Teacher learning communities and educational change in Scotland: the Highland experience

Abstract

This article discusses the issue of the sustainability of educational change in the light of findings from research undertaken in tandem with a development project initiated by a Scottish Education Authority, The Highland Council. The paper reviews some of the key themes that have emerged from recent literature on educational change, before drawing on the project data to address two key issues: the factors that have helped to promote and sustain changes within the schools; and the barriers to innovation experienced in these schools. We conclude the article by identifying a range of considerations that should be taken into account by those seeking to innovate and we suggest that, while the Highland model for change has enjoyed a degree of success in inculcating change, more needs to be done to address systemic issues, such as the pervasive influence of a narrow attainment agenda in shaping classroom practice.

Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge and thank the following people for their valuable support for the research that has underpinned this paper and especially for their enthusiastic participation in the project: Kevin Logan, the Highland Council Education Officer with responsibility for the teacher networks, and the teachers who volunteered their time for the case study research and focus groups. We also wish to thank Val Drew for her insightful comments about earlier drafts of the paper.

Notes

1. Scottish schools and other local educational services are administered through local Education Authorities, which play a significant role in mediating national policy and operating quality assurance systems.

2. AifL has been hailed as a successful national intervention to articulate holistic systems for assessment in Scottish schools. It is most closely associated with the formative assessment strategies promulgated by England's Assessment for Learning initiatives (see, for example, Black et al., 2002) but also incorporated a range of other developments, including personal development planning and local moderation of assessment.

3. The FLaT initiative made available government funding to local authorities and schools to support pedagogic innovation, which would ‘enrich young people's learning experiences; promote attainment and achievement; tackle barriers to inclusion; create a learning and teaching environment that is sensitive to individual needs’ (LTScotland, 2009).

4. Chartered teacher status is a Scottish initiative to enhance the teaching practice of experienced teachers. It is linked to a post‐graduate qualification, which may be extended to master's level. There is a strong focus in such study on professional practice through the medium of professional enquiry/action research.

5. This seconded post was established to promote formative assessment through the AifL policy and, latterly, to support schools in the development of the new Curriculum for Excellence.