Teacher education policies, practices, and reform in Scotland: Implications in the Indian context

Abstract

India, a country of 1.27 billion, nowadays needs reforms, improvements, and new approaches in teacher education to cater to the demands of changing economy and society. This call to improve teacher education becomes more significant considering the fact that 50% of India’s current population is below the age of 25 and over 65% below 35. There are two ways to proceed in this direction. First, making an internal review and assessment of present scenario of teacher education and suggesting need-based measures. The second one is to learn from those countries that have recently reviewed their teacher education systems and are continuously working for the betterment of teacher education. Following second approach, present paper analyzes teacher education policies, practices, and reform in Scotland, argues that concerns and commitments to reform teacher education in India and Scotland are similar, and suggests implications of Scottish experiences in the Indian context.

Keywords:

• teacher education
• policies
• practices
• reforms
• Scotland
• India

Public Interest Statement

Teacher education is an issue of continuing interest, debates, and discussions for academicians, governments, policy-makers, and the general public. The reason is simple, teachers are essential to enhancing the quality of learning, and teacher education is responsible to mold quality teachers. Following this connect, almost every country would like to improve their teacher education system and follow different measures for this purpose. Scotland is one such country where teacher education system is going through a process of reform and advancement. The policies and practices adopted in Scotland to reform their teacher education system may act as a road map for all those countries who wish to improve their teacher education systems. Extending this argument, researcher discusses about teacher education in Scotland in the hope that it is an interesting and useful reading for all those who would like to learn that how teacher education systems function and aspire its betterment.

1. Background

Teacher education has gained special importance these days as teachers’ abilities and qualities are identified as decisive to students’ learning (Misra, 2014a). The 11th Education for All Global Monitoring Report (UNESCO, 2014) makes it clear that good teachers are essential for enhancing the quality of learning, and teacher education is important because of its impact upon teacher quality. Besides, the teacher education systems have to also take into account the ever-emerging changes and challenges emancipating from society, economy, and technology, as observed by Townsend (2011, p. 373), “The past 20 years has seen more changes in education than since education systems first became formalised in the mid to late nineteenth century. These changes have been brought about partly by technological developments, partly by increased globalization and partly by changed demographics.” Summarizing these challenges, a Report from Department for Employment and Learning (2010) in UK, emphasizes that schools and teacher education providers are facing considerable challenges on a number of fronts, including concerns over underachievement and the links between underachievement and social inclusion; the developing economic agenda; providing for special educational needs and inclusion; and dealing with the social issues facing young people and disaffection from education.

Teacher education systems across the globe are expected to deliver in the backdrop of all these expectations, changes, and challenges. In other words, reforms, improvements, and new approaches in teacher education become imperative (Misra, 2014b). The reason is that present generation of would-be teachers are coming from different social backgrounds, having different learning experiences, and preparing them to work in different educational settings. A Report of HKIED (n.d., p. 6) observes, “For teachers and teacher education, powerful challenges are being driven by substantial changes in political, social and economic forces. These include the growth of an interconnected, complex global economy, unprecedented developments in communication technologies, and the effect of changing social mores on school and classroom environments. In many countries, education reform is driven by a community’s perception of falling educational standards reflected in reduced student learning outcomes.” These societal changes are presumed to influence teacher education (Buchberger, Campos, Kallos, & Stephenson, 2000). Furthermore, the demands on teachers are becoming more and more complex and this represents true challenges to the profession: multicultural classrooms, integration of students with special needs, use of information and communication technologies, demands for more accountability and evaluation, interactions with the community and the parents, etc. (Eurydice, 2004).

By wide consensus, we can say that a dramatic societal shift is underway, and the gradual emergence of a new technologically textured, knowledge-based form of social existence and organization in society place teachers, as well as teacher education, before new demands and challenges. Teacher education of today needs a change in vision and action to cater to these demands of changing societies, as a position paper on Teacher Education Policy in Europe suggests that an effective teacher education policy should be built in parallel with education policy in general (TEPE, 2007). Considering this as well as the other crucial observation regarding teacher education that those education reforms who do not take into account teacher education are condemned to inefficiency (OECD, 1998), the task of renewal of teacher education becomes apparent. Following these global trends and local demands, India, a country of 1.27 billion people, is gearing up to professionalize and modernize their teacher education system to be in sync with current social, cultural, technological, and economic situations; and to produce quality teachers to bring improved student learning outcomes. This call to improve teacher education in India becomes more significant considering the fact that 50% of India’s current population is below the age of 25 and over 65% below 35.

National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE—statutory body of teacher education in India) is of the view that teachers play an important role in shaping the future of the country and hence it’s important that a lot of attention is paid on the quality of teachers churned out every year (NCTE, 2015). In India, teacher education is expected to produce teachers who are responsive and sensitive to the social context of education, will keep the varying needs of learners in focus, and work for national concerns of achieving the goals of equity, parity, social justice, and excellence (NCERT, 2005). The present system of teacher education in India lags behind to fulfill these promises and has faced severe criticism over the years. For example, existing teacher education curriculum was termed as too technical and obsolete requiring drastic changes to make it applicable in contemporary Indian school and society. Some of the teacher education institutions were also blamed of producing unqualified teachers (NCTE, 2015). Summing up the current status of teacher education in India, a Report from NCTE (2009, p. 8) states, “Teacher education as a whole needs urgent and comprehensive reform.” This report further observes, “…there is a need to innovate with different models of teacher education” (NCTE, 2009, p. 8).

Far away from India, the Donaldson review report on teacher education in Scotland affirms, “Career-long teacher education, which is currently too fragmented and often haphazard, should be at the heart of this process, with implications for its philosophy, quality, coherence, efficiency and impact” (Donaldson, 2011, p. 2). Scotland, one of the four nations that constitute the United Kingdom (UK), has a population of about 5 million and is a discrete jurisdiction within the devolved governance arrangements of the UK. Regarding teacher education, Scotland has adopted a different approach in significant ways to the current neoliberal agenda that dominates in many Anglophone countries, and in particular the US and England. To make grass root changes in teaching profession, Scotland is stressing more on teacher autonomy and professionalism, rather than age old notions of performativity and accountability. Reflecting on these observations, it can be argued that concerns and commitments to reform teacher education in India and Scotland are similar and measures adopted in Scotland for revamping and reorganizing teacher education may also be useful in the Indian context. Extending this argument, the present research was conducted to:

•	Study the policies and practices of teacher education in Scotland.
•	Analyze the recent teacher education reform in Scotland.
•	Identify useful teacher education policies, practices, and reform from Scotland to benefit teacher education in India.

2. Methodology

This research is mainly based on the review and analysis of policy document and practices as well as other available literature and statistics related to teacher education in Scotland. During his stay in Scotland, the researcher had a number of discussions with teacher education specialists, policy-makers, and practitioners and these inputs have also been used to describe existing teacher education system and recent teacher education reforms in Scotland. The researcher would also like to clarify that teacher education in Scotland is going through a reform mode (following Donaldson’s Review) in recent times and this has some bearing on the provided information.

3. Education system in India and teacher education: an overview

As a federal structure of governance, India has a central government and 28 state governments. As per the constitution of India, education comes under the concurrent list, meaning both central and state governments have a say over the issues of education. Usually, broad policy and legal framework on education is provided by the Central Government but the implementation of various programs and schemes are undertaken largely by state governments. The school system in India has four levels: lower primary (Class I–V), upper primary (Class VI–VIII), secondary (Class IX–X), and higher secondary (Class XI–XII). Students have to learn a common curriculum largely (except for regional changes in mother tongue) till the end of secondary education, i.e. Class X. At higher secondary level (Class XI and XII), students are exposed to different educational streams like Arts, Commerce, Science, etc. There are mainly three types of schools in India—Schools by central government, schools by state governments, and private schools. Central government run two types of schools—Central Schools (Kendriya Vidyalayas-KVs) that function from classes I to XII, and Navodaya Schools (Navodaya Vidyalayas—NVs) that function from classes VI to XII. Both these schools are affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The second category is of schools run by different state governments. These schools function from class I to XII, and majority of children in India study in these schools. These schools are affiliated to their own State Boards. The third category is of private schools. These schools are either affiliated to CBSE or State Boards or ICSE Board (a board offering International Baccalaureate (Misra, 2015). The main aim of teacher education is to produce quality teachers for all these schools.

Teacher education system in India has evolved over time and is based on the recommendations contained in various Reports of Committees/Commissions on Education. There are mainly two types of teacher education programs in India named as pre-service and in-service. The purpose of pre-service training is to prepare teachers for the school system and in-service training intends to improve the capacity of existing school teachers. NCTE is responsible for planned and coordinated development of teacher education in India. The NCTE lays down norms and standards for various teacher education courses, minimum qualifications for teacher educators, course content, duration, and minimum qualification for entry of student–teachers for the various courses. It also grants recognition to institutions (government, government-aided, and self-financing) interested in undertaking such courses and has in-built mechanism to regulate and monitor their standards and quality (MHRD, 2015). Teacher education in India is institution based, along with internship programs in real classroom settings and is provided by teacher training institutions, universities, affiliated colleges, private and open universities in India. The educational requirement for becoming a primary and secondary school teacher is different. People who wish to teach primary school should minimum pass higher secondary examination with 50% marks and have a professional degree in teaching named Bachelor in Elementary Education (B.El.Ed.). For becoming a teacher at secondary school, one needs to be postgraduate in the subject one wishes to teach and a professional degree in teaching named Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) (NCTE, 2015).

4. School education in Scotland

Scotland has a long and distinguished history of universal public education (The General Teaching Council for Scotland, 2013). In Scotland, political responsibility for education at all levels is vested in the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government’s Education and Lifelong Learning Department. State schools are owned and operated by local authorities (there are 32 local authorities, each with responsibility for the schools in their area) who act as Education Authorities. There are also a number of independent privately run schools in Scotland, many of which come under the umbrella of the Scottish Council of Independent Schools (http://www.scis.org.uk). Inspections and audits of educational standards at school level are conducted by two bodies: the Care Inspectorate inspects care standards in pre-school provision; and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) within Education Scotland is responsible for the inspection of pre-school, primary, education, further and community education (The General Teaching Council for Scotland, 2013).Government-funded schools are free for children aged 5–19. There are also few private schools in Scotland.

Schooling in Scotland is divided into two phases—primary school (age 5–12 years) and secondary school also called as high school (age 12–18 years). Pupils remain at primary school for 7 years (called as Primary one–seven). Then aged eleven or twelve, they start secondary school for a compulsory 4 years (called as S1, S2, S3, S4) with the following 2 years (S5, S6) being optional. Schools are open to pupils for 190 days a year. Secondary schools generally offer a similar range of subjects at each stage, in line with Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) that was launched from school session 2012–2013. This new CfE (www.ltscotland.org.uk/understanding the curriculum) offers a broad and deep general education from early years (aged 3) through to the end of S3 (typically age 15) and senior phase of education (typically 15–18).Talking about (CfE), the website of Scottish Government claims, “Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) represents a different approach to learning in schools and in the way education is delivered in nursery, primary schools, secondary schools, colleges, the workplace and the community. It takes a new approach to what, how and where young people learn, through less rigid learning paths, with the aims to raise standards, improve knowledge and develop skills by providing a coherent, more flexible and enriched curriculum from 3 to 18. Ultimately it aims to develop ‘four capacities’ in young people which are: successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens” (The Scottish Government, 2013a).

During schooling, local authorities and schools are responsible for planning and supporting young people to make successful transitions to young adulthood and the world of work. The school leaving age is generally 16 (after completion of National 4S/5S), after which students may choose to remain at school and study for Higher (S5) and Advanced Higher (S6).In Secondary school, pupils are subject to continuous assessment according to the internal procedures of each school and are promoted automatically to the next class. In the first two years of lower secondary education (S1/S2), assessment is carried out in accordance with the assessment, testing, and reporting policy for 3–14-year-olds. Usually in S4, pupils begin to take the National Qualifications (OECD, 2007). These national qualifications named as Scottish Qualifications Certificate are provided by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/CCC_FirstPage.jsp). Pupils can go to university at the end of S5 (Highers). Highers provide the entry requirements for Scottish universities where degrees are normally 4 years long; however, recently it is more common for students to remain until S6, taking further Highers and/or taking Advanced Highers.

5. Teacher education in Scotland: policies and practices

The preparation of teachers in Scotland remains different from other UK provision, particularly in England. Since devolved government was introduced to the UK in 1998 with the establishment of a Parliament in Scotland and Assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland, education policy in the UK has become markedly differentiated. Westminster retains responsibility for the educational system and policy in England, but the Scottish Parliament has responsibility for educational matters in Scotland (O’Brien, 2012, p. 42). The Scottish system of teacher education is markedly different and distinctive one within the UK. For example, in contrast to England, both primary and secondary teacher education is part of University system in Scotland. The current provision of teacher education in Scotland includes some very particular features like the move towards a university base for initial teacher education (ITE), creation of a series of standards, and specific provisions for continuing professional development (CPD) of teachers (Menter & Hulme, 2011).

The history of teacher education in Scotland dates back to nineteenth century. Before, the nineteenth-century school teachers in Scotland were not receiving any formal professional training. Whilst some schools required their teachers to have a master’s degree, or at least some evidence of having attended one of Scotland’s four ancient Universities, many had to appoint teachers who had few qualifications. By 1834, the Church was convinced of the need for a more systematic approach to the training of teachers (The University of Edinburgh, 2013). In a way, teacher education became professionalized in Scotland in the later half of nineteenth century, as observed by Menter, Hulme, Elliot, and Lewin (2010, p. 9), “Through the late 19th Century and the 20th Century, teacher education in Scotland became increasingly professionalised with initial qualifications and arrange of postgraduate opportunities being provided by colleges of education and universities.” Since 1984, ITE qualifications in Scotland have been delivered through degree-level studies. Initially, these were provided in the colleges of education which, following the Sutherland Report, subsequently merged with universities across Scotland in 1990s (The Scottish Government, 2013b). The specific policies and practices of teacher education in Scotland are discussed in the next ten sections.

5.1. Teacher education providers

ITE in Scotland is currently provided by the seven Universities (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Sterling, Strathclyde, Highlands and Islands and the West of Scotland), with the Open University in Scotland making a small amount of specialist provision. All ITE programs require to be approved by Scottish Ministers under Regulation 4 of the Teachers (Education, Training, and Recommendation for Registration) (Scotland) Regulations 1993 (The Scottish Government, 2013b). Under the terms of the Teachers (Education, Training, and Recommendation for Registration) (Scotland) Regulations 1993, Scottish Ministers, in consultation with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) and HMIE, decide the entry requirements for admission to teacher education courses in Scotland (The Scottish Government, 2010).

5.2. Categorization of teachers and admission procedure

There are mainly two types of school teachers in Scotland—primary teachers and secondary teachers. Primary teachers are responsible for teaching primary classes one to seven and secondary teachers teach for S1 to S6. The distinctive feature of teacher education in Scotland is that both primary and secondary school teachers get their teacher training from Universities. For first-degree courses (B.Ed.), students are required to apply through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). For Postgraduate (or Professional) Diploma in Education (PGDE) courses, they have to apply through UCAS Teacher Training. The UCAS processes all applications that are received for secondary courses from September to June. The closing date for PGDE primary courses is 1 December in the year preceding the start of the course. The UCAS forwards the applicant’s application to the University of her/his choice. Afterwards, concerned universities select the candidates based on their academic qualification and performance in the interview (UCAS, 2014). In addition to academic qualifications, the Universities also expect from a candidate to demonstrate a genuine interest in working with and educating children of the age one wishes to teach.

5.3. Entry route and requirements for primary school teachers

There are currently two routes that qualify one as a primary school teacher in Scotland:

•	Four-year undergraduate degree course (B.Ed.); or
•	One-year PGDE (Primary) course following a degree.

The entry requirements for an undergraduate degree in Primary teaching include:

•	Three Highers (or equivalent) (one of these must be English at Grade C or above).
•	Two Standard Grades (or equivalent) (one of these must be Maths at Credit level or Intermediate 2).

The entry requirements for the PGDE (Primary) course include:

•	A degree from a UK university (or an equivalent degree from outside the UK).
•	Higher English at Grade C or above (or equivalent).
•	Standard Grade Maths at Credit level (or equivalent).

Besides these requirements, Universities also want to see evidence that one has studied at least two of the following subjects: Science, Social Studies, Expressive Arts, Religious and Moral Education, Technology and Modern Languages.

5.4. Entry route and requirements for secondary school teachers

There are mainly two ways to become a secondary teacher in Scotland:

•	A combined degree (sometimes known as a joint or concurrent degree), including studying a subject, studying education, and school experience; or
•	A PGDE course following a degree.

The entry requirements for combined degree programs vary by program and by university, however, a National Qualification in English at Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Level 6 (e.g. Higher Grade) or an accepted alternative is a prerequisite for all teacher education programs and a National Qualification in Maths at SCQF Level 5. The entry requirements for PGDE (Secondary) are based on the SCQF credit points which are standard across all Scottish universities. The minimum entry requirements for admission to all PGDE (Secondary) programs state that one only requires an Ordinary level undergraduate degree (The Scottish Government, 2014). However, due to many programs being oversubscribed and the intensity of competition for places, universities usually ask for a degree at Honors level.

5.5. Teaching and training provisions

Universities across the Scotland design their courses to meet teacher training expectations in best the possible way. Universities are free to design and transact curriculum in different ways but this has to be in conformity with prescribed guidelines and standards. Normally, teacher education institutions are expected to prepare student teacher to cope up with new CfE that aims to increase the emphasis on numeracy, literacy, and pupil choice and covers the areas of: expressive arts, health and well-being, languages, mathematics, religious and moral education, sciences, social studies, and technologies (Education Scotland, 2014). Besides, the Universities are also expected to prepare a teacher fit for purpose, as demanded by GTCS “Guidelines for Initial Teacher Education Programmes in Scotland” (2013), “Programmes must ensure that student teachers meet the requirements of the Standard for Provisional Registration (SPR), which is part of the Standards for Registration2, mandatory requirements for Registration with the General Teaching Council for Scotland.” Considering these demands and expectations, Universities provide different type of teaching and training activities for student teachers.

Teaching and training activities for primary education usually comprise:

•	Professional studies
•	Subject/curriculum studies relating to teaching all primary subject areas across all stages of the primary age range (3–12 years)
•	Teaching practice during which all primary subject areas are taught.

The training program for primary teachers involves courses on campus interspersed with placements undertaken in schools. Most on-campus learning is through lectures and workshop groups. During the study, trainees have to follow the chronological sequence of pupil development—the focus is initially on early years, moving to the middle primary and then upper primary years.

Teaching and training activities for secondary education usually comprise:

•	Professional studies.
•	Subject/curriculum studies relating to the specific subject one is academically qualified to teach across all stages of the secondary age range 12–18.
•	Teaching practice in the subject one is qualified to teach across all stages of the Secondary age range.

The training program for secondary teachers is split between learning at university and placements in schools. School placements are meant to offer opportunities for trainees to work with teachers and pupils in the classroom, develop teaching skills, and allow one to use the concepts and skills learned during their classes in universities. The trainees are also supposed to consider the distinct education needs of individual pupils, and develop their own theories about teaching.

5.6. Professional and societal expectations from teachers

Talking about the overall aim of ITE in Scotland, GTCS “Guidelines for Initial Teacher Education Programmes in Scotland” (2013) state, “The overall aim of programmes of initial teacher education is to prepare student teachers to become competent, thoughtful, reflective and innovative practitioners, who are committed to providing high quality teaching and learning for all pupils.” Teachers in Scotland are supposed to engage in collaborative enquiry, reflection, and self-evaluation, focused on improving teaching to improve learning, to be proactive in this area, and ensure that they have ownership of their professional learning (The Scottish Government, 2014). Talking about this issue, Teaching Scotland’s Future Report emphasizes, “Education policy should support the creation of a reinvigorated approach to twenty-first century teacher professionalism. Teacher education should, as an integral part of that endeavour, address the need to build the capacity of teachers, irrespective of career stage, to have high levels of pedagogical expertise, including deep knowledge of what they are teaching; to be self-evaluative; to be able to work in partnership with other professionals; and to engage directly with well-researched innovation” (Donaldson, 2011, p. 19).

5.7. Teacher registration and standards framework

It is a legal requirement for any teacher teaching in a Scottish state school to be registered with GTCS. Being registered not only allows an individual to teach, but it also provides assurances to employers, parents, and children that teachers meet a national standard of teaching. To be eligible for registration in Scotland, one must have a relevant degree and a recognized teaching qualification at SCQF level 9 or above. Teachers who have gained their teaching qualification outside Scotland cannot automatically teach in a Scottish local authority school. They are required to apply for registration and may have to undertake a period of probation. Scotland also has a unique teacher induction scheme for newly trained teachers. Under this scheme, new teachers who have trained in Scotland are guaranteed a probationary teaching post in a Scottish local authority school for a full school year (190 teaching days) for their first year in teaching. This experience also helps them to reach the GTCS Standard for Full Registration (SFR). The introduction of a standards framework has been another key element of Scottish teacher education as it has four sets of Standards for teachers that define the knowledge and understanding, skills and abilities, values and personal commitments expected of teachers: Standard for Initial Teacher Education; SFR; Standard for Chartered Teacher; and, Standard for Headship (Christie, 2008).

5.8. CPD provisions

In Scotland, a new emphasis has been placed on CPD for all teachers. CPD that is defined as “The range of experiences that contribute to teacher development is very wide and should be recognised as anything that has been undertaken to progress, assist or enhance a teacher’s professionalism” became an entitlement and expectation of all teachers following the implementation of the recommendations of the McCrone Report—A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century (SEED, 2001)). CPD is for everyone; teachers, chartered teachers, principal teachers, deputy head teachers and head teachers alike. The extensive range of CPD opportunities available to Scottish Teachers are intended to support and equip them with the skills and knowledge required to keep pace with the rapidly changing educational and professional environment. A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century introduced an additional, contractual 35 h per annum for all teachers. CPD is now a statutory element of a teacher’s working life as they are required to agree an annual CPD Plan with their immediate managers and to maintain a record of the CPD activities they have undertaken (The Scottish Government, 2003).

5.9. Training to teachers

The ICT in Education Vision of Scotland suggests that educators must take full advantage of the opportunities offered by technology in order to raise attainment, ambition, and opportunities for all. This vision is underpinned by the five ICT in education objectives, which are to: change the culture of the use of ICT; improve confidence in the use of ICT; promote new behaviors for teaching using ICT; deepen parental engagement; and strengthen the position on hardware and infrastructure. Similarly, a report from HMIE states that the confidence and competence of teaching staff in the use of ICT is a key determinant of the effective use of ICT for teaching (HMIE, 2007, p. 3). Following this observations, teacher training institutions in Scotland prepare future teachers to use ICT in a way that enriches their teaching, through, for example, the use of animations, simulations, and online video as well as appropriate use of Internet sites. The ultimate aim of ICT training to teachers is to develop enough confidence and competence to enable them to make effective use of ICT in their teaching.

6. Teacher education reform in Scotland: concerns and suggested measures

There have been three major reviews as well as a number of smaller reviews of teacher education in Scotland over the past 10 years. The major reviews were recommended by Scottish Executive, while smaller reviews mainly included reports of HMIE on various aspects of ITE, such as the report on Student Teacher Placements in 2005 (HMIE, 2005). First major review of ITE, commissioned from the external consultants Deloitte and Touche, was completed in 2001. This review provided a summary of the existing ITE provisions and also suggested a number of areas for further development, such as training in classroom management and responding to special needs among learners (Scottish Executive, 2001). Second major review was completed in 2005 when a committee was appointed by the (then) Scottish Executive to carry out a more discursive analysis of the ITE provisions. This second stage review called for, among other things, better partnerships between providers, local authorities, and schools (Scottish Executive, 2005). Commenting about the outcomes of these two major reviews, Menter and Hulme (2011, p. 389) observe, “This did lead to some improvements in the communication and organisation of, for example, school placements in ITE. However, it would be fair to say that neither stage of this review of ITE led to radical changes in provision. Indeed, both reviews indicated that by and large the quality of ITE provision was strong in Scotland.”

Third major review of ITE was initiated in 2009, when, Graham Donaldson, a retired Senior Chief Inspector at HMIE were asked by the Scottish Government to conduct a fundamental review of teacher education in Scotland and produce a report. Donaldson’s terms of reference were wide ranging and he established a highly consultative process by which to undertake the review, emphasizing his desire to base his report on “evidence.” This evidence included his own visits to various stakeholders within Scotland as well as inviting formal submissions from any interested parties. There was an online questionnaire for completion by teachers and a literature review on teacher education in the twenty-first century (Menter et al., 2010). In his review report, Donaldson covered and critically analyzed the entirety of teacher education. Talking about his intentions, Donaldson (2011, pp. 4–5) reported, “Human capital in the form of a highly educated population is now accepted as a key determinant of economic success. This has led countries to search for interventions which will lead to continuous improvement and to instigate major programmes of transformational change.” Through this review report, Donaldson analyzed the prevailing trends in teacher education in Scotland and raised a number of issues. Donaldson review report deeply touched upon various aspects of teacher education in Scotland under four sections: twenty-first-century teachers and leaders, getting the right people in the right numbers, building twenty-first-century teachers and leaders, and career-long learning for teachers and for leadership.

Following schematic analysis presents before us a better and clear understating of the Donaldson Review Report by highlighting concerns raised and measures suggested for different levels of teacher education in Scotland:

Table

Level	Concerns	Suggested measures
Entry	• Attracting highly talented individuals • Making teacher education a first-choice occupation • Managing student numbers • Having proper assessment of the applicants • Matching supply and demand • Managing effective change in teacher education	• Attract students from different sectors and experiences • Establish a national assessment center • Carry diagnostic assessments of the competence of applicants • Improve workforce planning model
Initial training	• Preparing “fit for purpose” teachers • Building all-round capacity of teachers • Ensuring proper balance between theory and practices • Improving quality and impact of the placement experience • Specifying role and responsibilities of different stakeholders • Developing leadership skills among teachers • Capitalizing the growing potential of ICT • Training of teacher educators and mentors	• Emphasize on those areas where teachers experience greatest difficulty • Offer high-quality blended learning and part-time provisions • Plan closer working amongst different stakeholders • Use high-quality distance-learning approaches for training • Offer greater flexibility and personalization in teaching learning process • Make teaching a research-informed profession • Establish a college of school leadership • Look for postgraduate provisions
Professional development	• Making education degrees beyond the education • Offering lifelong CPD provisions for teachers • Addressing additional support needs of teachers • Gaging the effectiveness and impact of teacher education programs • Make returning pathways for teaching	• Provide alternative options of employment • Make flexible “in” and “out” provisions for trained teachers • Offer interesting variations in existing degrees • Develop a new “Standard for active registration” • Establish “CPD find” a national “one stop shop” • Offer online CPD programs for teachers • Support teacher educators to take agreed program of CPD

As stated above, Donaldson review report came up with a number of suggestions and made 50 recommendations to help build the professional capacity of Scottish teachers, and ultimately to improve the learning of the young people of Scotland. After receiving the report, the Scottish Government has fully accepted the recommendations and immediately initiated a number of steps for implementation of suggested measures. In November 2012, the government established a National Implementation Board to take forward the work on implementing proposals to improve the full spectrum of teacher education. The National Implementation Board is working with a range of partners on seven key projects. Besides, government has also initiated steps to implement this report at local level. For this purpose, information about the report including the number of reflective questions was sent to head teachers of schools (Education Scotland, 2014). In the backdrop of all these observations, it may be argued that recent reforms of teacher education in Scotland have sought to enhance the professional knowledge base of teaching, to raise standards within teaching and the 2011 status of the profession.

7. Teacher education polices, practices, and reform in Scotland: implications in the Indian context

Talking about the strengths and distinct features of Scottish teacher education, Teaching Scotland’s Future Review Report affirms, “Having an all-graduate profession, bolstered by the existence of a framework of standards set by the GTCS, structured induction for newly qualified teachers, the valuable contributions to professional learning made by national organisations, local authorities, teacher and head teacher associations, and contractual provision for teachers to engage directly in the education of new colleagues and to pursue their own CPD all place Scotland in a strong position when compared with other countries internationally” (Donaldson, 2011, p. 2). This system has further improved with the steps taken by successive governments in the form of various reviews and implementation of suggested actions. In other words, a number of policies and practices from Scottish system of teacher education can be emulated for betterment and reformation of teacher education in India. Some of these policies and practices are discussed as under.

7.1. Establishing National/States-Level Teacher Workforce Planning Directorates

In Scotland, ITE is a subject where numbers are controlled. Annually, in consultation with an advisory group comprising representatives of GTCS, the local authorities, teacher unions, and the universities, the Scottish Government carries out a teacher workforce planning exercise and issues a letter of guidance to the Scottish Funding Council to determine overall intakes and the distribution between universities (Donaldson, 2011, p. 22). This process regulates supply and demand and helps institutions deal with periods of both high and low demand for teaching posts. In contrast, there is no such mechanism for modeling of predicted teacher numbers in India. Indian teacher education system works on fixed number of seats for institutions. At present, there are 14,047 teacher training institutions in India with an annual intake of 1,103,457 students (Government of India, 2012). Institutions in India produce same number of trained teachers every year, irrespective of the fact that how many teachers are actually needed. As a result, India is producing higher number of teachers than required and this surplus workforce is a cause of concern for both government and society. Like Scotland, establishment of “National/States Level Teacher Workforce Planning Directorates” in India will be a useful step to tackle teacher surplus situation. These Directorates will provide teacher demand projections on an annual basis, and these projections will help regulate the number of teachers to be trained every year.

7.2. Improving partnership between schools and universities

Talking about the importance of school university partnership, GTCS indicates, “Teachers who work in schools, in local authorities and in universities can each offer a quite different set of experiences and perspectives to the enquiry process and it is important that partners recognise and are able to draw upon the particular strengths each can contribute. Each can operate as an external stimulus to the other and, when trusting relationships are forged, learning with and from each other should become both process and outcome. At this important early stage in the development of meaningful professional enquiry practices in Scottish schools, partnership working between schools, local authorities and universities is necessary” (GTCS, 2014). Following this call, Education Scotland has initiated the School Improvement Partnership Programme to encourage staff to learn from each other, experiment with their practice, and monitor and evaluate change. Education Scotland is also brokering national partnering and links across authorities and university researchers to develop a shared commitment to improving outcomes for all children and young people. In comparison, there is no such focus on forging partnership between schools and universities in India. These institutions usually work in separate zones and occasionally collaborate with each other. Therefore, taking clue from Scottish polices, Indian teacher education system can look forward to establish well-supported partnerships between schools and universities for attaining sustained improvement and raised attainment at school level.

7.3. Implementing stronger quality assurance and accreditation procedures for ITE

In Scottish education system, the GTCS seeks to ensure that programs of ITE are professionally appropriate and demanding and lead to registration as a primary or secondary teacher. The other notable aspect of the system is that Accreditation applies to programs and not to higher education institutions. When a program has been accredited by the Council on an unconditional basis, it is entitled to run for a period of up to 6 years with an interim evaluation highlighting any developments and/or enhancements in the content, nature, duration, or structure of the program (GTCS, 2006, 2013). In India, NCTE and National Assessment and Accreditation Agency has signed a MoU for assessment and accreditation of teacher education institutions. There are mainly two concerns about this assessment and accreditation procedure, first, it is more a kind of voluntary rather compulsory activity, and second, this is an institution-based assessment and accreditation. Therefore, introduction of Scottish provisions like mandatory assessment and accreditation of teacher education institutions as well programs in India will ascertain the professional acceptability of teacher education programs leading to prepare professionally competent and dedicated teachers.

7.4. Offering extensive range of CPD activities for teachers

In Scotland, a wide range of national and local organizations provide CPD for teachers. The LTS website contains a wealth of material, much of which is linked to CfE. It also provides numerous central and regional events as well as organizing the annual Scottish Learning Festival. It has developed Glow, a national school education intranet, to promote networking and exchanges of resources and information. HMIE, in addition to publishing reports on specific aspects of education, works with LTS in helping to identify areas of need and sources of good practice. … Most CPD is provided by local authorities and includes central training as well as supporting school or community-based professional development. They are increasingly devolving more CPD to schools and encouraging them to work in networks, clusters, or learning communities. The provision of centrally delivered courses is decreasing (Donaldson, 2011, p. 65). In comparison to these provisions, the notion of CPD for teachers in India appears in a narrow sense (in-service training) and offers limited opportunities (Misra, 2014c). Commenting on the present scenario of CPD provisions for school teachers in India, Bolitho and Padwad (2010, p. 7) argue, “Professional preparation consists of short pre-service teacher education courses with limited field exposure and practical relevance. … Ongoing professional development, i.e. CPD, can be seen in a very restricted, narrow sense and there are limited opportunities and support for the CPD of serving teachers.” Usually, CPD of teachers in India is equated with in-service training programs. Therefore, like Scotland, Indian agencies may also work on two fronts. First, making CPD a compulsory element of a teacher’s working life, and second, asking different organizations to offer extensive range of CPD activities for teachers, especially at local level.

7.5. Moving from initial to career-long professional learning

Career-long professional learning recognizes that teacher education is a continuous process from the point a student teacher begins their qualification, continuing throughout a teacher’s career. Ensuring that the teaching profession embraces the concept of career-long learning is integral to professionalism and is a central policy challenge. This concept lies at the heart of teacher education in Scotland. It is also central to the revised suite of Professional Standards which includes a new Standard for Career-Long Professional Learning. The Standard for Career-Long Professional Learning has been developed to support teachers choosing to reflect on this Standard as part of their professional learning. As they progress through their careers, this Standard will help them identify, plan, and develop their own professional learning needs and to ensure continuing development of professional practice (GTCS, 2012b). In other words, concept of career-long professional learning for teachers is not fully embraced in India. There is no specific institutional mechanism to support teachers to continue to develop their expertise and experience across all areas of their professional practice. Therefore, like Scottish provisions, Indian agencies may also look for evolving an approach and mechanism for providing appropriate and sustained career-long professional learning opportunities for teachers.

7.6. Developing a system of online profiling for professional development and practices of school teachers

In Scotland, all GTCS registered teachers are required to participate in the professional update process. The key purposes of professional update for teachers are: to maintain and improve the quality of teachers and to enhance the impact that they have on pupils’ learning. In professional update, teachers are required to update their details on the GTCS Register MyGTCS. This register allows teachers to maintain a professional learning record and share this on an ongoing basis. MyGTCS has the facility to allow a teacher to share their record by “switching on” or “switching off,” which allows their line manager to view their record as part of an ongoing system of professional review and development. The teacher can choose when to share on/off their professional learning record on an ongoing basis and also when to submit their professional learning record as part of the sign-off 5-year process (GTCS, 2014). In other words, Indian system lacks such type of institutional mechanisms for online profiling of school teachers. To amend this situation, responsible agencies may look forward to establish an e-portfolio portal for online profiling of professional development and practices of school teachers. This provision will certainly have wide-ranging impacts for a number of actors like teachers, teacher education providers, schools, researchers, and educational planners.

7.7. Devising standards for teacher registration

Scottish system of standards for teacher registration provide a gate-keeping function for entry into teaching in Scotland and it should be noted that Full Registration continues to be the baseline Professional Standard for Competence. The SPR specifies what is expected of a student teacher at the end of ITE who is seeking provisional registration with GTC Scotland. Having gained the SPR, all provisionally registered teachers continue their professional learning journey by moving towards the attainment of the SFR. The SFR is the gateway to the profession and the benchmark of teacher competence for all teachers. The requirements of SFR are in addition to, and follow the successful achievement of, the SPR. In nutshell, these standards constitute the capability of teachers in relation to teaching, in which learners, parents, the profession itself, and the wider community can have confidence (GTCS, 2012a, p. 2). Learning from these Scottish provisions, agencies in India may also devise appropriate standards for teacher registration having professional values at the core. These standards will be particularly helpful to ensure the faith of parents and society towards teachers and teaching community.

7.8. Adopting ways from GTCS to strengthen NCTE

The GTCS was one of the first teaching councils in the world when it was set up in 1965. In 2012, legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament made it the world’s first independent, self-regulating body for teaching. The notable feature being that Local authority officers, members of HMIE, Principals of Colleges of Education, teacher union leaders, politicians, and civil servants had worked closely together and generally shared many of the same aspirations for education in Scotland under GTCS (Menter & Hulme, 2008). The GTCS is entrusted a number of tasks and responsibilities that mainly includes:

•	Maintain the register of teachers in Scotland.
•	Set the Professional Standards expected of all teachers.
•	Support the successful operation of the teacher induction scheme.
•	Manage the scheme of professional update, which was launched in August 2014.
•	Operate and promote professional recognition to support teachers’ expertise and experience.
•	Operate and maintain the Student Placement System.
•	Accredit programs leading to the award of GTCS Standards, including ITE at Scottish universities.
•	Advise the Scottish Government on matters relating to Scotland’s teachers.
•	Offer a dedicated MyGTCS account to all registrants enabling them to log professional learning and access a range of support tools.

Like Scotland, India also has the NCTE as a statutory body for teacher education. The main objective of the NCTE is to achieve planned and coordinated development of the teacher education system throughout the country, the regulation and proper maintenance of Norms and Standards in the teacher education system and for matters connected therewith. The mandate given to the NCTE is very broad and covers the whole gamut of teacher education programs, including research and training of persons for equipping them to teach at pre-primary, primary, secondary, and senior secondary stages in schools, and non-formal education, part-time education, adult education, and distance (correspondence) education courses (NCTE, 2011). On comparison, it may be stated that NCTE may also adopt some features like maintaining the online register of teachers, setting the professional standards, providing professional recognition to teachers, and launching a dedicated portal to all registrants enabling them to log professional learning and access a range of support tools for betterment of teacher education and teachers in India.

7.9. Identifying institutions to develop and offer school leadership programs

As part of its wide-reaching proposals for changing teacher education and leadership development, the Scottish Government has established a Scottish College for Educational Leadership (SCEL). This college aims to support leadership development at all levels for teachers and education practitioners across Scotland. As a core part of Teaching Scotland’s Future, the College is intended to support improvements in Scottish education by developing high-performing leaders equipped to tackle the significant task of leading and managing in challenging and changing times (SCEL, 2014). On similar terms, India has National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NEUPA). Related to school leadership, this University mainly organizes pre-service and in-service training programs in the area of educational planning and administration and conducts research in various aspects of educational planning and administration (NEUPA, 2006). But this University undertook lot of activities and is not fully concentrated to train teachers and principals’ for school leadership role. The other notable aspect is that in a country like India, where there are millions of school teachers, a single institution is not sufficient to meet all the school leadership training needs. Taking clue from the recommendations of Teaching Scotland’s Future, “high-performing systems grow and develop tomorrow’s leaders in a planned and progressive way” (Donaldson, 2011, p. 79), India may also look for identifying a good number of institutions and entrusting them the responsibility to develop and offer school leadership programs for teachers.

8. Conclusion

There is great diversity in teacher preparation programmes internationally depending in large part on the economic, political, and social contexts that exist within each country (Cooper & Alvarado, 2006, p. 13). Societal expectations and cultural shifts demands that we must learn from each other for betterment of teacher education, as observed by Oscarsson (2007), “Teacher education has traditionally been closed within national borders … International cooperation is a major step to be taken towards more openness in this field.” Following this approach, present paper highlighted a number of Scottish policies, practices, and reform that can be of immense help for the betterment of Indian teacher education that is one the largest teacher education systems of the world. One can hope that implementation of suggested measures will ultimately help realize the vision of National Policy on Education in India that “The Government and the community should endeavor to create conditions which will help motivate and inspire teachers on constructive and creative lines” (Government of India, 1986).

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Source: Author.

Acknowledgments

Pradeep Kumar Misra is indebted to Strathclyde University, Glasgow, and a number of colleagues from different universities of the UK, especially Prof. Donald Christie, Dr. Aileeen Kennedy, Prof. Ken Jones, and Prof. Ian Menter for supporting and helping to conduct this research.

Additional information

Funding

The researcher is thankful to Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, UK for providing him Commonwealth Academic Fellowship to conduct this research in Scotland.

Notes on contributors

Pradeep Kumar Misra

Pradeep Kumar Misra is a professor in Education in the Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, India. His research specializations are Teacher Education, Educational Technology and Lifelong Learning. Dr Misra has received a number of prestigious international research scholarships that includes-Commonwealth Academic Fellowship of CSC, UK; Erasmus Mundus Visiting Scholar Scholarship of European Commission; Doctoral and Senior Researcher Scholarship of DAAD, Germany; and Research Exchange Scholarship of FMSH, France. Dr Misra also served as a visiting scholar in Arhus University’s School of Education, Copenhagen, Denmark in 2009 for International Masters in Lifelong Learning: Policy and Management Programme. Dr Misra has to his credit a number of publications in journals of international repute, authored a book “Educational Television in Germany”, completed R&D Projects and developed number of educational media programmes. The research reported in this paper relates to Dr Misra’s agenda i.e. “improving teacher education in India”.