Keir Bloomer: Well-rehearsed slogans won't replace vision and forward planning

Published on Thursday 9 July 2009 22:00

NO COUNTRY in the world has a school curriculum genuinely fit for purpose in the 21st century.

Many have produced "visions" or mission statements committing them to far-reaching change but none has yet made the breakthrough. Curriculum for Excellence is Scotland's educational vision. After nearly five years, how far have we progressed in putting it into practice?

The slogans are well rehearsed. Look at any official publication or glance at the posters on school walls and you'll know that Scotland's schools aim to produce "successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens". But do they know how to do it?

A great deal of guidance has been produced, culminating in the massive folder of Experiences and Outcomes recently issued to every teacher. This material is well-intentioned and frequently helpful. It is also uneven in quality, often jargon-ridden and occasionally – as in its definition of literacy – pretentious and vacuous.

Literacy isn't "the set of skills which allows an individual to engage fully in society and in learning, through the different forms of language, and the range of texts, which society values and finds useful". It is about the ability to read, write and communicate effectively.

The real problem, however, is that it lacks vision. Education secretary Fiona Hyslop often says, quite rightly, that Curriculum for Excellence is about "transformational change". However, the development programme isn't. Like so many programmes of curriculum change before it, it is concerned with small steps of the kind that can so easily degenerate into mere tinkering. A practical starting point is necessary but so is a clear sense of direction for the long-term.

Curriculum for Excellence is a programme that is in real trouble. Teachers support the principles but feel unsure of the way forward. Ask a dozen teachers (or a dozen directors of education for that matter) to define the new curriculum in two clear sentences and you will get a dozen different answers.

How can it be saved? Firstly government needs to sell the big picture, not the detail. Secondly there needs to be massive investment in professional development. The government is right to place its faith in the creativity of teachers but it must recognise that, after 20 years of receiving instructions, the profession now faces a crisis of confidence. Investing in people has never been more crucial.

Next, pioneers need to be nurtured and treasured. A few examples of innovation that works are worth a thousand pages of guidance. Finally, the new curriculum needs intellectual ambition. An emphasis on the core skills of literacy and numeracy is necessary but not sufficient. In a highly competitive global economy higher order skills are indispensable.

&#149 Keir Bloomer is a former council chief executive and member of the team which helped create new curriculum.