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Chapter 8 - Teachers and Education Staff

This chapter sets out training requirements and conditions of service for school and other education staff.

8.1 Initial Training of Teachers

Compulsory Descriptors
Teacher, Initial Training

All who wish to teach in publicly funded nursery, primary and secondary schools in Scotland are required to have undergone initial training and to hold a Teaching Qualification ( TQ) in order to be registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland ( GTCS). Registration is a requirement before a teacher can be employed by an education authority.

A Teaching Qualification may be gained by one of three routes:

• To become a primary teacher or a secondary teacher of technology, physical education or music it is possible to take a 4-year course leading to a Bachelor of Education ( BEd) degree at one of seven teacher education institutions.

• To become a secondary teacher in certain subjects it is possible in some higher education institutions to take a combined degree which includes subject study, study of education and school experience.

• For those who already hold a university degree and wish to teach in either a primary or a secondary school, a one-year course for a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education ( PGCE), i.e. leading either to a Teaching Qualification (Primary) or a Teaching Qualification (Secondary), is offered by the teacher education institutions.

Teachers in colleges of further education may, and the majority do, undertake training leading to a Teaching Qualification (Further Education). They may also thereafter register with the GTCS. There is, however, no legal requirement for them to do either.

Training of teachers in higher education is a matter for individual institutions and no national training is offered.

In the field of adult education, community workers are required to have undertaken at least three years of study up to HND level, and degree courses are provided for them in the teacher education institutions.

8.1.1 Historical Overview

Compulsory Descriptors
Historical Perspective

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

Teacher training started in Scotland in the second quarter of the 19th century and was until the early years of the 20th century the responsibility of various religious denominations. However, the first teacher training college was built in 1837 by the Glasgow Education Society, which was a lay body. The Government gave some financial support to the early efforts to provide training but one of its most positive actions was in the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act, which laid down that every Principal Teacher ( i.e. head teacher in those days) appointed to a public school should hold a certificate of competency from the then Scotch Education Department. The training that was offered in the early years was designed for those who taught in elementary ( i.e. primary) schools but the training colleges also provided personal education for their students and, by the end of the 19th century, arrangements were being made for concurrent courses with the universities. Teacher training for secondary schools also began to appear in the latter half of the 19th century and was provided initially by the universities.

In 1905 the Scotch Education Department took a decision that the situation should be rationalised and a system of training was set up which was to last, with some changes, for almost 60 years. This was based on the principle that all teachers in Scottish schools, primary and secondary, should be certificated and that the training should be provided in teacher training establishments. Primary teachers would receive a general education and professional training (or, if they were already graduates, a professional training) which would entitle them to be certificated as teachers. Secondary teachers would already be graduates or would have taken a qualification in music, art or other practical subjects and would therefore receive only professional training. The general education for primary teachers and the professional training for all teachers were provided in teacher training colleges.

From the early 1920s onwards teacher training was overseen by a National Committee which ensured a uniform system of training throughout the country. By the 1930s all Scottish non-graduate teachers received a training of at least three years, and the proportion of graduates entering teaching with a one-year professional qualification was very high.

In the 1950s and 1960s difficulties arose over the supply of teachers for the greatly increased pupil numbers at the time and in 1965 concern about the standards of the profession brought about the establishment of the General Teaching Council ( GTCS) by the Teaching Council (Scotland) Act of that year and a gradual move towards a graduate qualification for all teachers with the introduction of the Bachelor of Education ( BEd) degree offered by the colleges of education, as the training institutions had come to be called. It was not, however, until the 1980s that all courses leading to school teaching were finally given degree status. The most recent development has been the incorporation of most of the colleges of education into universities, following the passing of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992.

8.1.2 Ongoing Debates

Compulsory Descriptors
Reform Proposal

The main current issue is the implementation of the conditions of service for teachers arising from the recent "McCrone Committee of Inquiry". These are described in various sections of this chapter referring to conditions of service and staff development.

8.1.3 Specific Legislative Framework

Compulsory Descriptors
Educational Legislation

Two main Acts of Parliament affect the training of teachers: the Teaching Council (Scotland) Act 1965 and the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992. The specific legal basis of initial training lies in Regulations, in particular the Teachers (Education, Training and Recommendation for Registration) (Scotland) Regulations 1993 and the Memorandum on Entry Requirements to Courses of Teacher Education in Scotland, which is issued annually by the Scottish Executive Education Department ( SEED).

Decision-making Bodies in Initial Training

The Scottish Ministers, through the Scottish Executive Education Department ( SEED), control the training of teachers in Scotland in a number of ways. Approval by the Scottish Ministers is required for courses of training for teachers in schools. Guidelines are published by the SEED which lays down conditions under which that approval is given. Minimum entry requirements to teacher training are nationally prescribed and published annually in the Memorandum on Entry Requirements to Courses of Teacher Education in Scotland, which has the force of regulation. The equivalent measures for lecturers in further education colleges are effected through the Scottish Executive Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department ( SEETLLD).

Annually, the SEED undertakes a teacher workforce planning exercise which results in the Department offering guidance to the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council ( SHEFC) on the minimum requirements for newly qualified teachers. The SHEFC is responsible for setting intakes to the different types of teacher training courses and for ensuring, through its funding allocations and in other ways, that these minimum requirements are not exceeded.

The Scottish Ministers receive advice on teacher education from the General Teaching Council for Scotland ( GTCS), a statutory body of which the majority of members are elected by the teaching profession. The GTCS maintains a register of teachers in Scotland who are permitted to teach in publicly funded schools and no teacher may teach in such a school without registration. (The GTCS also registers teachers in further education but registration is not a prerequisite of teaching in a further education college.) Teachers who have achieved the Teaching Qualification ( TQ) are provisionally registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland ( GTCS). (This is essential for anyone wishing to teach in a local authority school.) Full registration then follows a period of probation and assessment.

From August 2002, all newly qualified teachers, who have trained at a Scottish university and have been assessed as a 'home student' have had access to a training post for one school year immediately following qualification. This is called the Teacher Induction Scheme. The training post will have a maximum class commitment of 0.7 Full Time Equivalent ( FTE), with the remaining 0.3 available for professional development. Each trainee will have access to a nominated induction tutor to provide advice, support and guidance. To become fully registered, probationers will have to meet the standards set out in the Standard for Full Registration ( SFR).

8.1.4 Institutions, Level and Models of Training

Compulsory Descriptors
Study Centre, Level of Qualification, Duration of Studies

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

Institutions Responsible for Initial Training

Teacher education is offered in the Faculty of Education in seven universities: the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paisley, Strathclyde and Stirling (secondary only).

Although most of the training of secondary teachers is on the basis of a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education ( PGCE), the Faculties of Education of Strathclyde, Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities offer specialist Bachelor of Education ( BEd) courses for secondary teachers in technology. The Universities of Aberdeen Strathclyde and Glasgow, in association with the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, offer BEd courses in music. The Faculty of Education of the University of Edinburgh offers a BEd course in physical education. In addition, some universities, including the University of Stirling, offer combined degrees which include subject study, study of education and school experience.

Four universities - Aberdeen, Dundee, Stirling and Strathclyde - are approved by the Scottish Executive Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department on behalf of Scottish Ministers to offer courses leading to the award of a Teaching Qualification (Further Education). There is no standard TQ ( FE): the institutions offer a variety of courses ranging from Certificate to Masters. They are largely post-employment and part time; and it is not compulsory for FE lecturers to gain the qualification. Other institutions, including individual further education colleges and consortia of colleges, may seek approval from the FE Professional Development Forum ( PDF) to provide initial teacher training units which will carry credit towards the full TQ ( FE). National guidelines specify that a condition for higher education institutions to be recognised as providers of the TQ ( FE) is their acceptance of between 50% and 80% of course credits by transfer from other approved providers.

8.1.5 Admission Requirements

Compulsory Descriptors
Admission Requirements

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

The minimum entrance requirements for places on teacher education courses in Scotland are set out annually in the publication: Memorandum on Entry Requirements to Courses of Teacher Education in Scotland. They vary according to whether the candidate is taking an initial degree leading to a Teaching Qualification ( TQ) or a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education ( PGCE) and to some extent between entry to courses leading to a TQ (Primary Education) and a TQ (Secondary Education). Entry to a TQ (Further Education) carries its own requirements.

8.1.5.1 Admission Requirements for Pre-School Education

Additional Descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

The admission requirements for teachers in nursery schools and departments are the same as for primary teachers. Nursery nurses, who are not teachers but can be in charge of day nurseries and other pre-school establishments, have less demanding entrance qualifications for their initial training course, which is normally offered in further education colleges. Since these members of nursery staff are not teachers, these courses are not covered by the Memorandum on Entry Requirements and nursery nurses are not registered by the General Teaching Council.

When registration of all staff working in early education and childcare comes into force (from 2006), in order to register, all staff working in early years services, including early years education, will be required either to possess a relevant qualification or be working towards one. The Scottish Social Services Council ( SSSC) published its qualification criteria for registration in March 2004.

8.1.5.2 Admission Requirements for Primary Education

Additional Descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

A majority of primary teachers enter the profession through the course leading to a Bachelor of Education ( BEd) degree. A much smaller number each year enter through the Post-Graduate Certificate in Education ( PGCE) course.

Entry qualifications to the 4-year course leading to the BEd degree and a Teaching Qualification (Primary Education) are very similar to the general qualifications for entry to university in Scotland. Candidates are expected to hold the Scottish Qualifications Certificate with three passes at Higher level (Grade C or above) and a Standard Grade award in two further subjects. More specifically, for entry to a BEd course, passes in English at Higher level (Grade C or above) and in mathematics at Standard Grade (Grade 1 or 2), or equivalent qualifications, are necessary. There is a minimum entry age of 17 to BEd courses.

Entry to the one-year PGCE course leading to a TQ (Primary Education) requires the candidate to hold a degree of a United Kingdom university, or of an equivalent standard from an institution outwith the UK, and passes in English at Higher level (Grade C or above) and mathematics at Standard Grade (Grade 1 or 2) of the Scottish Qualifications Certificate, or equivalent qualifications.

8.1.5.3 Admission Requirements for Secondary Education

Additional Descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

Most secondary teachers enter the teaching profession, after taking a degree, through the Post-Graduate Certificate in Education ( PGCE) course. A few enter through the Bachelor of Education ( BEd) degree which is offered in a limited number of subjects and a few through combined degrees which include subject study, study of education and school experience.

Entry to the PGCE course leading to a Teaching Qualification ( TQ) (Secondary Education), which is awarded in a named subject or subjects, requires a degree of a United Kingdom university (or one of an equivalent standard from an institution outwith the UK) in which the candidate has sufficient breadth and depth of study for teaching the subject in Scottish secondary schools. A pass in English at Higher level (Grade C or above), or an equivalent qualification, is also necessary. Some subjects also have other specific requirements and those students intending to teach modern foreign language must also satisfy the training institutions of their oral proficiency in the language: they are required to have spent a period of residence in a country in which the language is spoken.

Entry qualifications to BEd degree courses in music, physical education and technology leading to a Teaching Qualification (Secondary Education) are specified by the institution to which the candidate applies. A pass in English at Scottish Qualifications Certificate Higher level (Grade C or above) is necessary. Equivalent qualifications from outwith Scotland are also acceptable. In the case of music and physical education, candidates have to satisfy the training institutions that they have the necessary technical skills to profit from the course. There is a minimum entry age of 17 to BEd courses.

In the University of Stirling, where professional studies form part of the degree course, basic admission requirements are the same as for any other undergraduate course in the university. Students must have the required pass in Higher English (Grade C or above), or an equivalent qualification, at the time of entry to the education component of the course.

8.1.5.4 Admission Requirements for Further Education

Additional Descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

Training for the Teaching Qualification (Further Education) is open only to persons holding a recognised appointment in further education. The qualifications for admission to training for this qualification are an appropriate specialist degree or, as a minimum, a Higher National Certificate ( HNC) or equivalent qualification. Candidates must have appropriate experience in industry or commerce and a basic qualification in English and mathematics. A list of possible equivalences is published in the Memorandum on Entry Requirements.

8.1.5.5 Admission Requirements for Higher Education

Additional Descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

As lecturers in higher education are appointed on the basis of their academic ability in their subject, there is no other formal admission requirement for those who teach in that sector.

8.1.6 Curriculum, Special Skills, Specialisation

Compulsory Descriptors
Curriculum, Specialisation

Additional Descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

The document: Guidelines for Initial Teacher Education Courses, published in 1998 by the SOEID (now SEED), sets out general and specific conditions for all courses which involve the training of school teachers. It deals with safeguards for academic standards, acceptability to the General Teaching Council for Scotland ( GTCS), the professional orientation of the course, the importance of experience in schools, the need for joint planning of such experience with school staff, and the time to be spent on school experience in each type of course. It sets out the general competencies which are seen as prerequisites for entry to the teaching profession: subject knowledge, competence in communication, in classroom methodology, in classroom management and assessment, knowledge about schools and professional awareness. Also included is a list of desirable attitudes in a teacher which the course should encourage.

Methods

The Guidelines for Initial Teacher Education Courses (1998) encourage teacher education institutions to ensure that their courses use practical experience in schools as a context for the consideration of the theoretical aspects of education. They are expected to design courses that develop the competencies which the new teacher will require in order to teach effectively, which will encourage students to study independently, and which will enable them to reflect on their work in the classroom. This implies an active role for the student in learning and variety in the way in which the tutors present their teaching.

8.1.6.1 Curriculum, Special Skills, Specialisation for Pre-School Education

Additional Descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

All primary teachers in training are given some experience in the pre-school education environment during their initial training and part of their work in the teacher training institution is devoted to this stage. It is not possible in Scotland to train specifically as a nursery teacher during initial training. Nursery teachers must first obtain a Teaching Qualification.

Nursery nurses can train in Further Education colleges on a course which concentrates on pre-school children and their needs or they can obtain their qualification through a vocational course. Currently the most widely recognised are the HNC in Childcare and Education ^, and the Scottish Vocational Qualification ( SVQ) Level 3 in Early Years Care and Education. A range of qualifications are also suitable for other staff involved in the sector. A full breakdown of qualifications available for the early years workforce can be found in the booklet Working with Children.

Qualification requirements will change in 2005/06 when the childcare workforce will be required to register (and hold or be working towards a recognised qualification) with the Scottish Social Services Council.

8.1.6.2 Curriculum, Special Skills, Specialisation for Primary Education

Additional Descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

Courses leading to the Teaching Qualification ( TQ) (Primary Education) are based on the Guidelines for Initial Teacher Education Courses (1998) published by the SEED.

For students aiming at the TQ (Primary Education) the BEd degree (a 4-year course) is directly related to the task of teaching pupils in the age range 3-12 in nursery and primary schools, but it must also provide intellectual challenge and a basis on which to build further training later in a teacher's career.

There are three major elements in the course: professional studies, curriculum studies, and school placement experience. Thirty weeks are spent in school experience which provides a focus for the whole course. It offers an opportunity to observe children and teachers; to practice different teaching styles; to develop the attributes of a primary teacher; and to gain some experience of the operation of a school as a whole.

Closely related to school experience is that element of the course designated professional studies, which is intended to give students the knowledge, skills, insights and attitudes that allow them to operate effectively in the primary school. It covers teaching methods (planning, delivery, assessment of pupils, and self-evaluation) and studies of the educational and social contexts of nursery and primary schools, of child development, and of the nature of the learning processes of children from age 3 to age 12.

The third element covers studies in the primary school curriculum to ensure that intending teachers have a reasonable level of competence and confidence to teach all areas of the curriculum. In addition to these three key elements of the primary BEd course the structure provides students with opportunities to choose particular areas for special study ( e.g. music, computing, modern foreign languages, early education, or additional support needs). At present, considerable encouragement is being given to students to choose a modern foreign language.

The one-year PGCE course for primary teachers is intended to provide professional training for students who have already experienced at least three years of higher education and obtained a degree. It contains the same three closely inter-related elements: school experience, professional studies and curricular studies. As in the 4-year BEd course, the school experience element provides the focus for the training. The professional studies part of the course forms a single, coherent programme which, because of the constraints of time available, has to include the essential theoretical basis of the practice of teaching. The principal aim of curricular studies, constrained also by time, is to ensure an ability to plan, implement and evaluate teaching programmes in language, mathematics, environmental studies, religious and moral education, and the expressive arts (art, music, drama and physical education), with perhaps special attention to the expressive arts in which post-graduate students are unlikely to have had much involvement during their degree courses.

8.1.6.3 Curriculum, Special Skills, Specialisation for Secondary Education

Additional Descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

The courses leading to the Teaching Qualification ( TQ) (Secondary Education) are based on the Guidelines for Initial Teacher Education Courses (1998), published by the SEED.

Most students aiming at the TQ (Secondary Education) take the one-year PGCE course. As in other teacher education courses, the period of school experience is considered to be of the greatest importance and students on this course must spend 18 of their 36 weeks in school placements. Professional studies, which are expected to be intellectually challenging and have explicit concern with the classroom and professional needs, have a place in the institution's element of the course as have subject studies through which students learn to relate their specialist subjects to the school curriculum, develop strategies and methods for teaching their subjects, and, in some instances, study further aspects of their subjects which are part of the school curriculum but have not been studied in their degree course.

In the University of Stirling professional training is offered concurrently with certain normal degree courses. Students take one semester of professional studies during their course and another (which includes the school placement element demanded by the Guidelines) after their main degree is completed, thus giving three and a half years for a General degree or four and a half years for an Honours degree which also provides a TQ (Secondary Education).

Although the three elements of the 4-year BEd courses leading to a TQ (Secondary Education) in music, physical education and technology are the same as in the post-graduate course, subject studies assume a greater role as the aim of the course is to produce specialists. The music degree, for example, demands a high standard of practical musicianship and performance. Thirty weeks of placement are required in these courses, of which six in the case of the BEd (Technology) will be a placement in industry.

8.1.6.4 Curriculum, Special Skills, Specialisation for Further Education

Additional Descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

The current course leading to the Teaching Qualification (Further Education) is offered at the University of Strathclyde by the Scottish School of Further Education ( SSFE), part of the faculty of Education; at the University of Stirling by the Institute of Education; and at Aberdeen University and Dundee University. Other teacher education institutions may also seek the approval of Scottish Ministers to provide the course, if they satisfy the criteria laid out in the National Guidelines.

Between 50% and 80% of TQ ( FE) course credits may be taken through approved local providers such as the further education colleges themselves. The FE Professional Development Forum ( PDF), working with the Scottish Qualifications Authority ( SQA), has produced criteria for approved providers and has developed units which may carry credit towards the full TQ ( FE). Further units of initial teacher training and continuing professional development may be developed by providers, including higher education institutions, colleges and consortia of colleges, for approval by the PDF and subsequent publication in the National Index.

8.1.7 Evaluation, Certificates

Compulsory Descriptors
Evaluation, Certification

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

Assessment of teachers in training is carried out by members of staff in the university faculties in co-operation with the supervising teachers in school placements. In recent years schools have been encouraged to play a greater part in this assessment. There is also for each course an external examiner who has good practical experience of the stage of schooling involved and who on samples of the assessments made by the university staff. Assessment of other elements of the course is by written examination or, as is becoming more common, by submission of project work undertaken by the student.

However, it is not sufficient for a student just to pass the examinations in order to be awarded a Teaching Qualification ( TQ). A recommendation from the Principal of the university or the head of the education faculty or department to the effect that the student is a suitable person to become a teacher is also necessary.

On successful completion of the course students are awarded a TQ, which entitles them to registration with the General Teaching Council for Scotland ( GTCS) in the category for which they have trained. They also have a profile which is intended for the information of employing authorities and the schools to which they are first appointed. This profile sets out the competencies which they have achieved and their areas of strength. The GTCS will also require satisfactory evidence that the newly qualified teacher does not have a criminal record which would make him or her unsuitable to work with children.

8.1.8 Alternative Training Pathways

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

The provision described in sections 8.1.4 and 8.1.6 is what is available in Scotland. There are no alternative pathways. However, the General Teaching Council for Scotland has procedures for recognising teaching qualifications obtained elsewhere. See section 8.2.5.

8.2 Conditions of Service of Teachers

Compulsory Descriptors
Teacher, Working Conditions

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

Schoolteachers in the public sector in Scotland are appointed and employed by the local authorities. However, their conditions of service are negotiated at the national level by the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers ( SNCT), a tripartite body comprising membership from the local authority employers, representatives from the teacher organisations and the Scottish Executive. The SNCT negotiates issues including pay, working week, annual leave, class sizes, sick leave, maternity/family leave, discipline and grievance frameworks, main duties of teachers and staff development

There are also arrangements for teacher organisations and local authorities at the local level to conclude agreements which either vary certain national conditions of service or deliver agreements on a range of matters which are not subject to national negotiations listed above. Each Local Authority has a Local Negotiating Committee for Teachers to negotiate local issues such as allowances, appointment procedures, promotion procedures, specific duties and remits, disciplinary and grievance procedures. All local agreements must be reported to the national negotiating committee ( SNCT) for information.

8.2.1 Historical Overview

Compulsory Descriptors
Historical Perspective

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

After 1872, the rules governing the conduct of schools, which included the length of the school day and year and the size of classes, were laid down in Codes, as the regulations of the Scotch (later Scottish) Education Department were called. Very soon after 1872 a school year of 6 hours per day, 5 days per week for 200 days was laid down. Although at first salaries were left to the discretion of School Boards, over the years they became determined by the qualifications and sex of the teachers and the level of school in which they taught, a situation which continued, with some modifications, into the 1970s. Appointment and dismissal were in the hands of the education authority, which appointed teachers to its general service and not to particular schools. In practice, Scottish teachers enjoyed considerable security of tenure. Retirement pensions for teachers were introduced at the end of the 19th century.

In the 1940s a National Joint Council on which teachers were represented was set up to advise on salaries, and gradually over the next decades certain changes were accepted, such as equal pay for women and, eventually, a common salary scale for all teachers.

A boost to teachers' status was given by the setting up of the General Teaching Council ( GTCS) for Scotland in 1965. This is a professional council that concerned with training and admission to the profession and with the professional standards of behaviour of those serving in it.

8.2.2 Ongoing Debates

Compulsory Descriptors
Reform Proposal

- Teaching Profession. In May 2003 the Scottish Executive announced its intention to increase the number and range of specialist teachers working with primary pupils, particularly by allowing teachers to move between secondary and primary schools. The Executive is already committed, under the agreement A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century, to reducing class contact time for teachers to 22.5 hour by 2006.

- Teacher Induction. From August 2002, all newly qualified teachers, who have trained in Scottish Universities have had access to a

teaching post for one school year immediately following qualification. This is called the Teacher Induction Scheme. The teaching post has a maximum class commitment of 0.7 Full Time Equivalent ( FTE), with the remaining 0.3 available for professional development. Each trainee will have access to a nominated induction tutor within the school to provide advice, support and guidance. To become fully registered, probationers will have to meet the standards set out in the Standard for Full Registration ( SFR).

- Continuing Professional Development. The Scottish Executive has created a new framework for the continuing professional development of teachers under the agreement A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century, 35 hours of continuing professional development ( CPD) per annum has been introduced as a maximum for all teachers. The time is to be spent on an appropriate balance of personal professional development, attendance at nationally accredited courses, small-scale school -based activities or other CPD activity.

8.2.3 Specific Legislative Framework

Compulsory Descriptors
Legislation

The Education (Scotland) Act 1980, as amended in 1981, gave the Secretary of State power to set up the Scottish Joint Negotiating Committee ( SJNC) for Teaching Staff in School Education. This body, which has now been replaced by the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers ( SNCT), promulgated the present conditions of service and negotiated the salaries of Scottish teachers in publicly funded schools. The conditions of service are not directly laid down by law but are incorporated into the teacher's contract with his or her employing authority.

Decision-making Bodies for Teachers' Conditions of Service

The Scottish Joint Negotiating Committee ( SJNC) for Teaching Staff in School Education had responsibility for determining the pay and conditions of service of teachers working in publicly funded schools. It was a statutory body and all agreements reached were legally binding on all local authorities. The SJNC, however, was replaced by a new statutory body in 2001, the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers ( SNCT). The new salaries and conditions of service of teachers are contained in the document entitled: Scheme of Salaries and Conditions of Service.

The General Teaching Council ( GTCS) is the body which ensures that teachers are academically qualified when they enter the profession and have taken appropriate professional training. Newly qualified teachers are granted provisional registration on taking up their first post but final registration at the end of their probation period depends on the Council receiving satisfactory reports on the teachers' work. It also has disciplinary powers in that, under certain circumstances, for example if a teacher has been convicted of certain offences, it can remove the teacher's name from the register. This means that the teacher can no longer be employed by an education authority.

8.2.4 Planning Policy

Compulsory Descriptors
Educational Planning

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

The Scottish Executive carries out an annual teacher workforce planning exercise to inform guidance to the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council on the number of new teachers that require to be trained.

The statistical model is based on pupil projections and current pupil teacher ratios. It takes account of the age profile of the teaching profession, the numbers retiring and leaving the profession and the numbers of teachers returning. The work is overseen by a Teacher Workforce Planning Group with representatives of education authorities, universities, teacher unions and the General Teaching Council for Scotland. The results of the exercise are published annually.

In Partnership for a Better Scotland Scottish Ministers have now expressed their commitment to increasing teacher numbers by 2007 from approximately 50,000 (the figure anticipated as needed at that time to match the current teacher-pupil ratio) to 53,000 (full-time equivalent). The increase in staffing will be targeted to facilitate three key policy aims also set out in Partnership for a Better Scotland: to reduce Primary 1 class sizes to 25 pupils; to reduce Secondary 1 and 2 English and mathematics classes to 20; and to provide a larger number of teachers specialising in ensuring that pupils' transfer from primary to secondary school is effective in all respects.

8.2.5 Entry to the Profession

Compulsory Descriptors
Recruitment

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

Entry to the teaching profession in Scotland for teachers who wish to work in publicly funded schools is through registration with the General Teaching Council for Scotland ( GTCS). Registration is not required for appointment in an independent school, although many of the independent schools in Scotland have a policy of only employing teachers who have received professional training or of encouraging members of staff who have not done so to take it. Registration is not mandatory for lecturers in further education colleges, although many lecturers have taken courses of professional training and are registered with the GTCS. In order to remain on the register, a teacher or lecturer has to pay a small fee annually.

To be entitled to registration with the GTCS the candidate must hold one or more of the Teaching Qualifications awarded by a Scottish university and must have satisfied the medical officer of the institution of medical fitness to teach.

Teachers who have been trained outside Scotland and who have suitable qualifications may be exceptionally admitted to the GTCS's Register of Teachers, in some cases after taking additional training. The requirements to be satisfied before such teachers are accorded registration are prescribed in a statement of principles for the exceptional admission of teachers to the Register published by the GTCS under Section 8 of the Teaching Council (Scotland) Act 1965.

Teachers from countries of the European Union, and from some other countries, who are recognised as teachers in their own country, may be registered by the GTCS, but, if their native language is not English, they must satisfy the Council that their command of English is sufficient to allow them to teach effectively. Procedures are laid down for this contingency.

Registration is accorded, in the first instance, on a provisional basis. Full registration is granted to teachers who have satisfactorily demonstrated that they have achieved the Standard for Full Registration ( SFR), during a period of probationary service. The probation period is not an obligation in further education.

At the end of the probationary period, the GTCS can:

• grant the teacher full registration; or
• extend the period of probation; or
• cancel the provisional registration.

An application and any consequent registration are confined to the subject or subjects which have been taught by the applicant during the period of provisional registration.

Registration with the GTCS is not mandatory for lecturers in further education colleges but is open to them on completion of a course leading to the award of the Teaching Qualification (Further Education) and on satisfaction of a number of conditions. Registration is accorded in the first instance on a provisional basis and final registration is granted to lecturers subject usually to the submission of a professional reference. Further education lecturers holding a recognised subject qualification in secondary education may apply for full registration in that subject in further education.

Normally, recruitment to particular posts in a publicly funded school is through response to advertisements placed by the education authority. Candidates submit their qualifications and a statement of relevant experience. After consideration of these by education authority staff and the head teacher of the school, short list of candidates is drawn up and interviews take place. Typically the interviewers include the head teacher, an education authority representative and other relevant staff, sometimes from another school. In the case of the appointment of head teachers, the School Board has a formal role at both the short list and interview stages.

In further education colleges and private schools similar procedures are conducted on behalf of the Board of Management or the Board of Governors.

8.2.6 Professional Status

Compulsory Descriptors
Occupational Status

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

Teachers in Scotland are employees of local authorities. They are not civil servants. The nature of the service contract is a civil contract. Most teachers work on full time, permanent contracts, though education authorities also employ teachers on fixed term contracts, for instance, to replace staff expected to be absent for a lengthy period. A small proportion of teachers in primary and secondary education work on part-time contracts - about 6%.

8.2.7 Replacement Measures

Compulsory Descriptors
Substitute Staff

In primary and secondary schools in the public sector, replacement staff must be qualified teachers. In further education and private schools, where a teaching qualification is not obligatory, replacements similarly may lack a formal qualification.

Most education authorities and some individual institutions in all sectors keep a register of "supply teachers", who can be approached to replace absent staff on a temporary basis. In most cases teacher colleagues of an absent member of staff are expected to use some of their time free of class contact to cover the absence for a short period. Arrangements relating to the use of supply teachers are made locally by education authorities, who may, in some cases, delegate the responsibility to the head teachers of schools, as part of the system of devolved management of resources.

8.2.8 Supporting Measures for Teachers

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

The head teacher, the senior promoted staff and principal teachers of a school have responsibility for supporting all their staff, providing leadership, a good working ethos, encouragement, praise and, where necessary, specific staff development and pastoral support. In the case of new teachers in their probationary period, schools usually identify a particular senior member of staff who is responsible for supporting them, in collaboration with the principal teachers heading the departments in which they work. Such teachers have less class contact time than fully qualified staff and are expected to discuss with the school manager responsible for them how best to develop the strengths and address any weaknesses in their teaching which were identified in the professional profile they bring with them from their initial teacher education course.

Education authorities normally have formal arrangements in place for resolving any disputes or grievances which staff may have in their working situation. A member of staff involved in such a dispute or grievance may be supported by a representative of a teachers' organisation or by a school colleague.

8.2.9 Evaluation of Teachers

Compulsory Descriptors
Evaluation

Teachers in Scotland are not evaluated individually.

Arrangements for school self-evaluation and for inspection of schools are described in Chapter 9.

8.2.10 In-service Training

Compulsory Descriptors
Further Training

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

The term "Continuing Professional Development" ( CPD) is now used in Scotland to cover the range of in-service provision. There is a considerable amount of such provision of various types.

It is in the joint interests of education authorities and teachers that the latter should continue their studies and receive in-service training in a customised programme of continuing professional development. CPD is concerned with supporting teachers' learning from Initial Teacher Education ( ITE) right through to headship, to ensure that they are supported in their efforts to maximise their potential and enhance their professional competence.

Teachers can expect to receive advice and be encouraged to undertake approved courses of study and learning. They can identify their own in-service training needs at any time. However, the process of professional review and development allows teachers the opportunity to discuss their performance over the previous year with their line manager to agree on any further training which may be required. Guidance entitled Professional Review and Development was distributed to all local authorities and teachers in 2002 by the SEED. These guidelines are intended to assist all teachers and local authority staff to consider their development needs and draw up a plan of suitable development activity. A CPD framework was devised to give guidance to teachers at different stages in their teaching career. It is based on the three Standards:

• Standard for Full Registration
• Standard for Chartered Teacher
• Standard for Headship (which is normally achieved by teachers before they become head teachers).

These Standards are all competency-based. An additional set of guidelines, CPD for Educational Leaders, was also developed as part of the framework to give guidance to teachers wishing to develop leadership skills (for example in preparation for a principal teacher, depute head teacher or head teacher post).

Under the terms of the agreement on the McCrone Committee recommendations, a total of 35 hours of continuing professional development ( CPD) per annum has been introduced as a maximum for all teachers. The time is to be spent on an appropriate balance of personal professional development, attendance at nationally accredited courses, small-scale school -based activities or other CPD activity, the balance to be determined following an assessment of the individual teacher's needs and taking into account school, local authority and national priorities. This provision of CPD time is additional to the 5 days each year that teachers spend in school without pupils. These "closure days" are usually devoted to CPD activities organised or agreed by the headteacher or the education authority.

Progression to and through the chartered teacher status right up to the standard for headship is now to be by qualification. To obtain promotion it will be necessary for teachers to complete successfully a number of additional modular courses of continuing professional development.

8.2.10.1 Historical Overview

In-service training in Scotland did not develop to any extent before the 1960s. Before that time there were some opportunities for teachers to extend their knowledge and understanding in courses held in the summer holidays or at weekends by the teacher training institutions and organisations with an interest in particular subjects. There were also a small number of courses leading to additional qualifications for those teaching the youngest children and children with special needs. At another level, during the 1950s, the universities, which had for many years offered higher degrees in education on a full-time basis, provided opportunities for part-time study, and a number of serving teachers took advantage of this to acquire a Master's degree.

The curricular changes which took place in the 1960s and the acceptance of the fact that teachers' initial qualification was not sufficient for a whole career led in the 1960s to a great increase in the provision both by the training institutions and education authorities, with teachers from the 1970s onwards being released in school time to undertake in-service training. A National Committee on the In-Service Training of Teachers was set up to oversee developments.

In the later 1970s the focus changed to concentrate more on the needs of teachers in school and the fall in numbers in initial training at that time allowed the training institutions to provide a better service to schools. The education authorities at this time also expanded their capacity, by appointing more educational advisers, to provide in-service training and, in some cases, put on elaborate and ambitious courses for their teachers. On the national level the need to provide training for head teachers had been recognised and a unit was set up linked to Moray House College of Education (now part of the Faculty of Education of the University of Edinburgh) to provide this.

The 1980s saw various initiatives to improve teachers' qualifications with the establishment, for example, of in-service degree courses mainly for teachers in primary schools who were not graduates. The existence at the time of the Council for National Academic Awards ( CNAA) which was able to validate the degree and diploma courses taught by them gave the teacher training institutions the ability to offer a range of courses leading to

diplomas and degrees. Previously, the only degrees which could be taken by teachers in service were the Master's degrees offered by the university departments of education. Not all the attempts in the 1970s and 1980s to provide a structure of in-service qualifications and to meet the needs of teachers were successful and the 1990s have therefore seen a new initiative in which it has been recognised that it is important to identify properly the needs of teachers before providing what has now come to be known as Continuing Professional Development.

8.2.10.2 Educational Legislation

Powers have been granted to teacher education institutions to provide in-service training/continuing professional development courses. Since the recent agreement with the teaching profession on salaries and conditions of service, it is incumbent upon teachers to undergo continuing professional development. Modular courses have also been developed to enable teachers to become Chartered Teachers and to prepare some for the Scottish Qualification for Headship.

8.2.10.3 Decision-making Bodies

The identification of in-service training/continuing professional development ( CPD) needs is the responsibility of teachers themselves, of schools and of local and national authorities. Increasingly, the starting point in the process is professional review and development by which teachers and school managers, i.e., senior staff, jointly explore issues that impinge on the work of the individual teacher and of the school as a whole and arrive at conclusions about training needs.

Revised guidelines Professional Review and Development were issued by the SEED in 2002 to assist teachers and local authority staff undertake the development process satisfactorily. Education authorities, drawing upon the views of head teachers and their own advisers and taking account of national trends and developments, draw up their own list of perceived in-service training needs, which may or may not fully match those of an individual school. At national level the identification of training needs derives in the first instance from the major changes and programmes of educational development introduced by the Government through the SEED.

8.2.10.4 Types of Institution and Provision

A number of different bodies are involved in providing staff development at national, education authority and school levels, but the main bodies are the education authorities, the schools themselves, often with the help of outside support, and the universities responsible for teacher education. SEED also mounts each year a number of national conferences, usually in the universities or involving university staff. Other national bodies, such as Learning and Teaching Scotland ( LTS), run courses which teachers may apply to attend.

At the education authority level educational advisers organise further courses, which teachers have the opportunity to attend. Many of these courses rely entirely on the education authorities' own resources and personnel, but frequently outside speakers are involved, e.g., from Learning and Teaching Scotland ( LTS) or HM Inspectorate of Education ( HMIE) or, occasionally, from the careers service or the world of work.

At school level, 35 hours of continuing professional development per annum has been introduced as a maximum for all teachers. The time is to be spent on an appropriate balance of personal professional development, attendance at nationally accredited courses, small-scale school-based activities or other CPD activity, the balance to be determined following an assessment of the individual teacher's needs and taking into account school, local authority and national priorities.

Finally, the teacher education institutions, in addition to providing in-service training, offer a range of courses, often in modular form, which teachers may put together to make up a diploma or a Master's degree. It is often possible for teachers to have particular work which they themselves have done assessed and counted towards a qualification of this kind.

8.2.10.5 Admission requirements

The only general admission requirement to in-service courses is that the teacher should normally be serving in a school, although up-dating courses have been run from time to time for teachers not currently in employment. Certain courses require that teachers are teaching in a particular sector of education, e.g. courses leading to certificates in additional support needs, nursery education, early education or guidance.

8.2.10.6 Curriculum, Duration of Studies, Specialisation

The content of staff development courses can vary considerably according to the stage in the school, whether innovations are being introduced, or the needs and demands of groups of teachers. There is therefore no set curriculum or duration for CPD courses. However, for major courses which lead to the award of a certificate, diploma or degree offered by the universities, some general rules apply in terms of the number of hours of teaching and study expected at the different levels, or the number of modules which the candidates must complete. Universities are currently developing and beginning to implement the range of modules designed to move teachers towards achievement of the new Standard for Chartered Teacher.

Government initiatives in curriculum and quality assurance count for much of the training which is currently being provided. For example, in primary schools and for teachers who teach the early years of the secondary curriculum the many aspects of both curriculum and assessment in the 5-14 programme make demands on available in-service time. Although in secondary schools Standard Grade is now well established, some teachersI would not agree with this statement still feel a need for help and support, and the introduction of the National Qualifications reform has produced a new need for training.

With the introduction of school development planning and, in particular, the encouragement for schools to evaluate themselves, a need for training in educational audit and planning was identified. In order to support professional review and development, the SOEID (now SEED), over several years, has sponsored in-service courses, each of two days in length, for about 4,000 teachers and has encouraged the production of materials to allow development of all teaching staff in all schools. Training in management for head teachers has also been identified as a priority and the Department issued a series of modules in the 1980s (many since updated) intended as a basis for education authorities to provide training for their head teachers. A very large proportion of head teachers in Scotland have taken some of these modules. More recently, a new Scottish Qualification for Headship ( SQH) has been developed and implemented, targeting prospective head teachers.

8.2.10.7 Methods

When in-service training first started, much of it involved attendance at formal lectures, although there were always courses which demanded involvement of teachers in the classroom. Over the years the pattern has changed and staff development is now recognised as comprising a wide variety of activities in which teachers play an active part in their own training. In recent years, too, considerable use has been made of modern technology and there has been substantial development of interactive video for training purposes. Several training packages, for example in the fields of management for head teachers and of professional review and development, have been developed. More are being developed as even newer technology becomes available.

8.2.10.8 Assessment and Certification

Certificates additional to the teachers' academic and basic teaching qualifications are awarded by universities for successful completion of certain in-service courses, known as qualifying courses. The principal awards arewho determined that these are the principal awards - most of these no longer exisit - universities and providers offer modulesleading to a vast array of postgraduate certificates, diplomas or further degrees:

• Certificate in Nursery Educationno longer issued
• Certificate and Associateship in Early EducationAssociateship is no longer issued
• Certificate and Diploma in Guidance
• Certificate in Religious Instruction
• Certificate and Diploma in Additional Support Needs

There is also a range of other courses leading to the award of a certificate (after the equivalent of one term's study), diploma (after the equivalent of one year's study), or degree.

Some teachers, in pursuing their personal professional development, spend considerable amounts of their own time and money taking courses, for example to acquire a Master's degree or a Doctorate or, on occasion, a degree in a subject area different from their original qualification. There are also some teachers in the system who were trained at a time when initial teacher training for primary teaching or for teaching certain subjects in a secondary school led to a diploma rather than a degree and they now wish to upgrade their qualifications. The universities all offer opportunities of this kind. Many teachers, too, pursue their studies with the Open University, taking both general courses and the courses specifically linked with education which that university offers.

The Scottish Executive Education Department ( SEED) has recently introduced a new qualification for head teachers, the Scottish Qualification for Headship ( SQH), designed to ensure that all prospective head teachers are appropriately trained to manage schools effectively. Chartered Teacher programmes, once successfully completed, will lead to the professional award of Chartered Teacher and the qualification of a Master's degree, or equivalent. A condition for the development of Chartered Teacher programmes is that the programme should include several modes of delivery and assessment, to ensure access to programmes is as wide as possible and assessment is fair.

The Excellence in Education through Business Links ( EEBL) programme supports the Scottish Executive's Enterprise in Education policy agenda. It is a Scotland-wide initiative which commenced on 1 July 2001. The programme has the full endorsement of HM Inspectorate of Education, the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland and the Scottish CBI. The programme emphasises the need for quality in teacher placement provision and has been designed to incorporate clearly defined learning outcomes that are relevant to current teaching practice. Its primary aim is to support awareness of the world of work through short-term placements in local business or industry. In addition to funding placements, it provides support for staff to attend relevant conferences, training events and seminars which relate to enhancing their knowledge and awareness of the labour market and the world of work. At a local level, the programme is delivered by a team of co-ordinators whose role is to facilitate links with employers, support staff wishing to participate in the programme, organise all aspects of placements and offer advice and guidance on the "case study" report which is required on completion of the placement.

The programme is supported with funding from the Scottish Executive National Priorities Action Fund. Following a recent evaluation of EEBL, the Scottish Executive is working with Careers Scotland to develop new models of delivery for piloting during 2005-06.

Some teachers and head teachers have undertaken staff development by spending time in industry either on work experience or secondment.

8.2.11 Salaries

Compulsory Descriptors
Salary, Wage Index

Teachers' salaries are negotiated through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers ( SNCT) - a tripartite body comprising of members of the Scottish Executive, the local authority employers and representatives of the teaching profession.

Unpromoted teachers in school education (including nursery schools) are paid on the Common Scale. The scale starts with a probation point of £18,522 for all teachers undertaking their induction year. Once fully registered, teachers move onto a scale of 6 salary steps or 'points' from £22,215 to £29,541. Increments are granted, up to the limit of the scale, on 1 August each year. The salary scale introduced for those wishing to achieve chartered teacher status is £30,459 to £36,219.

Salaries for staff in principal teacher posts are paid at a higher rate than those on the Common Scale. From August 2003 principal teachers' salaries are no longer determined by school roll alone but depend also on a number of other factors, including responsibilities for management, policy development and whole school activities. The current principal teacher scale has 8 points from £32,208 to £41,574.

Senior promoted staff in schools (head teachers and depute head teachers) are paid a salary which is determined by the same factors listed above for Principal Teachers. From August 2003 the salary scale for head teacher and depute head teacher posts has 20 points from £36,531 tp £71,310.Teachers with appropriate qualifications employed in a special school or special unit attached to a mainstream primary school, and head teachers of primary schools with such units for children over the age of 12, may receive further allowances and are paid in accordance with SNCT salary scales. Qualified teachers in nursery schools are also subject to SNCT rates of pay. There are also additions to salary for teachers employed in remote areas, mainly in the highlands and islands of Scotland.

8.2.12 Working Time and Holidays

Compulsory Descriptors
Hours of Work, Responsibility

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

Working Hours

A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century, published in January 2001, sets out the agreement reached with the profession on the basis of the recommendations of the McCrone Committee of Inquiry, which reviewed teachers' salaries and conditions of service. In accordance with this agreement, teachers' working week is one of 35 hours. From August 2004 the maximum class contact time is 23.5 hours in primary and secondary schools and 22.5 hours in special schools and units. Working hours will gradually be amended so that by 2006, in all school sectors, all teachers will work a 35-hour week, with no more than 22.5 hours of class contact time.

The difference between the maximum class contact time and the 35 hour working week is made up of a 30 % allowance of time for work relevant to individual teaching duties, including preparation and correction of pupils' work. The use of the remaining time ( i.e. time beyond the combined class contact and preparation/correction allowance) is subject to agreement at school level and should be planned to include a range of activities such as:

• additional time for preparation and correction
• parent meetings
• staff meetings
• formal assessment
• preparation of reports, records, etc
• curriculum development
• forward planning
• continuing professional development
• additional supervised pupil activity
• professional review and development

The plan of activities, taking into account the particular needs of the school, is drawn up by the head teacher, in consultation with staff, within guidelines provided by the education authority. The timetable of activities for each school term should, if possible, be published at least one week before the end of the preceding term.

An additional contractual 35 hours of continuing professional development ( CPD) per annum has also been introduced as a maximum for all teachers (see section 8.2.10).

Duties of Teachers and Chartered Teachers in all Schools

The following outline is not intended to function as a prescriptive list but as guidance for the

development of specific job descriptions in local authorities (from 1 April 2002).

"Subject to the policies of the school and the education authority, the duties of teachers, promoted and unpromoted, are to perform such tasks as the head teacher shall direct, having reasonable regard to overall teacher workload related to the following categories:

• teaching assigned classes together with associated preparation and correction
• developing the school curriculum
• assessing, recording and reporting on the work of pupils
• preparing pupils for examinations and assisting with their administration
• providing advice and guidance to pupils on issues related to their education
• promoting and safeguarding the health, welfare and safety of pupils
• working in partnership with parents, support staff and other professionals
• undertaking appropriate and agreed continuing professional development
• participating in issues related to school planning, raising achievement and individual review
• contributing towards good order and the wider needs of the school."

Duties of Principal Teachers (Curriculum/Pastoral)

The following outline is similarly not intended to function as a prescriptive list but as guidance for the development of specific job descriptions in local authorities (from 1 April 2002).

"Subject to the policies of the school and the education authority, the duties of principal teachers, curriculum and pastoral, are to perform such tasks as the head teacher shall direct, having reasonable regard to overall teacher workload related to the following categories:

• responsibility for the leadership, good management and strategic direction of colleagues
• curriculum development and quality assurance
• contributing to the development of school policy in relation to the behaviour management of pupils
• the management and guidance of colleagues

• reviewing the Continuing Professional development ( CPD) needs, career development and performance of colleagues
• the provision of advice, support and guidance to colleagues

• responsibility for the leadership, good management and strategic direction of pastoral care within the school
• the development of school policy for the behaviour management of pupils
• assisting in the management, deployment and development of pastoral care staff
• implementation of whole-school policies dealing with guidance issues, pastoral care, assessment and pupil welfare

• working in partnership with colleagues, parents, other specialist agencies and staff in other schools, as appropriate."

Typical working hours in further education are 32.5 hours per week, exclusive of lunch breaks and intervals. A lecturer is required to attend college for 10 lecture sessions each week, normally totalling not more than 30 hours, excluding meal and other breaks. The balance of time between the normal hours and the 10 lecture sessions is normally spent on duties in the college or elsewhere. The weekly maximum class contact time is typically 24 hours. The annual maximum class contact time is generally 860 hours.

Holidays

The school year for pupils comprises 190 days (195 days for teachers, who spend 5 days in school without pupils in continuing professional development activities - see section 8.2 10). School days are from Monday to Friday each week. The dates for major school holidays are not fixed nationally but by the education authorities. However, there is a general pattern. There are school holidays usually for about six weeks in summer in the months of July and August, for a week or sometimes more in October, for the period covering Christmas and New Year, and for a week or fortnight coinciding with or near to Easter, at the end of March or in April. Some education authorities also have a short winter break in February. Scotland, unlike the rest of the United Kingdom, does not have general holidays on Bank Holidays but operates a system of local holidays. School Boards have the power to decide, within the number of days available, which local holidays will be taken by their school.

Special leave may be granted to teachers for jury service, examinations, family illness or bereavement. The period of sick leave or illness allowance which the teacher receives depends on whether he or she is appointed in a permanent or temporary capacity. A teacher absent from duty on account of illness or injury receives full salary or half salary for periods which depend on length of service.

From April 2003 teachers, regardless of length of service, are entitled to 26 weeks maternity leave beginning from a date not earlier than the 11 ^th week before the expected date (week) of childbirth ( EWC). Teachers with at least 26 weeks continuous service at the beginning of the 11 ^th week before the EWC will be entitled to 26 weeks paid maternity leave. Paid maternity leave comprises 13 weeks at full salary (made up of a combination of salary and statutory maternity pay ( SMP); and, provided that the teacher's average weekly earnings are not less than the lower earnings limit for National Insurance contributions liability, 13 weeks at SMP only. The teacher is required to give her employer not less than 21 days prior notification of the EWC.

Teachers who have completed 26 weeks continuous service by the 11 ^th week before the EWC have the right to an additional 26 weeks unpaid maternity leave if they so wish. They must give 21 days notice of any early return to work.

8.2.13 Promotion, Advancement

Compulsory Descriptors
Advancement

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

Career opportunities within schools in Scotland reflect the new, simplified career structure career structure introduced from April 2002. The new structure is common to the primary and secondary sectors and comprises four levels:

Progression from probationer to maingrade status from 1 August 2003 is dependent on successful completion of the Standard for Full Registration. From August 2002 all probationer teachers are guaranteed a one year induction post which allows for 0.3% of the post to be dedicated to enhancing their professional development and completion of the Standard for Full Registration.

Principal teacher is the first line management position. Staff normally progress to principal teacher/ depute head teacher/ head teacher by applying for advertised posts. Any teacher qualified may apply for management posts regardless of the school education authority in which the vacancy occurs. Progression to head teacher status however will also be by qualification. In 1998 a Standard for Headship was introduced. This sets out the key elements underpinning the professional practice of school leadership and management.

The Standard states that the key purpose of headship is "to provide the leadership and management which enables a school to give every pupil high quality education and which promotes the highest possible standards of achievement". The Scottish Qualification for Headship ( SQH), a module-based qualification undertaken usually by depute head teachers, is currently the only route to achieving the Standard for Headship, but over the next few years other routes to the Standard are to be explored. The Standard for Headship qualification will become mandatory for teachers seeking a first appointment as a head teacher from August 2005.

The new career structure is also designed to provide a career track for those who prefer to remain in the classroom. Such teachers would progress from being probationer teachers to maingrade status and then to chartered teacher status, rather than that of principal teacher. Teachers wishing to commence study leading to chartered teacher status must demonstrate a commitment to their own continuing professional development. Chartered teacher status will thereafter be achieved by the successful completion of a programme of modular courses, designed to enhance a teacher's classroom practice.

In order to maintain teachers' professional competence and expertise at the required levels, well-planned and managed programmes of professional review and development are necessary. New guidelines to replace those first issued in 1991 were prepared by the National Co-ordinating Committee ( NCC) for the Staff Development of Teachers and distributed to all Scottish local authorities in January 1998. Professional review and development is the process whereby the development and training needs of teaching staff are assessed and agreed in relation to their developmental requirements, the requirements of the school development plan, and the wider and longer-term needs of the education service. These reviews are based on a dialogue between the teacher and his/her immediate manager and should cover all aspects of performance, including the development of a plan to identify how needs can be met most effectively.

8.2.14 Transfers

Compulsory Descriptors
Transfers

8.2.15 Dismissal

Compulsory Descriptors
Dismissal

Education authorities have powers to grant early retirement and redundancy payments to their staff. They also have powers of dismissal on disciplinary grounds. A teacher cannot be employed by an education authority if the General Teaching Council for Scotland ( GTCS), as it is entitled to do after investigation by its Disciplinary Committee, has found that person to be unsuitable as a teacher.

As a general rule, the education authority should give a minimum period of notice of dismissal or early retirement of one week for each year of continuous service to a teacher, but with a minimum of four weeks and a maximum of 12 weeks. The minimum period of notice to terminate employment to be given by a teacher to the authority is four weeks for an unpromoted teacher and eight weeks for a promoted teacher. These arrangements, however, do not prevent an authority or a teacher from giving, or agreeing to give, a longer period of notice than the minimum.

8.2.16 Retirement and Pensions

Compulsory Descriptors
Pension, Retirement

Teachers must retire from the post in which they are employed no later than the date of their 65th birthday. In practice, many retire early. A teacher may not be permanently employed by an education authority after he or she is 65, although employment is possible on a temporary basis.

Teachers who are over 18 and under 55 at date of entry into service and are in full-time employment are members of the Teachers' Superannuation Scheme. Teachers who are on part-time service may voluntarily join the scheme, as may teachers who are over 55 at their date of entry into full-time employment in education.

The scheme provides the following:

• retirement benefits
• death benefits
• widows' pensions
• children's pensions
• dependants' pensions

Contributions by employees rank for full income tax relief. Contributions are paid by employers who also pay supplementary contributions to meet deficiency charges. The contribution of employers is fixed every five years after an actuarial review of the scheme. Teachers' contributions are deducted at the rate of 6% from their salaries.

8.3 School Administrative and/or Management Staff

Compulsory Descriptors
Non-teaching Staff, Head teacher

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

Headteachers and depute headteachers in publicly funded schools carry responsibility for effective management of all apects of the work of their school, within the policies and frameworks of the education authority. Their detailed duties are set out in Section 8.3.2.3.

8.3.1 Requirements for Appointment as a School Head

Compulsory Descriptors
Access to Employment

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

Prospective head teachers and depute head teachers are normally already promoted staff in primary or secondary schools who apply for posts in the relevant sector advertised by education authorities. They submit applications, describing their qualifications and experience and may then be short-listed and called for interview. The education authority and the School Board have roles in the process of selecting the short list and in conducting the interview. Usually a head teacher or depute head teacher from another school also sits on the interviewing panel. In further education colleges and independent schools, the Board of Management or the Board of Governors normally operates a similar system for appointing senior staff.

Key characteristics of candidates sought by those involved in the appointment process include vision and leadership; communication skills and ability to empower staff to accept responsibilities and to develop and support staff teamwork; and understanding and successful development of processes of school self-evaluation and improvement. These characteristics of effective head teachers have been identified (along with the qualities of all aspects of effective schools) in How Good Is Our School?, the guide to school self-evaluation published by Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools (revised edition, 2002).

Those who intend to apply for head teacher posts are now encouraged to pursue the Scottish Qualification for Headship (see section 8.2.13). This will become mandatory for teachers seeking a first appointment as a head teacher from August 2005.

8.3.2 Conditions of Service

Compulsory Descriptors
Working Conditions

Head teachers' conditions of service are in essence those applicable to all teachers (see section 8.2).

8.3.2.1 On-going Debates

Scottish Qualification for Headship.

In 1998 a Standard for Headship was introduced. This sets out the key elements underpinning the professional practice of school leadership and management. The Standard states that the key purpose of headship is "to provide the leadership and management which enables a school to give every pupil high quality education and which promotes the highest possible standards of achievement". The Scottish Qualification for Headship ( SQH), a module-based qualification, is currently the only route to achieving the Standard for Headship, but over the next few years other routes to the Standard are to be explored. The Standard for Headship will become mandatory for teachers seeking a first appointment as a head teacher from August 2005.

8.3.2.2 Salaries

Senior promoted staff in schools (head teachers and depute head teachers) are paid a salary which is determined by the same factors listed for Principal Teachers in Section 8.2.11. From August 2003 the salary scale for head teacher and depute head teacher posts has 20 points from £36,531 tp £71,310.

8.3.2.3 Working Time and Holidays

Working Time

In essence, the working time arrangements for all teachers derived from the Agreement, A Teaching Profession for the 21 ^st Century, based on the recommendations of the McCrone Report (described in Section 8.2.12), apply to head teachers and depute head teachers. However, most head teachers do not undertake a class contact role and this role is reduced for depute head teachers.

Duties of the Primary Head Teacher (and Depute Head Teachers)

Responsibility is delegated from education authorities to head teachers for the administration and management of schools. In carrying out their specific duties head teachers rely heavily on the co-operation of their staffs, especially promoted members of the team. The role of the depute head teacher is to assist and, where necessary, to deputise for the head teacher in the conduct of school affairs.

Within the terms of the Agreement A Teaching Profession for the 21 ^st Century, based on the recommendations of the McCrone Report, the duties of the head teacher (and of the Depute Head Teacher when deputising for the head teacher) are now stated as follows (since 1 April 2002):

"The role of the head teacher is, within the resources available, to conduct the affairs of the school to the benefit of the pupils and the community it serves, through pursuing objectives and implementing policies set by the education authority under the overall direction of the Director of Education. The head teacher shall be accountable to the education authority for the following list of duties and for such other duties as can reasonably be attached to the post:

• responsibility for the leadership, good management and strategic direction of the school
• responsibility for school policy for the behaviour management of pupils
• the management of all staff and the provision of professional advice and guidance to colleagues

• the management and development of the school curriculum

• to act as adviser to the School Board and to participate in the selection and appointment of the staff of the school

• to promote the Continuing Professional Development of all staff and to ensure that all staff have an annual review of their development needs
• working in partnership with parents, other professionals, agencies and schools
• to manage the health and safety of all within the school premises."

Administration is concerned with the day-to-day organisation of the school, the keeping of records, the preparation of documentation and returns for the education authority and the SEED. It also includes supervision of the work of non-teaching staff such as janitors and secretaries.

Crucial, however, to the success of any school is the head teacher's management of staff, resources, curriculum, pupil assessment, liaison, public relations, school ethos and development plan.

Management of staff includes the responsibility of identifying their needs through a system of professional review and development and providing access to appropriate staff development activities. Management of resources is ultimately the responsibility of the head teacher but there is an expectation that all teachers will play their part in this. It is common for staff to be involved in agreeing resource priorities for the school as a whole, as well as for individual classes. The School Boards (Scotland) Act 1988 required education authorities to make available to each of their head teachers such funds as they considered necessary for expenditure on books, materials and equipment. Under the new arrangements for devolved school management ( DSM), the education authorities must allocate at least 80% of the available financial resources (albeit with certain restrictions on spending powers) to the schools themselves (in effect, to the head teachers). The education authority may also supply funding to meet special or new needs such stocking a new library, running a school minibus or acquiring expensive items of equipment. Schools also benefit from fund-raising by parents' groups and by their own enterprises, ranging from sponsored activities to school shops. Head teachers are now expected to carry out a regular, comprehensive review of resources and report to the School Board.

Management of the curriculum and of pupil assessment is a particularly important part of the head teacher's work. In 1993 the SEED (then SOED) completed the publication of a comprehensive series of documents setting out advice on the curriculum of primary schools, under the title: Curriculum and Assessment in Scotland: 5-14 National Guidelines. Schools are expected to use these documents to provide their own programmes, tailored to their needs and resources. It is the responsibility of each head teacher to see that this is done and that teachers take account of the advice provided.

In practice, primary teachers usually work together with their head teacher to discuss and formulate how the curriculum can best be implemented in their school, frequently taking advice and help provided by their education authority. Each teacher is expected, taking due account of the abilities and progress of his/her class and the individual pupils in it, to produce a planned programme and to record coverage of the work done, usually on a monthly basis. Head teachers discuss these plans and records regularly with each teacher to ensure that the work is appropriate and to monitor the continuity and progression of pupils' classroom experiences, both during the school year and from one year to the next. The results of assessments of performance within the 5-14 Programme are also taken into account.

Management of liaison covers the school's links with the education authority and the support services, such as the medical service, the psychological service and the social work service. It also involves relations with pre-school establishments and with the secondary school or schools to which the primary school will send on its pupils. Management of public relations involves all the interaction between a school and its School Board, its parents and community. In recent years considerable attention has been given to school ethos, i.e. to developing and maintaining a positive atmosphere in which pupils feel secure and are encouraged to learn, an ambience in which relationships and discipline are good and both morale and expectations are high.

In recent years considerable attention has been given to school ethos, i.e. to developing and maintaining a highly positive atmosphere in which pupils feel secure and are encouraged to learn, an ambience in which relationships and discipline are good and both morale and expectations are high. The concept of a good school ethos is increasingly seen as relating also to the establishment of sound links with the world of work and to the development of values of good citizenship and a positive international outlook.

Management of school development involves evaluation of how well the school is functioning and performing overall and then planning for its future. Every school, primary and secondary, is now required to have a School Development Plan. This involves the senior promoted staff in evaluation of the school's performance and planning ahead for the next 2-3 years. The final plan, which must be submitted to the education authority for approval, should take account of the authority's priorities as well as its own and should cover almost every aspect of the work of the school. It should state clearly what specific actions the school proposes to take to improve its own performance. Proposed actions have to be budgeted for within the financial limits set by the education authority.

Duties of the Secondary Head Teacher (and Depute Head Teachers)

As with primary schools, responsibility for the administration and management of secondaries is delegated to the head teacher. The role of the depute head teachers is to assist and, where necessary, to deputise for the head teacher in the conduct of school affairs.

Secondary head teachers (and depute head teachers when deputising for the head teacher) carry, within the terms of the Agreement, A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century, based on the recommendations of the McCrone Report, the same responsibilities as are indicated above for primary headteachers. Some aspects of these responsibilities differ in secondary schools, because of the differences in the size of the school, its staff and the promoted staff team and in the requirements of secondary, as against primary, education.

Significant additions to management responsibility shared among the head teacher and the depute head teachers include, for example, organising and ensuring implementation of a curriculum offering appropriate choices to pupils beyond the age of 14. Secondary schools are responsible for constructing their own curriculum and timetable. The construction of the timetable is usually a major responsibility for a member of the senior promoted staff. It will take into account, for example, the advice from the SEED in the documents setting out the 5-14 Programme, as far as they apply to pupils aged 12 to 14, and the advice on curriculum balance offered by Learning and Teaching Scotland ( LTS). It will also take account of the advice of the education authority, as provided by its advisory service and in its policy statements, for example on such matters as equality of opportunity for pupils and multi-cultural education. Management of assessment in secondary schools, too, assumes significant proportions, as the school's assessment of pupils is taken into account in many subjects for the award of the Scottish Qualifications Certificate ( SQC) and administration of external examinations set by the Scottish Qualifications Authority is a responsibility of school management.

Staff management, including leadership of, liaison with and evaluation of the typically wide range of subject departments and their principal teachers, is important in all secondary schools, many of which may have a hundred or more members of staff. As in primary schools, it includes identifying the needs of teachers by means of a system of professional review and development and the provision of access to suitable staff development activities.

Management of liaison in secondary schools includes, as well as the school's links with the education authority and its support services, links with the associated primary schools and relations with further education colleges and universities. In some areas, where certain subjects in the senior classes may be taught in one establishment - school or further education college - but not in another nearby, liaison about timetabling is particularly important to enable senior pupils to commute.

Public relations are important in secondary schools - with the School Board, with parents and with the community. Relations must also be developed with local commerce and industry, so that places may be found for work experience for senior pupils and so that staff, particularly guidance staff, may have knowledge of local industrial and commercial concerns.

Please note: the main features of the management of schools and of other educational establishments are described in section 2.6.4.

Holidays

Head teachers and depute headteachers have the same holiday entitlement as all teachers (see section 8.2.12).

8.4 Staff involved in Monitoring Educational Quality

Compulsory Descriptors
Non-teaching Staff, Inspector

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

The role of inspectors is fully explained in section 9.4.2.

HM Inspectorate of Education ( HMIE) in Scotland is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Ministers under the terms of the Scotland Act 1998. It operates independently and impartially whilst remaining directly accountable to Scottish Ministers for the standards of its work. Agency status safeguards the independence of inspection, review and reporting activities within the overall context of Scottish Ministers' strategic objectives for the Scottish education system. Her Majesty's Inspectors ( HMIs) are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the First Minister. This guarantees their independence. Her Majesty's Senior Chief Inspector leads HMIE and has direct access to appropriate Scottish Ministers.

8.4.1 Requirements for Appointment as an Inspector

Compulsory Descriptors
Access to Employment

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

Her Majesty's Inspectors ( HMIs) are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the First Minister, after applying for available posts in an open competition and taking part in an interviewing/assessment process. Successful candidates are likely to have demonstrated high levels of capability as teachers and managers within the education system. They may have been principal teachers, depute head teachers, head teachers, promoted members of staff in a further education college or members of education authority or university/higher education institution staff. If they fall into either of the last two categories, they would normally be expected to have previous successful school or FE college experience.

8.4.2 Conditions of Service

Compulsory Descriptors
Working Conditions

HM Inspectorate of Education ( HMIE) in Scotland is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Ministers under the terms of the Scotland Act 1998. HMIs are subject to the conditions of service of government civil servants in Scotland.

8.5 Educational Staff responsible for Support and Guidance

Compulsory Descriptors

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

See sections 4.15, 5.14, 5.18 and 6.16 for the guidance roles played by teachers in various institutions. All Scottish teachers have a general pastoral responsibility for their pupils/students. Secondary schools and further education colleges have trained staff who devote a significant proportion of their time to guidance activities, though they normally also teach one or more aspects of the curriculum.

Primary and secondary schools and further education colleges also have support for learning staff, whose role is principally (though not wholly) to help meet the additional support needs which pupils/students may have. Arrangements for the deployment of such staff vary across the country. In some education authorities there is a central team of specialist support staff who visit schools as required. In these authorities there may or may not be also support for learning staff permanently based in particular schools. In some cases, central support staff in an education authority may run special units, for example for pupils with a need for help with behavioural difficulties.

The role of support for learning staff in various establishments is described in sections 4.11, 5.14 and 6.12.

8.6 Other Educational Staff or Staff working with Schools

Compulsory Descriptors
Non-teaching Staff

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

Almost all schools in Scotland have non-teaching staff either on a full-time or part-time basis. In primary schools these are normally secretarial staff (even small schools are likely to have some secretarial help a few hours per week), janitors, who are responsible for the care of the property, and sometimes auxiliaries, who support teachers in a wide variety of ways. In secondary schools there are likely to be several non-teaching members of staff in the above categories. Secondary schools may also have in addition a librarian and will have a technician, or more than one technician, if they are large schools. Some schools also have instructors who teach pupils to play musical instruments. Special schools and mainstream schools where there are children with special needs will also have auxiliaries to help some of these children. These members of staff are employed by the education authority but are paid salaries which are negotiated separately by the various trade unions and organisations which represent them.

In post-school education many of the institutions, both in further education and higher education, have large staffs, both administrative and technical, whose salary rates are negotiated with the institution.

8.7 Statistics

Compulsory Descriptors
Statistical Data

Additional descriptors (x to left denotes that additional descriptor is covered below)

Further and more detailed statistics to those given here are available on the Scottish Executive web site at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats

Initial training of teachers (2004-2005)

Some statistics relating to numbers of teachers are given in sections 4.18 and 5.21.

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