The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

Supporting pupils: A study of guidance and pupil support in Scottish schools

1: The research project

1.1 Introduction

'Guidance' in Scottish schools covers a wide range of activities. Although there is no unified system of guidance, traditionally it has been seen as consisting of three main parts - curricular, vocational and personal guidance - and may involve reactive work with pupils' problems, the proactive teaching of personal and social skills, and the orderly management of pupils' progress through education and beyond. It also involves working to maintain school discipline and ethos, and good communications between the school and the pupils' parents, and the school and relevant outside agencies, from professional careers advisers to social workers, educational psychologists, the reporter to the Children's Panel, and others. A central message of More than Feelings of Concern (Scottish Central Committee on Guidance, 1986) was that guidance should be a whole school responsibility. More recently, it has been suggested that the term 'guidance' no longer reflects the integrated pupil support provided by some schools. This report presents the findings from a study of 'guidance' in Scottish schools commissioned by the Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) in April 2003. It was undertaken by the Scottish Council for Research in Education (SCRE) Centre in Glasgow University's Faculty of Education. A complementary study of 'harder to reach' young people and parents, by the TASC Agency and CaskieCo, has been published separately.

1.2 Aims and questions

The main purpose of this study was to gather the views of pupils/young people, their parents/carers and teachers about current guidance/pupil support provision in primary and secondary schools in Scotland, and ways in which they thought it could be improved. Specifically, the study set out to explore:

• The delivery of guidance/pupil support in the UK and abroad.
• The current guidance provision in Scottish schools, including its strengths and weaknesses and what appears to work.
• The functions of and inter-relationships between various professionals and what each contributes to guidance/pupil support.
• The support services which young people expect/would like.
• The initial training and continuing professional development (CPD) provided to teachers to enable them to support pupils effectively.
• Parents'/carers' assessment of the guidance/pupil support their children have received.
• Suggestions for ways in which guidance/pupil support may be improved.

1.3 Design and methods

1.3.1 Overview

The study adopted a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches, ranging from a postal survey of all 32 local authorities in Scotland to individual interviews and case studies. The main methods are summarised in Figure 1.1 below. Further details of the methods employed are provided in Appendix A1. The design is based upon four main phases of the research. These are:

• Synthesis of key issues
• Survey of local authorities
• School case studies; and
• Analysis, validation and reporting of findings.

Figure 1.1: Outline of core research programme

1.3.2 Local authority survey

A named contact in each local authority was asked to complete a postal questionnaire about the policies for and organisation of guidance/pupil support within the authority. Questionnaires were posted in late Autumn and reminders and duplicate questionnaires sent one month later. In addition, contact was established either by e-mail or telephone to offer assistance and/or ascertain a date by which questionnaires would be completed. Twenty-six local authorities provided information. Most authorities have either a policy or guidelines on guidance and copies of these were often appended to completed questionnaires. The findings from this survey are presented in Chapter 3, below. A copy of the questionnaire is in Appendix A3.

1.3.3 The questionnaires and schedules

The survey questionnaires and interview schedules were drawn up following a number of sensitising interviews and discussions with the advisory and reference groups. These helped to clarify the main issues to be addressed in the survey and case studies. The final questionnaires and schedules sought information on the following:

• From local authorities: the policies and organisation of guidance/pupil support within each authority.
• From pupils/young people: their experiences of guidance/pupil support within schools, the critical issues for which they think they need support, and their preferred source(s) of support.
• From staff: information about how guidance is organised at school level, the distribution of roles and the extent to which teachers perceive pupil support to be an integral part of their professional practice.
• From other staff: their views on the contribution which multi-agency working can make to pupil support in schools.
• From parents: their contact with guidance/pupil support in their child(ren)'s school and their assessment of its effectiveness.
• From students and staff in HEIs: the extent to which they think initial teacher education prepares them to support pupils.

Sealable pre-paid reply envelopes were included in order to provide confidentiality to informants. Annotated questionnaires summarising the responses are included in Appendices A3-A6.

Table 1.1 below gives an overview of all the data sources showing the number and types of informants and the method by which information was collected. Further details of the methods employed are provided in Appendix A1.

Table 1.1: Data collection methods by type of data provider

1.3.4 The case studies

Eight schools and two Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) agreed to be case studies. The case study schools represented primary, secondary, and special, denominational and non-denominational schools and were located in urban, suburban and rural locations. They were chosen purposefully following discussions within the project advisory group and input from some members of the reference group. Each was intended to demonstrate different ways in which guidance/pupil support is being delivered in Scottish schools. However care must be taken when drawing comparisons between case studies: each school varied greatly and one in particular (Case Study G) no longer used the term 'guidance'. In each case study the intention was to interview the person responsible for guidance/pupil support, two other teachers, another member of staff, and a number of pupils/young people. The exact number varied in each case study according to staff and pupil availability. In total 48 staff and 84 students were interviewed. In addition, staff, pupils and a sample of their parents were asked to complete questionnaires and a number of individual interviews with members of other professions were conducted. A summary of case study evidence was returned to each school for confirmation of accuracy and fairness and to rectify omissions. Edited summaries of key facts and specific issues and concerns from each case study are presented in Appendix A7.

Table 1.2: Some characteristics of the case study schools

Two HEIs which play a significant role in initial teacher education and continuing professional development were also chosen as case studies. Both were located in the Central Belt. Selected staff and a sample of students were interviewed in order to explore how they prepared/were being prepared to support pupils in schools as an integral part of their initial teacher education. Six staff were interviewed individually, and 4 focus groups (20 female and 4 male students) were organised. Separate focus groups were arranged for BEd final year and Postgraduate Certificate in Education Secondary (PGCE) students as we anticipated that some differences relating to their route into teaching might be evident. Further details are provided in Appendix A1.

1.3.5 'Harder to reach' informants

As a complementary but parallel activity, the Scottish Executive commissioned the TASC Agency and CaskieCo to undertake an additional consultation to ensure that pupils/young people and parents who may not have been included in the main survey or case studies, were reached. The aim was to gather the views of these 'harder to reach' young people and parents about their experiences of support in schools. Such groups might include those who had been excluded from school, were persistently absent, in residential or secure accommodation, chronically ill, members of minority groups, or who attended alternative educational provision. The consultations took place during July and August, 2003, and included individual interviews and focus group meetings with young people, and face-to-face interviews with a sample of parents and carers. Informants were identified through a variety of mediating agencies.

1.4 The report

1.4.1 The nature of the evidence

The report is based mainly on informants' opinions. Throughout, we have indicated the source of the opinion (ie local authority survey, case study, interview) and the range and weight of opinion, sometimes numerically. Where differences between different groups are reported these should be read as statistically significant at the 1% level, unless otherwise stated; this means that the likelihood that such differences would occur by chance is less than one in a hundred instances.

1.4.2 Confidentiality

We have done our best to maintain the anonymity of the case studies, staff, young people and parents who generously participated in this study. Case studies are identified by letters A-G, Higher Education Institutions are X and Y, and local authorities 1 to 32.

1.4.3 The structure of the report

This report aims to present the findings and conclusions concisely. Additional information about the case studies and technical information about the research are provided in the appendices. We have adopted the following conventions:

• Each chapter addresses specific research questions. The research questions and summary of the associated key findings are displayed in a box at the beginning of each chapter.
• Findings from the core study are based on the opinions of informants/respondents in local authorities, schools and HEIs.
• Researchers' opinions, comments and recommendations are reserved for the final chapter.
• Further details of the methodology, contributors to the research, annotated questionnaires, and interview topic guides are presented in the appendices.

« Previous | Contents | Next »