At Last the Avizandum Show

While television has portrayed the law and lawyers as an entertainment over the years, until recently the legal profession has had little to do with television. Lately, however, television has been used with considerable success and increasing frequency as an instructional medium in the continuing education of lawyers in Scotland. The author describes the background and early experiments in the use of television and demonstrates some of the ways in which television is now contributing to the training work of the Law Society of Scotland.     

公投之后，苏格兰以何种形象示人？

扣人心弦的公投让苏格兰成为世界媒体的头条。也让人们把投向大不列颠的目光转向了苏格兰高地,人们开始对苏格兰的人文、历史和风土人情重新解读。风笛、格子裙、威士忌等这些高地特有的标志代言着苏格兰。公投的喧嚣过去后,苏格兰又该如何塑造自己的形象呢？     

Competitive opportunity and liberal culture: the significance of Scottish education in the twentieth century

Three of the great social ambitions of educational reform since the late nineteenth century are now seriously problematical. Although education does offer individuals a way of bettering themselves, we now know that it does little to change the terms of the competition among people who start from different social classes: it probably does not, by itself, affect relative social mobility. Education in advanced economies has little effect on overall rates of growth: it is now clear that the analogy between individual and economic development is untenable. And the main other option to these instrumental goals—that education should pass on the best that has been thought and said—is now deeply unfashionable with policy‐makers, radical activists and most shades of academic opinion. Scotland is a telling case of these shifts. In the past century, it has held quite firmly to all three older views, and has tried quite thoroughly to implement educational reforms in pursuit of them. Its experience is as good a demonstration as any that the first two ambitions—of social mobility and of economic development—cannot be realised by educational change alone. The country is also moving deliberately away from the third ambition, its old humanism of knowledge. The implications of this experience and these developments are discussed.     

The ‘McDonaldization’ of Higher Education: food for thought?

Abstract

Having completed its reform of the schools and colleges of further education, government is now set to reform higher education. At issue here is higher education in Scotland, but the analysis has wider applicability. It operationalises Ritzer's concept of ‘McDonaldization’, and the latter's dimensions of efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control (both formally bureaucratic and informally fraternising). The analysis is set in relation to the government's earlier educational reforms, particularly of further education, and argues that its plans for higher education are of a piece. All this is related to current economic and cultural change: that is, to the fiscal pressures on the welfare state, and to the emergence of post‐modern culture. In conclusion, it is argued that policy for higher education will come to express what Charles Jencks has called (in relation to architecture) ‘double‐coding’: a mix of the bureaucratic form of modernity, tempered by appeals to post‐modern culture.     

‘Role stretch’: assessing the blurring of teaching and non‐teaching in the classroom assistant role in Scotland

With the increasing number of teaching and classroom assistants across the UK there is now much debate about what their role should be. In particular concerns have arisen about the extent to which they overstep the boundary from supporting teaching and learning into teaching pupils. This study assesses this issue within Scotland. It draws on a national survey of 2000 head teachers, teachers and classroom assistants and interviews with directors of education in nearly half of all Scottish local authorities. Findings from the research suggest a small number of classroom assistants in Scotland are overstepping the boundary into teaching. The paper concludes with an explanation as to why this is happening taking into account aspects such as local authority policy, school size and the individual characteristics of the classroom assistants.     

The Survival of the Democratic Intellect: Academic Values in Scotland and England

Using the results of a sample survey of academics in higher education institutions in Scotland and England, the paper assesses attitudes to the civic role of higher education. It places these in the context of debates about core academic values, about the public accountability of higher education institutions, and about the devolution of political power in the United Kingdom. It finds that there is widespread attachment to a civic role for higher education, alongside strong attachment to traditional academic values. These values are not significantly influenced by individual academics’ gender, age or social class of origin, and differences by academic discipline are not as strong as might be expected. Academics in Scotland tend to hold a somewhat more civic view than academics in England. This national difference seems to be a product of distinctive national systems, since academics of English origin in Scotland share in the majority Scottish views.     

Conducting Research into European Union Education and Training Policy: some theoretical and methodological considerations

This paper has several purposes. It introduces a new project funded by the European Commission within its Training and Mobility of Researchers (TMR) programme; it describes the research design of the Oxford part of that project, which is now beginning, and of a comparative study which was already being undertaken in Oxford on the implementation of the ‘European Dimension’ in education in England, Scotland and Wales; and it describes a number of theoretical and methodological problems we anticipate having to address as the studies proceed.     

Improving the educational experience of children and young people in public care: a Scottish perspective

The context for this paper relates to the policy and practice implications of efforts to achieve social justice for Scotland’s 12,000 children and young people in the care of local government authorities. The paper is located within a growing evidence base of the educational experience of young people in care and leaving care. The data on attainment and exclusion from school in particular are reviewed and confirm that looked‐after children in Scotland, as elsewhere in the UK, typically leave education with significantly fewer school leaving qualifications than is now the common expectation for young people in their age group and are significantly more likely to lose time in school due to exclusion. However, the review also shows the devastating impact of being in care on young children’s attainment in reading, writing and mathematics. The implications of the data reviewed are discussed in relation to the concepts of social justice, resilience and the educationally rich environment.     

Using information and communications technology as a pedagogical tool: a survey of initial teacher education in Scotland

Abstract

In common with other parts of the United Kingdom, teacher education in Scotland is facing a period of rapidly changing demands with respect to the use of information and communications technology (ICT), together with high levels of investment, rising expectations, and increased scrutiny and accountability. In this article, we present an account of a national survey of the ICT skills and attitudes of students entering and exiting from the teacher education institutions in Scotland in the session 1996-97. The students are extremely positive in their attitudes, their enthusiasm for ICT use in education is high and their aspirations clear – they expect ICT to permeate their professional work now and in the future. Their experiences during their period of training fall considerably short of their expectations. We discuss the reasons for some of the difficulties and consider the challenges faced by tutors in initial teacher education courses who must now ‘model the message’ of a learner-centred approach to the education of their students.     

Retaining public and political trust: teacher education in Scotland

This paper traces the key periods, players and events which have contributed to the shaping of the current landscape of teacher education in Scotland. Starting with the Wheatley Report and the formation of the General Teaching Council (Scotland) in the 1960s through to the most recent Donaldson Review of Teacher Education, we examine ebb and flow amongst GTCS, government, colleges of education and universities. Following its own trajectory, Scottish Education resisted and rejected policies emanating from an ‘English’ ideology, capitalised on respect for and influence of the GTCS, and successfully moved teacher education’s base from autonomous colleges to high-status universities. At the core of teacher education in Scotland is the continuing desire for partnership-working amongst key stakeholders: local and national government, GTCS, schools, teacher education institutions, teaching unions, parents and pupils. A teaching profession of trained graduates, underpinned by university-led subject study, is now moving steadily towards Masters-level professional learning for all. Although having faced some troubled episodes, this period has also been characterised by remarkable stability and consensus and, although still tackling the improvement agenda suggested by the recent Donaldson review, teacher education in Scotland has retained a high degree of public and political trust.     

Social origins,academic strength of school curriculum and access to selective higher education institutions: Evidence from Scotland and the USA

This paper analyses the role that different components of the academic strength of the secondary-school curriculum (i.e. number, subjects and grades of advanced academic courses) play in explaining social origin differences in access to prestigious universities (but also to other higher education institutions) in Scotland and the USA. A central aim of the paper is to investigate whether the mechanism behind the studied patterns of inequality differs depending on the characteristics of each educational system. Our results show pronounced social class gaps in entering top higher education institutions in both Scotland and the USA. Academic curriculum plays an important role in explaining these social class differences in both countries. However, while in Scotland type of subjects taken at an advanced level is the strongest mediator for the identified social class differences, in the USA, number of advanced subjects is the strongest. Moreover, taking into account the three academic components combined entirely explains the social class differences in Scotland. Considerable inequalities which are not explained by the strength of academic curriculum remain in the USA.     

The Scottish Assisted Places Scheme: a comparative study of the origins,nature and practice of the APSs in Scotland,England & Wales

In 1981 two separate Assisted Places Schemes were launched. One was introduced for England & Wales, and another for Scotland. This paper examines the differences between the two schemes. It shows that they can be seen to be related to the differing educational systems of the countries, and to differences between the grant‐aided and direct grant schools which the schemes were designed, in part, to replace. It is shown that the Assisted Places Scheme is more important to the independent sector of Scotland than to that of England & Wales, for the scheme established in Scotland has been structured in such a way that it gives greater flexibility and greater funding to individual schools in that country.     

苏格兰骑士威廉·华莱士的故事

一提到威廉。华莱士（William Wallace）的名字,人们会立刻联想起13世纪末、14世纪初苏格兰民族独立运动的那段峥嵘岁月。的确,华莱士可以说是苏格兰历史上最富传奇色彩的英雄人物。本期,让我们在苏格兰民族英雄威廉·华菜士的传奇故事中感受历史上苏格兰与英格兰的“恩怨情仇”。     

‘I cannot study far from home’: non‐traditional learners' participation in degree education

This study explores the demand amongst potential higher education (HE) learners from the non‐traditional group for flexible degree level provision, key factors influencing their decision to pursue a degree and existing degree provision. The research entailed a combination of a questionnaire survey, focus group discussions and interviews with the relevant stakeholders in Fife, Scotland. There is evidence for the existence of a demand for local degree provision in Fife: 22% would certainly want to pursue a degree locally and another 31% who originally did not intend to pursue a degree would reconsider it if there were suitable local provision. An increasing demand for degree provision in Fife is also evident and requires addressing. Although there are now three models of college/HE partnerships available within the area, the types of partnerships which can cater more for the need of non‐traditional learners are still very limited. It is also argued that flexible and local learning provision is merely a starting point and that practical and academic support to ensure successful completion of learners' studies is even more crucial.     

Inequalities in Entry to Higher Education: a Comparison Over Time between Scotland and England and Wales

This paper uses data from the Scottish School Leavers Surveys and the England and Wales Youth Cohort Study to analyse changes over time in gender and social class inequalities in the opportunities of young people to participate in higher education (HE) in Scotland, England and Wales. The results show that in Great Britain, in the period from the end of the 1980s to 2001–2002, HE expansion has benefited more women than men, and in the most recent time points has led to a reduction in social inequalities. However, gender and social class differences persist at degree level and in the choice of subject studied. The results also show that higher proportions of working class students enter HE in Scotland than in England and Wales, but that social inequalities are more marked in Scotland. The larger availability of vocational routes in Scotland, at both sub‐degree and degree level, may explain country differences in HE participation rate of working class students.     

Objective bees in psychological bonnets: intelligence testing and selection for secondary education in Scotland between the wars

If there is one thing on which historians of psychology, and in particular of intelligence testing, are agreed, it is the contribution made to the history of mental measurement by Scots — or at least those working in Scotland. The impact of this work on selection for secondary education, however, was limited: in spite of apparently favourable circumstances, Scotland was even slower than England to accept what was regarded as one of the ‘progressive’ ideas of the time.     

Human elements and the pragmatic approach in the Australian,Scottish and Swedish standards for newly qualified teachers

Teacher standards are used in many countries, but it has been argued that there is a disconnection between the standards and teachers’ everyday practices. Mega-narratives about teachers’ practices have been recognised as powerful for educational change and when implementing and legitimising standards. In this comparative study, the standards for newly qualified teachers in Australia, Scotland and Sweden are analysed in order to determine the extent to which they contain human elements, here framed as contextual professionalism, and/or paradigmatic knowledge (Olson and Craig in Teach Coll Rec 111(2):547–572, 2009a). This comparison facilitates an exploration of how teachers’ work is envisaged in the respective countries and what is expected or required from newly qualified teachers. The results indicate that the Australian and Scottish standards emphasise paradigmatic knowledge in teaching, whereas the now abandoned Swedish standards emphasise contextual professionalism in teaching.