Schools are complex organisations. To suggest that there is a simple blueprint or recipe which guarantees excellence is to misrepresent and undersell the very sophisticated process which is the day-in day-out job of teachers and support staff across the country. |
What we do know, is that there are certain pre-conditions which make excellence possible or, at least, more likely.
We know that schools are about people, and the relationships between them. Schools are about learning. Schools are about supporting children so that they develop positive attitudes to learning from a very early age. Schools are about being successful and wanting to learn and achieve, and to carry on learning and achieving.
Schools are about children with developing minds and an enormous potential for learning.
Schools are about young people, many of whom have retained all that enthusiasm for learning which they had in their early years. Others are disenchanted with school, feel they are failures, find school boring and, perhaps, don’t want to learn any more. Some may have little support at home and little preparation for learning. Some may no longer be able to live at home. Some may be moving along at a reasonable speed but could gain so much more and go so much further.
Schools are also about parents. Most think that their children’s schools are good places for them to learn in. Of course, at times they are concerned about whether the school is good enough, whether their children are learning well enough, whether they are safe and happy, whether they will be successful, whether they will do well when they move on to the next stage of their education, or into work. Parents also worry whether they — and their teachers, and other adults who help them — are doing the right things, whether they have equipped their children properly, whether they are giving them the right help.
Schools are about teachers and early education staff, classroom and support assistants, care staff, technicians, office staff and janitors who, every day, support and encourage and tidy up after these enthusiastic — and sometimes reluctant — young minds. They too need to learn, but sometimes feel too tired or too busy.
And schools are also about all the other people out there — beyond the school gates — who support the school and its pupils. Youth workers, social workers, quality improvement officers, police officers, voluntary workers, careers officers, nurses, doctors, therapists, psychologists, chaplains, employers… Some of them are around and about the school a lot. Some of them work hard behind the scenes. All of them make invaluable contributions to the lives, well-being and achievements of children in our educational communities.
These communities — both within the school and surrounding it — provide the social context of most towns and villages in Scotland. Excellent schools reflect this close community relationship in many different ways.
How good is our school? The Journey to Excellence is about bringing together the various people within the school community in positive, productive and creative relationships with each other. These relationships focus on achieving success for all children and young people.
What is certain is that every child can learn. It is up to the people who support them through the learning process to strive to ensure that each and every one of them learns at the pace that is most appropriate for them, and to meet their needs in the best possible way. Success involves wanting to learn now, and wanting to carry on learning in the future. |
What do we mean by success?
Success manifests itself in many different ways and in many different forms.
Success involves wanting to learn now, and wanting to carry on learning in the future.
In Scotland, learning is, in particular, about developing the four capacities in A Curriculum for Excellence5. It is about being successful in learning, being confident, being a good citizen and being able and willing to contribute. And in order to achieve this, all Scotland’s children need to be safe, well looked after, healthy and active. They need to be treated with respect, to be included, to be helped to achieve and encouraged to act responsibly.
But for all, success is about realising potential, about achieving.
Achievement is not about soft options, it is about becoming fit and healthy and feeling good about yourself, about learning to achieve in sporting activities. Success is about developing creative skills: in problem-solving, in technical activities, in music, art, design, media and drama. It is about being enterprising, about becoming productive. It is about learning to work effectively on your own or with others in groups. Success is also about learning to express yourself, becoming confident and assured, believing that the contribution you make to society is valuable and will be valued. It is about making thoughtful decisions and choices. It is about feeling included and responsible for yourself and for others and about learning to care about other people. It is about learning to care about the world and wanting to make it a better place now and for future generations.
For some, success will mean high attainment levels: in SQA4 results, in 5-14 levels, in class assessments, in tasks completed. And attainment is important for all young people. It can have a significant influence on the ‘life chances’ of our young people. It opens doors.
Success may also mean improved attendance, being more engaged and involved, learning to live and work with others. It means being well prepared for the next stage of learning, whether that is primary school, secondary school or post-school education and employment. It means being well prepared generally, for example, by parents who can help by making sure that their children are well cared for, and are happy and ready to learn.
Success in learning will always mean progress. With growing success comes growth in self-esteem. The pace of children’s progress may be faster or slower, depending on the stage they have reached, their history of success in learning, the skills, abilities and talents they bring with them into the learning process and the range of barriers and challenges they face. It also depends crucially on the quality of learning and teaching they experience.
What is certain is that every child can learn. It is up to the people who support them through the learning process to strive to ensure that each and every one of them learns at the pace that is most appropriate for them, and to meet their needs in the best possible way.
What are the kinds of things which people want from schools?
So why all the talk about ‘excellence’?
If we go back a number of years — to the 1980s — a lot of the talk was about ‘effective’ schools. Effective schools were schools which did the job they were set up to do. At that time, the main concern was ensuring a consistent level of quality across all schools so that no matter where they lived, children would be assured a good quality of education — quality assurance, in other words. The priority was to ensure that no schools fell below acceptable standards in relation to the education they provided and the way they were managed.
A lot of research was carried out into the key features of effectiveness and HMIE published two influential reports Effective Secondary Schools6 and Effective Primary Schools7. These reports provided sensible practical advice about ensuring appropriate standards across a range of factors recognised as being important in school effectiveness.
Since then, of course, ideas in education have moved on. ‘Quality assurance’ has evolved into ‘quality improvement’ as people realise that expectations change, and that what was good practice then, is less appropriate — or not good enough — now. In the first edition of How good is our school?, HMIE wrote: ‘What we mean by quality changes over time in response to changes in society.’ These changes affect the world young people live in, a world of fast and far-reaching change, a world of emerging uncertainties in the social, political, technological and economic environments. Each one of these changes poses a challenge.
Over the years, the emphasis has increasingly been on continuous improvement, on reviewing the quality of education, on planning and delivering a better service. This emphasis is as it should be. For children and young people in Scotland, ‘only the best will do’. And there is little doubt that most schools have got, and are continuing to get, better.
How good is our school? The Journey to Excellence aims to provide further challenge for those schools which have already made considerable progress. They may already be good or very good in many aspects of their work. The guide provides a map of the territory, and suggests different ways of getting to the chosen destination.
Experienced travellers know that having completed the climb or finished the walk they feel a sense of satisfaction, yet are also ready for another challenge. So it is with learning — the destination is really only a stop along the way. There will be new generations — children and staff — offering new perspectives and presenting new goals. And schools will respond with new ideas and solutions.
The dimensions of excellence described in this guide do not cover all the things which schools do. Rather, they focus on those aspects which we have found to be particularly important for success. The guide assumes other aspects of schools are working well. For example, most schools now have effective development plans, policies and systems. They are good at looking after their resources and ensuring they are used effectively. They are well prepared for the journey to excellence.
The guide focuses on the key activity within schools: learning. It is about how children learn, and the best ways of enabling them to learn. It is about communities of learners in which everyone is learning — teachers, early education staff, support staff and care staff, parents and partners, as well as children. It assumes that the whole purpose of a school is to enable children to develop and to achieve through learning and that the best way for children to learn is through positive relationships with others: relationships with their teachers, with other adults, with other pupils, and with all the other people who make up the school’s wider community.
What is ‘learning’?
We may recognise in people when certain types of learning have occurred — perhaps they know more, or have developed new skills. But what, exactly, is ‘learning’?
There are many theories of learning. New evidence, like that beginning to emerge from the neurosciences, adds to the complexity. At a very basic level, learning is a change in a person resulting from interactions with the environment. That change takes place most significantly in the hugely complex pattern of connections that form and re-form in the brain. This notion of a person being unique, adapting flexibly to his or her environment throughout life is underlined by evidence of the enormous plasticity and capacity for change in the brain. Young learners have a great capacity for such change. It lasts throughout life.
Since the learner has to engage directly in a process through which he or she is physically, emotionally and mentally changed, it is clear that some teaching can take place without resulting in learning because the learner has not actively engaged with the experiences provided for him or her.
Learners also engage through curiosity and personal motivation and interest. They gain sudden insights and want to know more. They both build on what they already know and use the ‘scaffolding’ which others provide.
And as learners encounter new ideas or ideas that conflict with what they have previously learned — what they ‘know’ — their learning is gradually built up, by exploring these new ideas and conflicts. An ideal way of doing this is through talking and listening — and other forms of communication. A vital part of improving learners’ experiences is increasing thinking time, and time for dialogue. For example, really good dialogue is encouraged when the teacher poses open questions, questions that challenge learners to engage, to explore, to think, to understand, and to learn. Great teachers ask great questions.
Learners engage actively by thinking, experiencing, experimenting, doing, practising. Thinking about what they are sensing in the environment. What they are hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching, feeling, imagining — thinking. Frequently in language, but not exclusively so. |
What might prevent the learner becoming actively engaged? Most teachers, and parents, will be familiar with the commonsense responses of being ‘well fed and watered’, rested, safe, happy, interested and motivated. All of these are true. Children will not learn effectively if they are hungry or dehydrated. They will not learn if they are stressed, resentful or anxious, so emotional and physical well-being and the development of positive relationships and a climate for learning across the school are vital. They will get ‘bored’ if they don’t see the relevance of what they are learning. They won’t learn if the activities they are engaged in take too little account of where they are now, or of any individual barriers they face. Being or feeling excluded, or having insufficient opportunities to be active in their learning also makes it difficult for children8. In other words, schools need to have a readiness for learners, a readiness for learning. In dealing with these challenges and barriers, parents, carers and residential care staff are essential partners. While there is a high correlation between a learner’s home background and his or her success, excellent schools succeed in taking all children’s learning well beyond what may seem to some to be predetermined by social and economic factors.
And by no means all learning takes place in the classroom. Much learning takes place in school but beyond the classroom or playroom — through visits and activity weeks, social interactions, breaktimes, experiences in clubs and societies, student councils and school plays. In residential schools, this is provided through the ‘24 hour curriculum’. All such activities and interactions are opportunities for learning, and the more schools plan such experiences for all learners, and the more diverse they are to attract all learners, the better.
These social interactions are all the more productive in the context of positive relationships. In developing positive relationships and interactions in every aspect of its life, the school is developing learning — learning for children and young people and learning for the whole school community. Children need to experience high quality learning regularly, and in all classrooms and across all aspects of school life. Excellence should not be reliant upon particular individuals, although they may give the necessary lead. Sustainability of excellence is key. Excellence involves the whole school community and ensures excellence for everyone in that community.
Children and young people are only in classrooms for a portion of their lives. They construct their views of the world from a number of diverse sources. And they will carry on doing this for the rest of their lives. Much learning takes place beyond the school gate and the school day. It is a wider social activity which takes place within families, within the care aspects of early education and residential settings, in activities out in the wider community. Often these stem from the natural relationship between the school and the community and people round about it — things like concerts, shows or helping the environment. Sometimes these activities are organised by youth workers or members of the business community.
School, however, is a place of accelerated learning via highly structured interactions with others and with new ideas. It is vital that all this school time is maximised, inside and outside the classroom. Every minute is a learning opportunity, and every minute counts.
Learning as change through interacting with the environment
Excellent schools achieve that. They create the highest quality learning experiences. And they focus at all times on achieving their agreed outcomes. They do it through developing positive relationships in everything they do.
Some people like to visualise the concepts they are thinking about.
The diagram on the opposite page demonstrates how the learner interacts with a range of experiences in a number of different contexts: in the playroom, in the classroom, in the school as a whole and in the wider community.
The skilled educator chooses how to structure the environment for the learner — a crucial aspect of ‘teaching’. The diagram also shows the kinds of barriers which can come between the learner and learning. Usually, we use language — or images, or symbols — as part of the process of learning. Learners formulate ideas, interpret patterns within them, and work out relationships between them. They articulate them and rehearse them. Learning of any sort is marked by changes in the structure of the brain. It can be observed through developing knowledge, understanding and skills, and through changes in attitudes and behaviour.
How does learning link to teaching?
When groups of teachers get together to discuss how to improve learning for children and young people, the conversation often revolves around courses and programmes of work. For example, they might talk about structure and sequence, whether of topics or sections or modules, or the texts or worksheets used.
All of these considerations are very important. However, there is often less discussion about what learning is and how it takes place or, adopting the learner’s perspective, how learning can be organised for the best possible outcomes — the professional craft of teaching.
In schools, you might sometimes hear people say, ‘that was a good lesson’ or ‘that was a good activity’. How did they know? What did the learners think about that particular lesson? Are we sure it was a successful lesson from the learners’ point of view?
At the heart of this publication are the four outcomes of A Curriculum for Excellence: that children and young people should become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors. To achieve these outcomes, we need successful learning and teaching. And successful learning and teaching depends on two particular features being in place:
This involves young people knowing what it is they need to learn. And staff getting to know learners well as individuals, and discovering exactly what their learning, and other, needs are, and how they learn best.
That may sound obvious. But not only do learners need to know where they’re going, they also need to know when they’ve got there. In other words, they need to know what the teacher is looking for. Even very young children can benefit from this process if given careful and sensitive support. The Assessment is for Learning programme has looked at many of the features of successful learning and teaching. It has asked us to consider:
Assessment for learning is not new, and it’s not that complicated, but for many it does represent a shift in thinking.
Clear indications of what it is the teacher is looking for enable teachers and pupils to establish mutual expectations. There is a clear link between expectations and success. In order to set expectations at the highest appropriate level, schools need to know how well their children are doing. And that’s where comparisons with the success of others come in. It is vital to know how well groups of pupils are doing compared with other similar groups:
That is one aspect of ‘sharing the standard’. It is not only about individual teachers and groups of teachers sharing the standards they apply when assessing the work of individual children, but also about departments, schools and groups of schools sharing their standards to encourage all to aspire to the best. Staff working in early education may also find it helpful to compare their own practice and the progress and development of their children with examples from other establishments. This is likely to be through descriptions of what children can do rather than through formal levels of achievement.
Another important aspect of sharing the standard is developing a common understanding of success criteria related to areas of learning and applying them in assessing classwork and what children can do. As professionals, when we judge success we look for signs that learning has taken place through obvious changes in, for example, knowledge, understanding, skills, abilities, insights, behaviours and attitudes. A continuing challenge for us is that, often, these complex areas are not easily assessed. Yet such assessment of learning through teachers’ professional judgements is vital for achieving excellence. Well-designed national assessments and examinations are additional measures that increase the validity and reliability of assessment overall, but do not replace teachers' assessments.
Assessment arrangements that support excellence operate at a number of levels. Schools need to be information and data rich, in respect of both teachers’ assessments and external results, and to use that information and data to assess how successful learning has been in the round. They need to use assessment to develop and support learning and teaching, and to share standards, in the sense of both understanding criteria and comparing the levels of attainment of pupils in the school with those achieved by others.
That means both using assessment for learning approaches, and, equally, sharing standards both formatively and summatively.
What about teaching itself?
It almost goes without saying that the whole point of teaching is to make learning happen. High quality teaching is a key factor in achieving successful learning and a vital context for the journey to excellence.
In excellent schools, teaching involves skilful organisation of the classroom or playroom which enables all children to learn and develop, and to build on and sustain their learning. Such teaching employs a variety of carefully planned teaching approaches, well matched to the different learning needs and stages of development of individual children. It gives children choices about tasks and activities, where these would help them to learn. We know that young people learn best when their teachers provide clear explanations, which build on what they already know and lead them to deeper understanding. Excellent teaching ensures that children and young people are knowledgeable about their own strengths and needs and clear and confident about what they need to do to improve.
In excellent schools, teachers are aware of different kinds of questioning and select the most effective from their repertoire to meet the needs of the learners, the topic and the learning activity. Remember, great teachers ask great questions. They observe how children respond and adapt their teaching accordingly. Such schools encourage children to be active in their learning, to debate with and challenge the views of their fellow learners and their teachers. They have teachers who share their enthusiasms and insights with children and create a rich, challenging and supportive climate for learning. They have teachers who share their enthusiasms and insights with each other, who engage actively in their professional development, and who apply what they have learned. Excellent schools are very successful in developing and nurturing productive and constructive relationships between all members of the school community, and particularly between teachers and learners. Excellent schools know themselves well, and the people in them work together to make things better.
High quality teaching is a key factor in achieving successful learning and a vital context for the journey to excellence. |
The Ten Dimensions of Excellence
How is this guide going to help you on the journey to excellence?
Travellers need to know their destination, what and where they are aiming for. In this guide we have attempted to describe the main ‘dimensions’ of excellence, in other words, what excellence looks like. We have chosen ten dimensions and described the key features — and sub-features — of each.
Each of the ten dimensions relates to key processes within the school. Each should contribute to the very highest quality outcomes for all learners. Although the dimensions are presented one by one, there are strong relationships between them. The dimensions help you to make sense of what may look like complex — and sometimes conflicting — expectations. It is up to you to decide which ones you focus on and in what order.
The diagram on the page opposite shows the ten dimensions of excellence, and the relationships between them. At the heart of the model there are two key dimensions:
These two key dimensions derive from the highest standards of learning and teaching, an essential context for all that the school does.
All the other dimensions contribute to excellence in learning and a focus on achieving successful outcomes. Working clockwise round the model, we can see that in an excellent school the school community as a whole is involved in developing and living a common vision. Such a school has strong leadership at all levels, leadership for learning. It works with other agencies, the community and parents to enable young people to be successful in their learning. Excellent schools expect all staff to reflect on the quality of education they provide, and to respond positively to challenge from within and beyond the school. They value their staff and pupils, providing them with the support they need, while also empowering them to make decisions about, and take responsibility for, improving learning. Excellent schools treat children and young people with respect and entrust them with active roles in decision-making. They care for young people, and for the staff who support and teach them, and do all they can to assure their health and well-being. And fundamental to all this is a school culture which values and promotes the highest levels of ambition and achievement.
In conclusion
To get from good to excellent requires a strong moral purpose, and a commitment to making a positive difference to children’s lives which is shared by all members of the school community. It requires you to get in touch with the values which you bring with you and to explore others’ values to find the common ground.
With this guide, as with all guides, it is up to you to decide which of the various routes you wish to follow. Some may take you into completely new territory. Others will be more familiar. For some you will already be well prepared. For others, you and those around you will need to develop new skills, and adopt altogether different ways of operating. Some of your team may be carrying ‘baggage’ which may slow you down. Some may be quite wary or sceptical of the likelihood of success, perhaps because they have had fruitless or difficult experiences in the past. You will need determination and resilience to achieve your goal.
Remember to stop occasionally, to enjoy your achievements to date, to reflect with others on the experience, to regroup and plan ahead in the light of the journey so far.
There are no shortcuts to excellence, unfortunately. But this document describes some of the routes which have proved successful for others.