The disciplinary intersection between community work and design is under-explored. Despite similarities in both the context and values of the work, there has not been a significant critical comparison of their respective approaches in either theory or practice. This article suggests that informal education offers an alternative lens to consider…

The year 2015 was the 50th anniversary of the introduction of comprehensive schooling in Scotland. This article outlines the two models of comprehensive schooling pursued over this period: the first which aimed to promote a universal, common system, and the second, from around 2000, which has prioritised diversity and choice. Equality (in its…

In Scotland, although there is no agreed definition of what constitutes the humanities, they have their locus principally within two of eight curricular areas in Curriculum for Excellence (CfE): Social Studies (SS) and Religious and Moral Education (RME). Both SS and RME are contexts for learning where broad principles apply in relation to…

Background: A growth mindset is a significant factor in the motivation and achievement of learners. Previous research has shown one-off interventions do encourage growth mindset thinking but only improvements are only short-lived. A sustainable and embedded approach may therefore be the only way to engender long-term changes to an individual's…

Global citizenship education (GCE) and human rights education (HRE) offer substantive contributions to civic education. Interconnections between the fields exist in curricula from intergovernmental organizations (UNESCO), non-governmental organizations (Oxfam Great Britain) and national ministries (Learning and Teaching Scotland). This essay…

Curriculum for Excellence, Scotland's 3--18 curriculum, has been described as 'the most significant curricular change in Scotland for a generation' (McAra, Broadley & McLauchlan, 2013, p. 223). The purpose of the curriculum is 'encapsulated' in four capacities in order that learners become i) successful learners, ii) confident individuals,…

The Education Reform -- Joint Agreement published in June 2018 sets out agreed principles and enablers and measures that will support and encourage the empowerment of schools in Scotland. These include the commitment that Education Scotland would carry out three inspections in the 2018-19 academic year looking at the following themes: Readiness…

The issue of modularising vocational education and training (VET) systems has been the subject of heated debate in many European countries. In particular, in Scotland the use of modules within the curriculum has been seen as either restrictive or liberating depending upon the theoretical stance taken. At a more pragmatic level modularisation of…

The publication in 2011 of "This is Our Faith" (TIOF), the Catholic Church in Scotland's syllabus for religious education in Catholic schools, is a significant contribution to wider debates on the appropriate conceptual framework for religious education. Recent teaching of the Holy See has suggested that religious education in Catholic…

This paper reports on the collaborative development of a "National Framework for Inclusion" under the auspices of the Scottish Teacher Education Committee by a working party representing each of the Scottish Universities providing initial teacher education. Recent research, international legislation and Scottish education policy have…

While reflection continues to be promoted as a central feature of teachers' continuous professional development (CPD) activities in Scotland and elsewhere, a wider debate across professions and national boundaries has opened as to how reflection might be re-conceptualised to restore its social and critical dimensions. This paper seeks to…

The 2-year probationary experience of new teachers was described by the McCrone Report as scandalous and led to the development of an induction standard (as part of an emerging framework or continuum of standards for various stages of teacher development) with related structures of support for beginner teachers in Scotland provided by schools and…

This article looks at policy for quality assurance and evaluation in Scotland, its history and more recent developments, and in particular, at the emphasis on school self-evaluation. It examines the history of the concept, its constituent elements and the role of the Inspectorate in establishing it. Further, the article discusses the Scottish…

Various recent politically driven policy interventions have outlined the increased importance of school physical education programmes as a contributor towards realising active lifelong learning targets. This paper explains the origins of the new policy emphasis and describes some of the opportunities which now exist for reviewing many curriculum…

Education for citizenship is firmly on the policy agenda throughout Britain, and there is an expectation that teachers will create a participative, consultative ethos in schools. This paper identifies three main vehicles for pupil consultation: elected pupil councils, democratic and participative classrooms and opportunities for pupils to engage…