Staffing
5.1 Business studies teachers are well qualified academically and have relevant experience. Almost all teachers qualified to teach business studies have it as their main subject. Three quarters are also qualified to teach economics and 12% offer computing.
5.2 Around half of those qualified to teach business studies have a diploma from a former central institution and most of the others have an ordinary degree. Approximately 15% of business studies teachers have an honours degree.
5.3 Women make up over three-quarters of the teaching force in business education. This reflects the gender balance in some of related careers, such as secretarial work, but not in others such as accounting and management. As courses change because of Higher Still, departments should try to ensure that they are targeted to all pupils.
5.4 Only a small proportion of teachers with business studies as their main teaching subject have reached senior posts of responsibility. Despite being only 25% of the business studies teaching force, men hold just under half of the senior promoted posts and 42% of principal teacher posts. The implications which this imbalance has for the perceptions of both girls and boys should be considered.
5.5 In recent years, with the introduction of Standard Grade, Revised Higher Grade and CSYS, business studies teachers have needed more staff development. Nationally and regionally, authorities have responded well to the development needs identified. When support materials were launched, nationally sponsored staff development was provided and this work was continued by education authorities. Education authority business studies advisers throughout the country have given a great deal of support to teachers, offering opportunities for them to meet and discuss key issues, new syllabuses and examinations and develop skills in using new software packages. The willingness with which staff, often in their own time, attend these courses and undertake individual development work is exemplary.
5.6 Many of the staff development events attended by business studies teachers were designed to prepare them to cope with the changes in the curriculum. However, many departments also try to ensure that staff development on non-subject specific issues, such as support for learning, differentiation and other whole-school issues is available. Good departments balance the needs of the department and the school with the interests and wishes of the individual. In many business studies departments teachers provide in-service training for those other members of the department unable to attend such courses. An additional complication which should not be underestimated, is that business studies staff are frequently asked to provide information technology training for other school staff and this reduces the time that they have available for their own training.
5.7 Support staff levels are generally unsatisfactory. Few departments have technician support to help with computer hardware or software and, where they do, the support is often shared with the computing department. There are differences in what the computing and business studies departments need and technicians do not always have the necessary expertise in subject-specific software .
Accommodation
5.8 Business studies departments provide their courses in a combination of general classrooms and specialist laboratories. In the majority of schools inspected, two rooms are set up to meet the needs of the skills courses and the third is a general purposes classroom. With the increasing use of computers in OIS, MIS, secretarial studies and accounting and finance, it is important that rooms are large enough for desks which will allow space, not only for a computer and often a printer, but also for learning resources and still leave room to write. In a substantial minority of rooms the desks are not large enough to allow for the necessary equipment and give room for pupils to write comfortably. If the room is large, other desks can be set aside for writing. Schools should address this problem as rooms are refurbished. Space is also needed for the use of a television and an overhead projector.
5.9 Although the situation is improving nationally, there are still many rooms where the only change which has taken place is the substitution of computers for typewriters, arranged on desks set out in herring-bone style. Another common room layout occurs when there are twenty desks arranged in four or five rows facing the front of the room. The desks are fixed to the floor, resulting in a very formal layout. They are often too small. Pupils cannot write or carry out tasks on them. The layout also makes group discussion difficult. However, the cost of upgrading this type of layout is usually relatively low.
5.10 Many departments arrange their computers around the periphery of the room with desks in the middle. This layout has many advantages, allowing the teacher to see all screens simultaneously when pupils are working at them while also allowing for whole-class teaching, with effective note-taking, and group work. However, it also has disadvantages - the layout is inflexible and departments are unable to simulate a 'real-life' office environment. It can also result in pupils sitting with their backs to the teacher, which is not conducive to whole-class teaching.
5.11 In some departments the rooms have multiple power and communication outlets on the floor or available from the ceiling, allowing desks to be moved to different positions. This offers flexibility of layout to teachers throughout the session. In some schools this has been done on a larger scale by joining two or three classrooms together in one open plan area. Space can thus be created easily to allow small groups to work or the teacher to bring the whole class together for teaching or to view a video. This has been achieved successfully in a number of schools.
5.12 Storage space, or the lack of it, was identified as a problem in many of the schools inspected. The move to regionally or nationally produced teaching packs has resulted in departments having to find sufficient space to store what, in some cases, amounts to as many as 500 sheets of paper per pupil for one course. In departments with up to 160 pupils between S3 and S4 this can cause severe problems. Some departments show surprising ingenuity in overcoming these problems.
In one department:
"the staff had, with help from the adviser, transferred the course to disc and pupils called up the information as they required it and printed out brief summary notes which staff had prepared. They did not need to store huge quantities of notes as pupils could freely consult the 'course' on their own screen whenever necessary. Notes, when printed out, were transferred to 'home' folders and taken out of school".
In another department:
"strict monitoring of pupils' progress through the OIS course allowed teachers to produce work units 'just before' they were needed by pupils. One section had the task of producing copies for all other sections from the 'master' copy held in the departmental base. Worksheets would be run off and placed in pupil files whilst notes for knowledge and understanding would be stapled into booklet form for issue by the teacher at the start of the unit. Blank paper was delivered from the supplier at the beginning of each term and this also reduced pressure on storage within the department."
5.13 Departments have to consider environmental factors when adapting old rooms or designing new ones. One of the main problems is strong sunlight. In a number of departments black-out curtains are closed for much of the day, giving the room an eerie and unreal atmosphere. Although sunlight creates problems for any teacher using a room, the problem is particularly acute when computers are being used, because it makes it difficult to read display screens. The situation is further complicated by the build up of heat from the machines. Well ventilated rooms with effective blinds are necessary for pupils and teachers to work comfortably and effectively.
5.14 Many departments provide an attractive learning environment, the rooms enhanced with colourful, bright and stimulating displays which come mostly from business sources. Only in a minority, however, is the work of pupils displayed. In some, plants are used to recreate the atmosphere found in many modern offices. The enthusiasm shown by teachers for their subject is often reflected in the appearance of the rooms. Even where conditions were poor, many teachers refuse to be defeated and make the best of what they have.
In one school:
"despite plaster peeling from the wall and marks caused by water leakage around the windows, the teacher had created a colourful and attractive environment by the imaginative use of posters, plants, collage made up from pupils' investigations and records of pupil achievement. Pupils were unaware of the dowdiness of their surroundings and worked happily and productively".
Teachers who display this type of attitude tend to be those who are able to motivate pupils to achieve their best.
Resources
5.15 Almost all departments provide and allocate their resources satisfactorily for the courses they offer and some do this very well indeed. However, in a few schools, the provision of computers is barely adequate for the courses on offer. As the importance of information technology grows in business, it must be reflected in business education courses. This has implications for the number and quality of computers and the quality of software available to the department.
5.16 The number of computers available to departments needs to be monitored more closely.
In one school:
"the department had only 12 computers to meet the needs of 38 pupils who attended classes at the same time. Only imaginative planning and rotation of activities allowed the pupils regular access to the machines. Unfortunately, the approaches to learning and teaching, which the lack of equipment necessitated, were not ideal. The department also experienced considerable difficulties in the organisation of the Standard Grade OIS, Keyboard and Word Processing Skills examination."
In another school, in a different authority:
"the level and quality of resourcing was of the highest standard. Two rooms were each equipped with 21 computers; an additional four were available for staff to use and there were three spare machines in case any broke down".
Although this is expensive and there is an on-going need for maintenance, authorities and schools must try to ensure that there are enough computers to meet the needs of the courses on offer and that there is either a rolling replacement scheme or a programme to ensure that updating takes place at the appropriate time. The best results were found in departments where two rooms were equipped with 20 computers in each room and where there were additional machines to allow small numbers of pupils to carry out tasks set in accounting and finance or any of the other SEB courses.
5.17 Advances in information technology offer businesses the opportunity to operate more efficiently and hence to compete more effectively. As more information technology is used it will have a profound effect on business structures and procedures. It is important that these changes are reflected in the practices and teaching of business studies departments and in the quality of computer hardware and software available to pupils. Pupils have access in other departments in school and at home to sophisticated computer equipment. Similarly, on work experience they see the sophisticated equipment which is used in much of business. If they are faced with antiquated and unrealistic equipment in the business studies department, they will not be prepared adequately for the world outside and will be unimpressed by the quality of their experience. The rapid change in information technology will make the upgrading of equipment and software a continuing expense for schools.
5.18 Software packages used in classes vary from region to region, with some being more 'user-friendly' and offering a wider range of facilities than others. Whilst most schools have access to appropriate packages, in some the software used did not meet all the requirements of the courses being taught. As a result pupils learn outdated skills and are disadvantaged because they do not use up-to-date software which makes complex tasks simple. When schools and authorities upgrade software currently being used, they should select a package more compatible with that used in the commercial world.
Textbooks, documents and other print materials
5.19 A substantial volume of teaching materials was produced to support both Standard and revised Higher Grade courses. They were distributed to all schools and teachers made extensive use of them when they began to teach the new and revised courses. The materials were supplemented in many cases with materials produced regionally and through local working parties. In most departments, as time has passed, these materials have been adapted and extended to reflect local conditions.
5.20 Textbooks are used to varying degrees in the different subjects offered. All departments have a set of appropriate reference books which are necessary, especially for pupils in OIS and secretarial studies courses. In a significant minority of departments many of these books are significantly out of date. Using old hotel guides and AA books which are 10 years out of date is not helpful or wise. It is important for the credibility of the course, the motivation of pupils and the development of their judgement that departments keep their reference materials reasonably up-to-date. In good departments pupils are able to use, and borrow, up-to-date books to enrich their study. Although the majority of departments have a set of textbooks for pupils, especially at Higher Grade, they are not used extensively. At Standard Grade textbooks are rarely used. The selective purchasing of textbooks for whole-class use can often be more cost-effective in the long run and can provide information which is accurate, up-to-date and more attractively presented than that contained in departmental notes. Where textbooks can be used they should be.
5.21 As gaps in provision have been identified in the materials produced nationally or regionally, steps have been taken to fill them. The vast majority of schools have joined the Business Education Network which produces learning and teaching materials to support SEB courses and National Certificate modules. These schools have been able jointly to commission materials which have been produced by teachers expert in that particular field, and edited and produced to a very high standard.
5.22 Commendably high standards of organisation of resources were observed in almost all departments inspected. It was almost universal to discover pupils and staff could access materials easily.
In one department:
"Staff had colour-coded materials, for each of the OIS groups. This was used on folders to store pupils' notes, folders of materials for submission to SEB and their computer disks. Each pupil also was given a number which corresponded to a particular computer and workstation. All materials were easily identified and the linking of each pupil to a particular computer led to less breakdown and very tidy workstations."
5.23 The use of the local environment to contribute to learning in business studies departments and to ensure that learning is relevant, is under-exploited by most departments. Many departments arrange occasional visits to local firms but this could be enhanced. Purposeful links with local businesses and other organisations enrich the curriculum and help pupils to appreciate how what they learn at school is related to life. In very few departments are links with the Business Studies or Office and Information Management departments in local further education colleges developed. If links with further education departments were stronger, teachers would know more about the programmes which were offered; they would then be more able to encourage pupils to consider continuing learning after leaving school.