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In
2002, The Scottish Executive published five national priorities: raising
standards of achievement and attainment; providing a framework for learning;
promoting inclusion and equality; developing values and citizenship;
encouraging lifelong learning. The development of effective learning and
teaching lies at the heart of each. The priorities reflect two decades of
significant developments in our understanding about how learners learn and
why they are learning. They also reflect changes in teaching. These
developments have taken place in Scotland and beyond.
From
the 1980s onwards, UK and American educationalists have been publishing a
rich series of texts which continue to impact progressively on learning and
teaching. Howard Gardner’s work on multiple intelligences and Daniel Goleman’s on emotional intelligence challenged an educational philosophy
which championed IQ and merely valued academic attainment. Dryden and Voss
in The Learning Revolution (1994) developed these ideas, proposing
the theory that we all have preferred learning styles. Robert Fisher in the
mid 1990s emphasised the importance of process and that learners need to be
taught how to think and to be self aware as learners. In Excellence in
Schools (1998), Geoff Hannan used an approach based on the physiology of
the brain to consider different ways in which males and females think and
the implications for teaching. In the same year, Michael Barber’s study of
motivation in The Learning Game highlighted the need to motivate all
young people to ensure their personal development and inclusion as active
citizens.
In
Scotland, HMI published the criteria for evaluating the performance of
Scottish schools. How Good is our School? provides a framework for
continuous improvement. Its sections on learning and teaching offer a
comprehensive description of very good learning and teaching. The
SCCC in
1996 produced its Teaching for Effective Learning which informs much
of the Highland L&T policy. This seminal text was complemented in 2000 by
Learning and Teaching Scotland’s
www.LTScotland.org.uk Direct Interactive
Teaching. GTC Scotland
www.gtcs.org.uk
in 2002 identified and published
its list of competences which all teachers must achieve for full
registration.
Developments in Scotland and beyond, then, have contributed to the
identification of the national priorities. In Highland, the Education,
Culture and Sport Service’s strategy for developing provision related to the
national priorities is underway. Elements of this strategy include the
extension of pre-school education, the introduction of Early Intervention
strategies, the roll out of the New Community School Approach, and the
quality assurance framework. Staff development has included courses by
luminaries such as Hannan, Patillo, Wray, Mosely and Boyd.
Such
high quality events with a positive learning and teaching focus will
continue. But we need to ensure that their messages impact on all schools,
classrooms and out into the community. This may mean fewer ’one-off, away
day’ courses and more informed research in the classroom, conducted by
networks of teachers, facilitated by trained professional staff and whenever
appropriate delivered by the new technology.
Since 2002, the national Assessment is for Learning programme has provided a
platform for such professional development. It supports teachers and
encourages them to challenge their pedagogy and the deep-seated assumptions
that underlie it. From session 2003-4 onwards, all Highland schools will
have the opportunity of participating in this initiative through
The Highland Learning and Teaching Policy Toolkit.
The
Highland Learning and Teaching Policy Toolkit
will
be one of the main engines driving forward the Assessment is for Learning
initiative in Highland. It will be enhanced annually by special events in
the staff development programme. Linked developments relating to Support for
Pupils and Assessment issues will complement and extend this major CPD
programme.
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