary PGCE is the one‐year Postgraduate Certificate in Education course for intending primary (elementary) school teachers, now replaced by the Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE).

5. The Bachelor of Education is conventionally a four‐year programme for intending primary teachers.

6. The old enemy, a phrase alluding to the unsuccessful Jacobite rebellions of the eighteenth century, is, of course, England.