Hugh Reilly: Greater Glasgow minds to think alike

Perhaps Glasgow council’s education department has this in mind when it announced an end to tolerating “good” from its teaching workforce. While some are born great and some achieve greatness, Weegie chalkies are to have greatness thrust upon them by director of education services, Maureen McKenna.

The local authority’s Greatness Tzar told an audience of 450 school and education staff that the city’s schools had seen improved results and more favourable HMIE reports. So far, so good, one would think, but no. Glasgow has to move up a gear because “only the best will do” – Glasgow’s children and young people [I thought young people were children] deserve the very best we can give.”

I may be going out on a limb here but my guess is that the city’s teachers will feel that The Great Leader has somewhat dissed their hitherto efforts to educate the poorest young people/children in the country. While some councils have reduced class sizes as a tool to raising attainment, Glasgow chose not to flirt with such faddishness. As someone who has taught S4 Foundation classes of 30, my experience is that a class of 15 or so of such pupils produces better outcomes. To be fair, Glasgow has spent large parts of the education budget on fostering nurture groups that help primary school kids with challenging home backgrounds and other obstacles to receiving a sound education.

The new regime will tackle weaknesses in learning and teaching. Like a latter day version of Thunderbirds, “leaders of learning” will be on standby to assist schools in distress. Beleaguered headteachers need only press the panic button, sorry, bid for the time of these experienced staff and very soon a superteacher will appear on the premises. If media reports are to be believed, these wondermen and women are multi-disciplinary miracle workers, skilled in ICT, literacy, numeracy, health and well-being and the kidnapping of incompetent staff (okay, I made the last one up).

The city’s teachers will be trained under the Harvard Teaching for Understanding programme, a teaching strategy that promotes profound understanding of an issue by the learner. Employing Ivy League methodology can only enhance the professionalism of staff – I just hope that no Glasgow kid tells his parent that all of his teachers have poison ivy.

The impetus for Glasgow greatness probably lies with Teaching Scotland’s Future, the rather snazzy title of a report by former HMIE head honcho, Graham Donaldson. Quite rightly, he calls for those within the profession to desist from tolerating the relatively few classroom duds who hinder a child’s education. With Glasgow’s emphasis on greatness, perhaps classroom teachers – but more especially school managements – may actually offer dull pedagogues a satisfactory pathway out of teaching.

Of course, the elephant in the phone box is the link between poverty and appalling levels of attainment. Even before the age of austerity, very little was being done to close the wealth gap. Schools and the education directorate can only do so much; to my mind, it’s a bit like feverishly trying to bail water out of the Titanic using a sieve. Having taught in various Glasgow schools over a 30-year career, it is my opinion that the teachers do a wonderful job in very challenging circumstances.

Pupil indiscipline is a huge issue. True, the numbers of youngsters excluded have fallen dramatically, but it is not that teenage behaviour has suddenly improved, rather that, at the behest of the directorate, schools have found creative ways to manage problem pupils. For example, some schools have a “time-out” facility while others have introduced internal exclusion (whereby the kid attends school but does not go to certain lessons). No-one gains from a kid being suspended from school, but keeping such pupils on-site makes life harder for teachers and those youngsters who wish to learn in a safe environment.

Any effort to improve attainment is to be commended. Let’s hope great things come from this initiative.