This study will mark the 50th anniversary of
the introduction of comprehensive schooling across Scotland by the
publication of a book reviewing the experiences of our comprehensive
schools from a long-term perspective and reflect on current and future
policy concerns. The study will draw on CES and other research over
the period and include contributions from the other ‘home countries’
of the United Kingdom.
Part 1 will discuss the purposes and ideals of comprehensive education,
and introduce readers to the Scottish system, its reform on comprehensive
lines after 1965 and the various developments since then. Part 2 will
examine the experience of comprehensive education in Scotland over
50 years under a number of thematic headings, examine the evidence
on the impact of comprehensive reforms, and draw lessons for the future
of comprehensive education in Scotland and elsewhere. Part 3 will
present reflections on the lessons which other countries – particularly
the other ‘home countries’ of the United Kingdom - may draw from the
Scottish experience.
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• to reflect on the purposes of secondary
education and their relationship to comprehensive schooling;
• to summarise and make accessible relevant information
and research on the challenges, successes and failures of comprehensive
schooling in Scotland, and the lessons which Scotland and other
countries may draw from this experience;
• to foreground the historical importance of the concept of the
'comprehensive school' in improving access, equality and achievement;
• to draw lessons for future schooling policies, in Scotland, the
rest of the UK and elsewhere, from the experience of the past;
• to contribute to current debates on the future
of comprehensive education, such as:
» can comprehensive education reduce social inequalities? Can it
do so at the same time as bringing learning closer to the home environment
and to the social contexts which are the source of current inequalities?
» is there a tension between the ideals of comprehensive schooling
and the typical compromises of democratic living such as parental
choice, accountability systems and quality assurance? Are these
ideals compatible with education markets?
» how can a comprehensive system combine professional autonomy and
leadership with a learner-centred approach and an ethos of continuous
improvement?
» should a comprehensive system be organised around a single institution
– the comprehensive school – or a network of providers in a comprehensive
system?
» how should a comprehensive system balance the benefits of uniform
provision, based on a common entitlement, with the benefits of flexibility
and diversity and flexibility of institutions, processes and pathways?
» is civic diversity/plurality best represented in a shared institution
(the common school) or by diverse institutional forms?
» how should a school system balance the interests, values and powers
of the ‘expert’ (public professional), the ‘community/nation’ (political
representative) and the ‘consumer’ (student/parent)?
As part of the study we are seeking the views of
current school leavers about their experiences of schooling in the
21st century, to compare with the views of their counterparts in the
late 1970s, for more information see Tell
Them From Me 2014. |