'Thoroughly confused': Head teacher says Scotland's 'vague and ambiguous' curriculum leaves schools unclear about what to teach

Education author warns of ‘wildly’ different approaches between schools

An influential head teacher has condemned Scotland’s “vague and ambiguous” Curriculum for Excellence, warning it leaves school staff “thoroughly confused”.

Bruce Robertson, rector at Berwickshire High School in the Scottish Borders, said the lack of clarity means it is “not a curriculum”, and leads to “wildly” different approaches between schools and local authorities.

The nation’s Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), which was rolled-out from 2010 with cross party support, has been under the microscope since Scotland recorded its worst ever results in the OECD’s international Pisa tests of maths, science and reading last week.

Student Raising Hand To Ask Question In Classroom. Picture: Adobe Stock

Mr Robertson, who has written several books on teaching, joined a panel discussion on Friday, arranged by the Commission on School Reform, which is part of the Reform Scotland think tank.

He said the main issue with the curriculum was in the broad general education phase, which lasts from early years to the end of S3.

In particular, he highlighted the “experiences and outcomes”, statements about a pupil’s learning and progression, which are used to help plan learning and to assess progress.

Mr Robertson said: “The biggest problem with it is that it is just not at all clear. The experiences and outcomes are just so vague and ambiguous – they are not even particularly well written."

He added: “For me certainly, the broad general education phase, as set out in the experiences and outcomes, that is not a curriculum. It’s just not clear enough to be called a curriculum.

"Because we’re not clear about what we should be teaching, we’re not clear about what we should be assessing. And then when it comes to trying to help parents understand how their child is progressing, well that just becomes incredibly difficult.”

Mr Robertson said teachers were never given the time to unpack the ideas behind CfE, or exemplification of what a high quality curriculum would look like."Everybody is thoroughly confused about what they should be teaching. The quality of curriculum therefore differs wildly from school to school, from local authority to local authority, and that leads to inequity,” he said.

In the wake of the Pisa results, Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth has announced plans to update the curriculum from next year, including by strengthening the place of “knowledge”.

The Government also highlighted improvements in numeracy and literacy recorded in Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels, which are based on teacher judgements.

Amid criticism of the value of the data, Ms Gilruth said it was an “insult” to teachers to query their judgement.

But Mr Robertson told the panel: “I mean absolutely no disrespect to teachers with this comment – most teachers are just picking a number out of the air.”

He said it was often simply based on the amount of time a pupil had spent on a particular phase, but that the unreliability of the data became a “big problem” when it was then submitted to the Government, and used by the media to create league tables.

Other panel members warned mistakes made during the implementation of CfE could be repeated if the Government backs proposals contained in the Hayward report on the future of Scottish qualifications, including a move away from exams for S4 pupils.

Lindsay Paterson, emeritus professor of education policy at Edinburgh University, argued that exams had historically been “liberating” by removing biases and proving marginalised groups – including women, people from minority ethnic groups and Catholics in Scotland – were every bit as worthy as white, protestant men.

He said people can disagree with the merits of exams, but that the Hayward report does not address such arguments at all.

"It is really quite disgraceful, but yet there it is now as the guide to the future of Scottish assessment. I think that is an even bigger disaster than Curriculum for Excellence waiting to happen,” he said.

Many other groups, including Scotland’s largest teaching union, the Educational Institute of Scotland, as well as School Leaders Scotland (SLS), and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, have been broadly supportive of the Hayward proposals, however, and critical of the Government’s decision to delay a debate on the blueprint until next year.

Last month, Graham Hutton, a former head teacher and now general secretary of SLS, said it was “a golden opportunity to move Scotland’s education system forward”, and that they were “really well argued proposals”.

The Commission of School Reform panel did not blame the SNP Government for all the problems in Scottish education.

Keir Bloomer, the group’s chairman, highlighted a failed attempt by Nicola Sturgeon when she was First Minister to introduce “something like proper standardised testing” into primary schools.

He also recalled how John Swinney, as education secretary, got as far as introducing a Bill in Holyrood which would increased the autonomy of schools, and thereby “reduce the stranglehold of Scottish education held” by quangos, agencies, the inspectorate and local authorities.

"In both of these cases the politicians were beaten back by the establishment of the Scottish education system, demonstrating conclusively who it is that really runs education in Scotland,” he said.

"Unless we start to focus on the shortcomings of that leadership group, and start to tackle the degree of autonomy which they have exercised for a very long period, in an entirely irresponsible and unsuccessful manner, we’re not likely to make much progress.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Curriculum for Excellence was endorsed by the OECD in 2021 as the right approach for Scotland.

"Schools are able to offer a wide range of course choices and we are seeing record numbers of young people entering work, training and further study less than a year after their final school year as a result.

“The 2023 exam results also show that the gap between attainment levels in the least and most deprived areas is narrower than it was in 2019 across National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers.”