Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 11 November 2010
11 Nov 2010 · S3 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Curriculum for Excellence
I am pleased to participate in the debate, not only as a parent but because, through my work with Learning and Teaching Scotland over many years, I have had an interest in curriculum for excellence since its inception.
Through its debating system, the Parliament offers the people of Scotland an opportunity to see how their Government is, rightly, held to account. It also provides us with an opportunity to acknowledge the commitment of those who work in our public services, who put into practice many of the initiatives that start their journey in this place. Curriculum for excellence is one such example of the Parliament setting a direction of travel, which those who work in the education service have been striving to deliver for six years or more.
Curriculum for excellence first came to my attention when I was working with LTS. The initial ideas, which came out of the national debate, were certainly new and challenging. What were the four capacities all about? How would we know when society, or the education system, had achieved the objectives of enabling all young people to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors? In 10 or 20 years’ time, how will we be able to tell whether we have made a difference? Perhaps more interestingly, will we be able to attribute any positive outcomes to the curriculum for excellence?
Although Scotland performs well according to many international comparisons, the education system that was inherited by the Parliament fails far too many of our young people. In too many areas of Scotland, a high proportion of school leavers are marked as underachievers, and they proceed to what are euphemistically referred to as “negative school-leaver destinations”. That phrase covers a group of young people who set out in life ill prepared to make their way and, in too many cases, without the basic skills that they need to establish themselves in the workforce.
Literacy is one example of why we need to move forward with curriculum for excellence. Literacy is very important because of its wider benefits to the individual but, as employment patterns have changed, it has become a necessity for large parts of the labour market.
As evidence that the system was failing, I refer to the literacy commission that was established by our colleagues in the Labour Party. It concluded:
“For years in Scotland ... we have tolerated the intolerable. We have accepted a situation in which thousands of our young people leave school every year with correctable problems that leave them functionally illiterate—that is, without the basic literacy skills to function in a modern society.”
I do not know anyone who went into the teaching profession to produce school leavers who are functionally illiterate. That finding by the commission strongly suggested that there is a systemic problem, which we must urgently address. That is why we need to press ahead with curriculum for excellence and to embrace the opportunities and challenges that it brings. We should let our teachers get on with the job in hand.
Our system failed to keep pace with the changes in Scotland’s economy, and it is perceived to be ignoring the real needs of our youngsters, who expect us to offer them a better future. An increasing number of pupils in senior schools now see college as a more suitable setting for their continuing education. That might be down to a feeling that they are treated more like mature adults there, and it might also be to do with the unhelpful divide between academic and vocational courses. Too many pupils, especially weaker learners, see school as a place for academics—for those who are going on to uni. We need to remove that divide, not just between the vocational and the academic, but between school and college.
The study of science is one area in which it is clear that different methods of learning and teaching have a part to play. Although traditional academic study is suitable for some pupils, others benefit from direct participation that is more hands on and gets them involved.
From discussions with many of those who are involved in science education, it is clear to me that inspirational teachers are vital to encouraging young people to engage with the subject. It should not matter whether the inspirational teacher is encountered in a primary school, a secondary school, a college or even the community. What matters is that, once the young person’s interest is engaged, the education system should offer opportunities for continuing progress.
I pay tribute to a teacher who is a constituent of mine, Mrs Morag Ferguson, who teaches at Annanhill primary school in Kilmarnock. Only last week, she won the SQA’s science/engineering teacher of the year award. I had the privilege of seeing Mrs Ferguson in action, with an eager class of children who were learning about the sun. They were not simply listening to their teacher telling them facts about it, as with the chalk-and-talk fashion that we all know. They were drawing it and talking enthusiastically about it in little groups—about how it gave life to everything on earth and, of course, about the fact that it is very, very hot.
The four capacities that I mentioned earlier were perhaps a little bit obscure for me way back at the beginning of this journey with curriculum for excellence, but they became clearer to me by the minute as I watched the work of those children and their teacher. That small example offers us a glimpse, not of the possible, but of the present and the future with curriculum for excellence. Our teachers are doing some wonderful things in Scotland’s schools, and our children are already benefiting from new experiences.
The staff in Learning and Teaching Scotland, with whom I worked for a number of years, will be thoroughly depressed about the attacks that have been made on them today in such a negative way by the Labour Party. I am desperately disappointed to hear that offering from Labour.
I am of course delighted to support the Government’s motion, and I commend it to the Parliament.
10:03
Through its debating system, the Parliament offers the people of Scotland an opportunity to see how their Government is, rightly, held to account. It also provides us with an opportunity to acknowledge the commitment of those who work in our public services, who put into practice many of the initiatives that start their journey in this place. Curriculum for excellence is one such example of the Parliament setting a direction of travel, which those who work in the education service have been striving to deliver for six years or more.
Curriculum for excellence first came to my attention when I was working with LTS. The initial ideas, which came out of the national debate, were certainly new and challenging. What were the four capacities all about? How would we know when society, or the education system, had achieved the objectives of enabling all young people to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors? In 10 or 20 years’ time, how will we be able to tell whether we have made a difference? Perhaps more interestingly, will we be able to attribute any positive outcomes to the curriculum for excellence?
Although Scotland performs well according to many international comparisons, the education system that was inherited by the Parliament fails far too many of our young people. In too many areas of Scotland, a high proportion of school leavers are marked as underachievers, and they proceed to what are euphemistically referred to as “negative school-leaver destinations”. That phrase covers a group of young people who set out in life ill prepared to make their way and, in too many cases, without the basic skills that they need to establish themselves in the workforce.
Literacy is one example of why we need to move forward with curriculum for excellence. Literacy is very important because of its wider benefits to the individual but, as employment patterns have changed, it has become a necessity for large parts of the labour market.
As evidence that the system was failing, I refer to the literacy commission that was established by our colleagues in the Labour Party. It concluded:
“For years in Scotland ... we have tolerated the intolerable. We have accepted a situation in which thousands of our young people leave school every year with correctable problems that leave them functionally illiterate—that is, without the basic literacy skills to function in a modern society.”
I do not know anyone who went into the teaching profession to produce school leavers who are functionally illiterate. That finding by the commission strongly suggested that there is a systemic problem, which we must urgently address. That is why we need to press ahead with curriculum for excellence and to embrace the opportunities and challenges that it brings. We should let our teachers get on with the job in hand.
Our system failed to keep pace with the changes in Scotland’s economy, and it is perceived to be ignoring the real needs of our youngsters, who expect us to offer them a better future. An increasing number of pupils in senior schools now see college as a more suitable setting for their continuing education. That might be down to a feeling that they are treated more like mature adults there, and it might also be to do with the unhelpful divide between academic and vocational courses. Too many pupils, especially weaker learners, see school as a place for academics—for those who are going on to uni. We need to remove that divide, not just between the vocational and the academic, but between school and college.
The study of science is one area in which it is clear that different methods of learning and teaching have a part to play. Although traditional academic study is suitable for some pupils, others benefit from direct participation that is more hands on and gets them involved.
From discussions with many of those who are involved in science education, it is clear to me that inspirational teachers are vital to encouraging young people to engage with the subject. It should not matter whether the inspirational teacher is encountered in a primary school, a secondary school, a college or even the community. What matters is that, once the young person’s interest is engaged, the education system should offer opportunities for continuing progress.
I pay tribute to a teacher who is a constituent of mine, Mrs Morag Ferguson, who teaches at Annanhill primary school in Kilmarnock. Only last week, she won the SQA’s science/engineering teacher of the year award. I had the privilege of seeing Mrs Ferguson in action, with an eager class of children who were learning about the sun. They were not simply listening to their teacher telling them facts about it, as with the chalk-and-talk fashion that we all know. They were drawing it and talking enthusiastically about it in little groups—about how it gave life to everything on earth and, of course, about the fact that it is very, very hot.
The four capacities that I mentioned earlier were perhaps a little bit obscure for me way back at the beginning of this journey with curriculum for excellence, but they became clearer to me by the minute as I watched the work of those children and their teacher. That small example offers us a glimpse, not of the possible, but of the present and the future with curriculum for excellence. Our teachers are doing some wonderful things in Scotland’s schools, and our children are already benefiting from new experiences.
The staff in Learning and Teaching Scotland, with whom I worked for a number of years, will be thoroughly depressed about the attacks that have been made on them today in such a negative way by the Labour Party. I am desperately disappointed to hear that offering from Labour.
I am of course delighted to support the Government’s motion, and I commend it to the Parliament.
10:03
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Alex Fergusson)
NPA
Good morning. The first item of business is a debate on motion S3M-7379, in the name of Michael Russell, on curriculum for excellence. Before the debate begi...
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning (Michael Russell)
SNP
I am delighted to have this opportunity to thank the teaching profession and all who work in or are part of school communities for what I have to call their ...
Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab)
Lab
I was just wondering whether the difficulties that Mr Russell inherited, and resolved so admirably, were his predecessor, Fiona Hyslop’s fault.
Michael Russell
SNP
No, they were not. They were caused by inaction by the previous Administration and Mr Macintosh’s colleagues. I did not want to be so churlish as to say that...
Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab)
Lab
If rhetoric could power Scotland, we could replace Torness by hitching Mr Russell to the national grid. Wind turbines suffer from intermittency, unlike the c...
Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD)
LD
On such a dismal and dreich day, I was almost looking forward to coming into the chamber; then I heard Des McNulty. I suspect that the truth about the curric...
Ian McKee (Lothians) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Margaret Smith
LD
No.We accept that times are tight, but it is critical and fundamental that we get this right.The Scottish National Party is playing with a generation’s futur...
Elizabeth Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
On behalf of the Scottish Conservatives, I am happy to congratulate all the headteachers, teachers, support staff—who are often forgotten in this process—par...
Des McNulty
Lab
I am sure that the member saw the comments that exam chiefs made in the Daily Mail this morning about the desperate state of literacy skills in some of the m...
Elizabeth Smith
Con
Absolutely. It is an important message that underpins exactly what I am saying: literacy and numeracy must complement and underpin everything that we do with...
Michael Russell
SNP
Well, that is the end of Labour.
Elizabeth Smith
Con
Does Mr Russell want to intervene? No? The curriculum for excellence has been at the forefront of the education brief for many long months, but all too often...
Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)
SNP
I am pleased to participate in the debate, not only as a parent but because, through my work with Learning and Teaching Scotland over many years, I have had ...
Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Lab
I welcome this morning’s opportunity for the Parliament to endorse members’ commitment to the curriculum for excellence and to improving the educational oppo...
Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I have been amused by repeated comments in recent months and during this morning’s debate about curriculum for excellence being rushed in. I understand that ...
Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab)
Lab
Curriculum for excellence might well have been the most debated subject in the chamber during the past two or three years, but that is no bad thing. The educ...
The Minister for Skills and Lifelong Learning (Keith Brown)
SNP
I am sorry that Karen Whitefield is showing the same horror as the rest of the Labour Party that curriculum for excellence is working in schools. Does she re...
Karen Whitefield
Lab
I am surprised that the minister thinks that important legislation that recognises and supports children with additional support needs should not be implemen...
Keith Brown
SNP
You were not aware? You did not know?
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Alasdair Morgan)
SNP
Order.
Karen Whitefield
Lab
I acknowledge the cabinet secretary’s decision to use HMIE in a constructive and proactive way in supporting the roll-out of curriculum for excellence in our...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
We have some time in hand, so members could use seven minutes as a guideline from now on.10:24
Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green)
Green
I will attempt to finish my speech within seven minutes.It is sometimes difficult to tell whether Des McNulty’s glass is half full or half empty. This mornin...
Des McNulty
Lab
The issue, certainly in my contribution, is not whether the curriculum for excellence is a good thing in principle—I believe that it is—but the problems that...
Robin Harper
Green
I take Des McNulty’s point.Rousseau was probably one of the first people to consider how we should look at education from a child’s point of view.
Ian McKee
SNP
Jean-Jacques?
Robin Harper
Green
Yes, Jean-Jacques.I had the extreme good fortune and great honour to serve with R F Mackenzie in Braehead secondary school in Buckhaven in Fife, and I would ...
Michael Russell
SNP
I know of that coincidence of dates, but I can assure Robin Harper that I will open the conference, and I know that a colleague of mine will be present. We a...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
The member should now wind up.