1. 3. THE HIGHLAND PROMISE - AN GEALLADH MÒR
The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr, comprised a raft of activities coordinated by schools around the six festival themes, for which funding was made available by The Highland Council. It was a positive experience for many schools. The opportunity to work together in Associated Schools' Groups (ASGs) appears to have been beneficial for the schools involved. It is unlikely that it will translate into other projects unless there is a specific budget. The approach of allocating all schools the same budget and asking them to deliver a new strand of activity was, on reflection, not entirely successful. In the general responses, some teachers certainly felt that this was yet another strand of activity to be fitted into an overcrowded year, and supporting additional activity, particularly for schools undergoing other major changes, was just too much.
On the other hand many schools welcomed the chance to be part of a larger series of events, and to ensure the school did its 'bit' for Highland 2007, and they responded with enthusiasm to the opportunity to enhance their cultural curriculum.
In terms of legacy for the schools, without a regular financial input it is difficult to see how any benefits can be sustained. The cutting of the Cultural Coordinators scheme means the delivery of an ongoing programme may be problematic. The real and only legacy rests with the children who took part. The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr , has shown what is possible.
Alongside the public events programmed for Highland 2007, The Highland Council wished to introduce something special for its young people of school age. It allocated a budget, with assistance from the Scottish Government, and developed a programme which offered school children the opportunity to participate in events related to the six categories of culture defined by Highland 2007.
This section looks at what The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr set out to do; how it was implemented at school level and how it fitted in with existing activity and with the school curriculum. The reaction of the pupils is considered and put in the context of the views expressed by young people in the Highlands about Highland 2007 generally.
It is based on a review of the documentation surrounding the project and interviews undertaken with staff at The Highland Council, and with staff and pupils at schools in Mallaig and the Small Isles, Inverness, and Kingussie. These were carried out initially during 2006 and then again towards the end of 2007. A web-based survey of head teachers in all The Highland Council secondary schools was also undertaken, to ascertain the pattern of activity across the whole area and to help identify issues. The results of the survey can be found in Appendix 5, and the findings are summarised here.
This programme existed only in The Highland Council area, and, unlike the rest of the events programme, was targeted at schools only. The funding was specially allocated and managed through the Highland 2007 office. In total £600,000 was allocated to The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr. [1] As the chart below shows (Figure 7), the majority of funding came from public sector organisations, including the Scottish Government, which directly contributed £125,000. There was also private sector support for The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr in the form of contributions from LifeScan Scotland Ltd and Morrison Construction, who together provided £75,000 or 11% of the costs.
Figure7: Sources of funding for The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr
1.1 3.1 Aims of The Highland Promise- An Gealladh Mòr
The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr started life with the title 'Cultural Pledge'. It then became 'Your Choice' and finally 'The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr'. These changes of name are a reflection of a deeper debate within The Highland Council and specifically within its education committee and department, and not just a search for a catchy title.
The plan was to offer a 'shopping list' of projects which would be delivered by national agencies (including the BBC, Scottish Opera, Royal Observatory) or local companies or agencies (for example Fèisean nan Gàidheal and the Highland Printmakers Workshop) which would engage young people across the full range of activities included in the Highland 2007 definition of culture (for a full list see Appendix 5). In addition to this list, schools were also to be given the flexibility to introduce their own specific options.
At the early stages there was a tension between the idea of the 'pledge', which carried with it the obligation of the local authority, via the school, to provide an activity, and the 'choice', which implied that both the pupil and the school would have the initiative. At its heart, this difference reflects the tension which exists between the local authority's role in education (delivered within a statutory framework with set measurements and outputs) and its role in culture, where the framework is much looser. It also reflects the difference for the young person: you can choose whether or not you want to attend a theatre event or take part in a new sport, but you have no choice when it comes to attending school and only a limited choice in terms of the curriculum.
It was the task of the officers at The Highland Council to chart a way through this for politicians. This they did, coming up with a title which included an obligation but allowed for a choice as well:
The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr is a pledge to young people in schools within The Highland Council area that during 2007 they will have the opportunity to take part in activities they might not otherwise have access to across the six strands of culture: arts, sport, heritage, language, science and environment. Young people have played a key role in shaping the options for their school in 2007. [2]
There was a genuine desire to let schools and pupils have a say in what happened and also a desire to avoid simple pledges such as 'every child will get swimming lessons' - which is already part of the provision in Highland schools.
1.1.1 3.1.1. Process
Once the policy had been determined, there were several issues to be addressed in terms of how The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr would be implemented.
The first was structure. The Highland Council has 29 secondary, 183 primary and 20 special schools distributed across the whole of the Council area, from Caithness to Badenoch, including the island schools. The Council is encouraging its schools to work in their ASGs (that is, in groups of secondary plus feeder primary schools). This structure is to encourage cross-school collaboration and is particularly important in assisting pupils making the transition from primary to secondary, a process which involves some moving away from their home in a remote area and boarding during the week, or sometimes for longer. It was this ASG structure which was used to deliver a programme across the schools.
Each ASG was allocated £20,000 in cash for The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr. Some additional funding was allocated to four ASGs. [3] There was significant support given via key staff of The Highland Council - particularly the Quality Development Team, Active Schools' Coordinators and the Cultural Co-ordinators [4] who supported teachers in identifying and delivering the appropriate activity in sport, art or heritage in particular. Each school had to include Highland 2007 activity in its school plan, and each ASG produced a special plan for Highland 2007 outlining how the project would work across the ASG.
In addition to the funds allocated to each ASG, Highland 2007 centrally funded projects which the schools accessed. These included BBC Scotland's Broadcast Team and a project on Thomas Telford delivered by The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.
Highland 2007 also funded pilot projects from the budget before The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr was launched, including a joint initiative between the Edinburgh Science Festival and Caithness Science Festival.
A key part of The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr concerned the involvement of pupils; they were to be encouraged to choose what they wanted to do and to shape activity. A list of activities was produced by the Council's education department working with Highland 2007. As indicated, this offered a wide range of activity providing opportunities both to participate in and attend events. Schools were also free to develop their own programmes, and many of them did.
The question asked was, did this activity form part of the curriculum or was it additional? There was no insistence that it had to be curriculum related, although many saw these activities as being part of other initiatives targeted at strengthening the curriculum. There was also no policy as to whether or not this activity happened within school hours or not. Much did, of course, but by implication, visits to a concert or the theatre happen outside school hours. For many schools in the Highlands travel distances alone mean that any activity happening away from school happens outside the school timetable.
1.1.2 3.1.2. Research
To establish what happened across the council area, the head teachers of the main secondary schools in each ASG were surveyed. These were the individuals responsible for the budget and the organisation of The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr activity for that group of schools (see Appendix 5).
The questionnaire was designed to identify the level of participation by the schools and pupils in The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr. This included assessing the prepared menu of events, the range of events, the quality of the participation by the schools and pupils, and qualitative views about how The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr was experienced by the participating schools. The survey was conducted between October and December 2007. Twenty-one schools responded, a response rate of 75%. With one exception in all cases the response was made by the Head Teacher or Rector of the school, or their deputy. [5] The answers received in response to the main survey questions are summarised below.
1.1.3 3.1.3. Management
The responses indicate that the head teachers were quite heavily involved in the management and delivery of The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr programme in the ASG for which they were responsible. Where this was not the case it appears to have been due to a head teacher not having been in a specific post throughout the period. 95% of schools had put into operation at least half or more of their initially planned The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr programme. Two thirds said they had done 'most of it', though only two schools indicated they had put their entire planned programme into operation. The total number of schools reported as being involved by the respondents was 125, including 101 primary schools, 21 secondary schools and 3 other (special needs) schools. The Thurso response gave no indication of number of schools, but there should have been at least one secondary as Thurso and Wick High Schools are part of one ASG. There was an aggregate total of 15,688 pupils involved in The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr activities comprising 6,664 primary, 8,974 secondary and 50 other (special needs schools).
1.1.4 3.1.4. Support from beyond the ASG
A wide range of support from the local authority was described in the responses. Clearly, funding was seen as the most useful form of support, indicated by two thirds of respondents. The menu of activities provided was also mentioned, as were training, co-ordination and specific expertise. One ASG mentioned time for planning being made available; another indicated that timescales were too short. A broad range of partnerships was reported. More than half of the ASGs had partnerships with other schools or school groups; just under half of them had partnerships with local businesses. Two fifths of ASGs developed partnerships with national bodies in arts, heritage or sports. Parents' bodies and voluntary organisations made up just under a third each and one ASG had its local enterprise company as a partner.
Two ASGs reported that they had received funding from 'other public funds'. These were Fortrose Academy, which received £10,000 through the Scottish Arts Council; and Kinlochleven which received £7,500 from unspecified 'other public funds'. A further two ASGs reported 'sponsorship by private organisations': Alness Academy to the value of £1,000 and Nairn Academy to the value of £500. Inverness High School reported receipt of £2,000 from another unspecified source. Inverness Royal Academy reported support in-kind from 'other public bodies' while three other ASGs reported other forms of support in-kind.
1.1.5 3.1.5. Challenges
Time appears to have been the main challenge, followed by funding. The responses generally suggest there was an increase in opportunities available which, albeit welcome, proved a challenge to fit into already busy schedules and staff resources. Timetabling is mentioned specifically by one respondent; another commented on the amount of administration and reporting. A couple of respondents also mention motivation and/or involvement of staff and pupils as a challenge; while one indicates that high pupil aspirations were also a problem.
1.1.6 3.1.6. Achievements
A very wide range of achievements were noted, covering most if not all of the Highland 2007 strands, arts, sport, heritage, language, science and environment .
Head Teachers were also asked about problems they faced. The aim was not just to try and identify specific problems which may have been faced but how flexible and resourceful the ASGs were in dealing with them. Some schools reported no difficulties. Generally the difficulties which have been reported appear to fall into two categories: issues relating to general management including resources; and logistical, mainly transport-related problems encountered with specific activities. The resolution to difficulties, when found, appears typically due, in the words of one school, to 'goodwill and hard work'.
1.1.7 3.1.7. Programme
The 'menu of choices' which was prepared by Highland 2007 appears to have been used by 80% of the ASG respondents in at least some way. While it 'formed the basis of our programme' for only one ASG, three quarters reported that they had 'used elements of it and found other events elsewhere'. Meanwhile, a fifth of respondents (20%) did not use the Highland 2007 'menu of choices' at all. The vast majority of schools indicated they had provided at least 'a few activities' involving each of the six Highland 2007 strands of culture.
Language was the strand which was covered least, with 11% of respondents indicating they had not involved this strand in any activities at all. However more than half (55%) said the language strand was involved in some activities, and a third (33%) said language was involved in most activities. Art, sport and science were not involved in any activities by only 5% of respondents. Heritage and environment appear to have been involved in at least a few activities by all respondents. The arts strand was involved in most activities or all activities by more than a third (35%) of ASGs responding; sport by 20%; and heritage by 15%.
1.1.8 3.1.8. Pupils' involvement
Respondents were invited to indicate whether their pupils' involvement in The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr programme could be described by any the following statements:
· pupils were involved in deciding which activities or events should be included
· pupils were free to choose anything they wanted to participate in from the activities or events included
· pupils helped to develop and organise some activities or events
· pupils led development and organisation of some activities or events
· pupils took part in some activities or events which were mainly conducted in Gaelic
Amongst the 19 ASGs which responded to this question, the vast majority, nearly 90%, indicated that 'pupils were involved in deciding which activities or events should be included' in The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr programme. More than two thirds (68.4%) said that 'pupils helped to develop and organise some activities or events'. In almost one third of cases (31.6%) pupils 'led development and organisation of some activities or events'. In a quarter of cases (26.3%) 'pupils were free to choose anything they wanted to participate in from the activities or events included.' Also, it was reported that 'pupils took part in some activities or events which were mainly conducted in Gaelic' in around a quarter of ASGs.
1.2 3.2. Appraisal
Taking the results of the survey alongside the interviews with teachers, it can be concluded that the collaboration between primary and secondary schools through the ASG did work, up to a point. It was felt that it gave a focus to the ASG but also a challenge. It was the first time that these schools had worked together with a common budget and there were (polite) tensions between schools about how this was spent.
While the survey does indicate full involvement across primary secondary and special schools, one of the major problems of joint activity - as opposed to joint working - was the difficulty in delivering activity which suited all age groups, and, just as tricky, activity which crossed between the 'cultures' and the timetables of primary and secondary schools. Once secondary school pupils reach Standard Grades, the timetable becomes a great deal less flexible. There were also child protection issues involving very young children (for example, you cannot take a five year old on an overnight trip from an island to the mainland without parent or guardian involvement). The schools were most successful with projects which either focused on joint activity amongst the primary schools or activity which included the age group of (roughly) 7- 14.
Another issue raised was that of leadership. Here is the response of one teacher:
With most of the ASGs the running seemed to devolve to the secondary Head Teacher. But that wasn't clearly stated which meant we were in the awkward position of not wanting to appear too pushy, not to lay ourselves open to accusation and simply steam-rolling over people. […] There are advantages in that collaboration but it makes it really difficult to co-ordinate a project if you're not clearly designated the co-ordinator.
While there is no evidence of real conflict, given the different needs of each age group of pupils, issues of geographic spread, and the demands of the curriculum, the new roles which fell to head teachers did throw up some challenges. This was further reflected in the comments in the survey about time and commitment.
1.2.1 3.2.1. Engagement
The depth of engagement of schools overall was not consistent. While the survey does show that The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr touched all schools, the level of delivery depended a great deal on the local leadership. Unforeseen issues could upset the best laid plans - for example, an HM Inspectorate of Education inspection, a re-build of part of the school and a change of head teacher.
Some pupils were critical of their school and felt it was not adventurous enough and they 'never got anything' - comparing themselves to similar schools elsewhere. It is the case that some head teachers were more interested in grasping these opportunities than others but alongside must be taken on board the pressures on secondary schools to deliver results. Much more positive was the engagement of primary pupils in a huge range of activity which could be more easily accommodated into their learning outcomes. For example, an environmental project could link with the desire of the school to become an ecologically friendly school and be used to tackle a range of issues.
1.2.2 3.2.2. Resources and timing
The funding level was considered adequate for what was involved. It was regarded as generous by some schools, but, as highlighted above, it brought with it additional responsibility to ensure that it was spent properly across schools. Some schools, as seen in the survey results, were very successful in levering other funding from partnership bodies. There was however, a concern that it was one-off and did not tackle the real issues of access to culture. One teacher ruefully explained that he was desperate to have a music teacher in the school on a regular basis and build up an ongoing engagement in music, and not simply a one-off activity. The teacher went on to explain:
The trouble is when you're given £10,000 to spend on sports equipment, you know, when in actual fact you want to put it in the bank because you want to build a pitch, which is going to cost you £100,000. And the trouble with a lot of money that is thrown about, you know, is it's short-term money, has to be spent within a particular time against a particular target.
It also arrived against a background of cuts elsewhere, thus raising issues of displacement. There was a great deal of concern that this was not 'new money' but had been cut from other education budgets.
My impression, as a secondary teacher, was we were told, you're getting this money cut from your budget, lo and behold, there's money available for Highland 2007. It was just the same money. We didn't think that we'd get any extra money. In fact what we got for Highland 2007 probably didn't come anywhere near how much was cut from our budget.
Such complaints about special and targeted funding are common, but it is true in this case that the funding was being invested against cuts being made elsewhere.
There was some feedback that the timing did not meet the needs of the schools, in that Highland 2007 covered a calendar year and not a school year. For some schools this was seen as an opportunity to spread the activity across two school years. Others expressed concern that children at the top of the school were just getting started when they moved on and the leadership they offered, as well as their experience, was lost. This applied to secondary and primary schools (particularly small ones).
1.2.3 3.2.3. Pupil involvement
The involvement of school pupils in determining what happened was patchy. As discussed above, it is not part of the ethos of education to offer pupils a choice in what they learn. The most common approach was to engage and involve the pupils in discussing what these different activities might be; they were guided to think about new activities but also about what was practical and possible. In most cases, school councils or equivalent existing structures were consulted. When it came to implementation the staff took over. This was confirmed both by interviews and in the survey. One teacher commented on how this worked:
They were superb with the early ideas. They were less good at being able to follow those ideas through. […] I don't mean to be critical but there was a sense that they've, they've come up with these bright ideas now it's over to staff to implement them, and that wasn't the way we wanted to play it. They got a little bogged down and I felt that the organisation seemed to be beyond them.
If, however, the actual implementation of projects was difficult for even secondary school pupils, The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr did, in some schools visited, encourage discussion around the issue of Highland culture. As a pupil commented:
We have got to do a lot and get involved - we talk a lot about it in the class room and it makes you think how good the Highlands are in comparison to a lot of other places. It picks out things which are really exciting but you don't think about it until you talk about it.
This comment was in contrast to those of other pupils who felt there was 'nothing going on' , such as the boy who pointed out, 'you can only go and see the dolphins in the Moray Firth so often and then they get boring'.
It is to the great credit of some primary schools that they embraced their pupils' desire to undertake the most extreme sports possible, allowing children to try out challenging activities. From the responses to the survey, a great deal of variety was available across the Highlands.
The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr was intended to involve all children regardless of ability or need. The Highland Council has a long experience of integrating children with special needs into mainstream schools and it is already part of their approach to ensure all children have access to all activities. In research for this report, there were examples of a child with physical disabilities and another with autism participating in kayaking, both from the same school and both requiring very different forms of support.
The research team also visited Drummond School in Inverness which takes children with severe and complex needs. During 2007 some of the older pupils became involved in cross-curriculum work with Inverness Museum as part of social studies access course and Highland 2007 funding gave an opportunity to enhance this and offer more opportunities for trips. The whole school became involved in designing a new tartan and badge for the new school, which was under construction during 2007. Highland 2007 has allowed for the production of badges and a bolt of the tartan from a local firm. However, there was already a focus throughout the school on activity such as music, art and drama as a means of engaging with some of the pupils. The best possible legacy from Highland 2007 has been the re-opening of Eden Court Theatre and its engagement in drama for young people with special needs.
1.2.4 3.2.4. The 'menu' of activities
Only one school in the survey was reported to use the menu list that The Highland Council offered as the basis for all activities, with 75% using part of it. Of the schools interviewed, few had not chosen from the menu. A popular choice was Generation Science theatre show about science linked to the curriculum. This did prove a huge hit with upper primary/lower secondary pupils. Overall, Highland schools already offer their pupils a range of outdoor activities, including the team sports of football and shinty through to individual activities of kayaking, mountain biking and snow boarding. Exploring their own environment and natural history is a key part of their everyday lives-even for those living in the city. There is already an engagement with traditional music-every class interviewed had a large number of pupils learning a musical instrument, usually the fiddle, clarsach or pipes. They already explore the history and traditions of the Highlands from the Clearances to the herring industry (and a visit to Culloden is a regular trip already for Inverness schools in particular). Many secondary schools include also the standard school play or exhibition organised by pupils. In many cases The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr activity (and budget) was used to enhance this range of existing activity.
There were, of course examples of additional activity: the small isles and Knoydart primary schools organised a Small Isles Odyssey: a trip to each others' schools with each offering a special activity: geology on Eigg; archaeology on Canna, bird watching on Muck and so on. These schools also worked together on creating a mural about their islands which will go up in the planned new hostel at Mallaig secondary. This time the artists moved from island to island working with the children. All the schools in the Mallaig area worked on a Gaelic song together with an established Gaelic singer. Despite the fact that a trip off the island to the mainland can involve three days away - depending on ferries - there was an increased number of these opportunities taken up in 2007.
1.2.5 3.2.5. Benefit to Pupils
Given the short term - albeit generous - investment in The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr, it is difficult to gauge the benefits to pupils beyond an immediate response. The ASG head teachers were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the following propositions about the benefits of participation in The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr programme for pupils. Possible responses were: agree strongly; agree; neither agree nor disagree; disagree; and disagree strongly:
Culture has become more important in the school curriculum as a result of the The Highland Promise programme. More respondents (30%) agreed or strongly agreed that culture has become more important in the school curriculum than disagreed or strongly disagreed (total 10%). However, the majority, 60%, neither agreed nor disagreed.
Most pupils chose to participate in something which they already knew they would enjoy. Pupils appear to have been largely able to choose things which were new and different to what they had done before, as well as things which were more familiar. 47% of ASGs responded that they agree or strongly agreed that pupils chose what was familiar to them. Only around 16% disagreed with this statement and none disagreed strongly.
Most pupils tried something new and different to what they had done before. 55% said that they agreed or strongly agreed that 'Most pupils tried something new and different to what they had done before.' Again none disagreed strongly, and only 15% disagreed at all.
Most pupils learned something new about Highland culture . It was felt by the majority of ASG heads that 'Most pupils learned something new about Highland culture' from their participation in The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr. 60% agreed or agreed strongly with this statement, while none disagreed strongly and only in one case (5%) did anyone disagree.
Most pupils who participated in The Highland Promise are now more interested in culture than they were before. The response to the statement 'Most pupils who participated in The Highland Promise are now more interested in culture than they were before' was almost perfectly balanced, with none strongly agreeing and none strongly disagreeing, and two thirds neither agreeing nor disagreeing. One way of reading this is that teachers believe their pupils were already interested in culture, though it could also indicate a lack of enthusiasm for the category.
Participation in The Highland Promise has led to an improvement in pupil's behaviour and attitude . Teachers broadly felt that it was not the case that behaviour and attitude had improved as a result of participation. Two fifths either disagreed or disagreed strongly with that statement.
Participation in The Highland Promise has resulted in better communication and levels of creativity. It was broadly felt that it had been the case that 'Participation in The Highland Promise has resulted in better communication and levels of creativity.' Almost half (48%) agreed or strongly agreed that it had, while only a quarter (26%) disagreed.
1.2.6 3.2.6. Pupils' Views
Teachers' opinions on the impact on pupils were neither particularly positive nor overwhelmingly negative, but what about the pupils themselves? What did they think of Highland 2007 and its impact on them?
One of the issues was they could not distinguish The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr activity from other special activity in the school. For example, pupils in Mallaig primary did a fundraising walk with their teachers in the course of which they visited a village abandoned as a result of the Clearances and also identified geographic features, wild life and local vegetation. It is not surprising then that the children saw this as an activity which touched sport, heritage, science and the environment, and yet it was not initially planned as such. Similarly older pupils did have an awareness of some of the festivals and events which were part of Highland 2007, but did not make the link between these and the activities in their school.
Every pupil was issued with a wristband and material about Highland 2007 but it made little impact. An exception to this in the interviews was in the Mallaig area where primary school children filled in charts and recorded which activities were part of The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr. They were far more aware than secondary school children who in some cases denied knowledge of anything happening at all either in their school or more widely in the community.
In all of this there are great similarities between how young people of school age behave or react in the Highlands and how they might behave or react in more urban areas. For teenagers there is not enough to do, and what is there is boring, or expensive/difficult to get to. There is 'nothing for them' - a cry heard from Mallaig to Motherwell.
Perhaps what is different is that the Highland pupils interviewed, and the young people in focus groups outside school, talked about the freedom and safety of their lives. Even very young primary children were aware that their island life was 'safe' in comparison with lives led elsewhere. Older children also commented on their appreciation of open spaces and a clean environment. In general they claim to be active and enjoying outdoor activity. One teacher said 90% of the pupils in her school walked or cycled except in very bad weather.
The survey does suggest that pupils are already aware of Highland culture. There was a very marked appreciation of the natural environment and what it could offer, and young people appeared to have no difficulty in recognising their culture as being centred around the landscape and wildlife. In some cases this turned around perceptions of the staff who expected pupils to embrace traditional views of their culture. Following the focus groups in 2006, one of the teachers commented:
I was quite surprised with what came out from the children that day. So that's what we took to the first meeting [of the ASG]. We went to that first meeting, saying 'this is what the children want, this is what they see as the culture in their area'.
What had emerged was an enthusiasm for extreme sports, wildlife safaris and traditional music making.
Like any young people, the pupils interviewed enjoy rock music but there is also a huge reservoir of enjoyment for traditional music too - again bearing out their teachers' views of them as being very conscious of Highland culture. While they reject what they see as icons which are 'just for the tourists' they value their traditions and community.
In fact 'tourists' are one group they generally dislike or regard as a problem. This seems to be related to the fact that in the summer months the Highland roads are 'crowded' (everything is relative). But they also see 'tourists' as being responsible for perpetuating the traditional icons - most disliked was 'Nessie'.
The interviews uncovered a difference of views about Gaelic. There are those who think it is a really important part of Highland traditions and others who see it as a '(near) dead language'. It was the strand least covered in The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr. This antipathy from young people may be bred of ignorance or may be a reaction to being encouraged to learn it at school. Whatever the reason, many like singing in Gaelic but would not want to be involved in learning the language. However, in contrast, the children (and their teacher) on Muck enthusiastically took on learning the language, long gone from the island, using taped lessons.
There is, however, a darker side to this picture. Young people struggle with the idea of change and economic expansion, particularly round the growing city of Inverness. They realise that increased opportunities for jobs for them means some diminution in the landscape and the wide open spaces. There is some suspicion of incomers, from Polish migrant workers to retired English people. This does not necessarily disappear when they meet migrants of their own age. At one of the youth focus groups, outside the school, there were references to English children being picked on at school. Another exchange involved a young person complaining that the Polish pupils were unfriendly, even though they spoke English well. This provoked a response from a Pole who explained that it was not their way to use 'small talk', and rather than asking how someone was you should ask them about something specific. The whole exchange was provoked by asking young people what they understood Highland culture to be about and what they liked abut living in the Highlands. Another one is charming but illustrative:
Interviewer: Tell me about your ceilidhs.
Child: I think they are better than the ones on the mainland because you know everyone and you don't take much care. They don't care if they step on you. You just go for it. There are dances like Strip the Willow, which is one big one, and it's great.
Interviewer: And are they just for the island?
Child: It is weird when there are other people there. It is like someone has just walked into your house and you don't know who they are. [6]
This young person reflects the tension between being proud of the shared experiences in her island's culture while wrestling with the idea of the change which the arrival of new people can bring. This is a condition shared by many.
1.3 3.3. Legacy
What is left and what are the implications for the future? From the survey a wide range of legacies were identified. These included tangible legacies ranging from new science equipment, production of movies and a school tartan. Others highlighted improvements in communications and co-operation within schools and ASGs . Some identified working with local communities as being particularly rewarding and a better awareness of other providers. One highlighted the opportunities of working outside the normal curriculum, leading to innovative teaching, as a key legacy. Confidence among pupils and increase in skills were also mentioned.
Only one respondent indicated a negative legacy and identified a 'dip in funds for other things'.
1.4 3.4. Summary
Overall, The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr was a positive experience for many schools. The opportunity to work together in ASGs appears to have been beneficial for the schools involved. It is unlikely that it will translate into other projects unless there is a specific budget. The approach of allocating all schools the same budget and asking them to deliver a new strand of activity was, on reflection, not entirely successful. In the general responses, some teachers certainly felt that this was yet another strand of activity to be fitted into an overcrowded year, and supporting additional activity, particularly for schools undergoing other major changes, was just too much.
On the other hand many welcomed the chance to be part of a larger series of events, and to ensure the school did its 'bit' for Highland 2007, and they responded with enthusiasm to the opportunity to enhance their cultural curriculum.
What was the legacy for the school, however? As one teacher pointed out, when all the children who took part move on, what will remain for the school as an entity? Without a regular input of this kind, it is difficult to see how any benefits can be sustained. Schools, of course, will be able to share in the other legacies of Highland 2007 such as the re-opening of Eden Court, including its outreach work, and the new Culloden Visitor Centre.
The Highland Council is making moves to try and retain some of the budget to encourage an ongoing commitment to this work. But with the Cultural Coordinators scheme being cut without, as yet, anything being put in its place, the delivery of an ongoing programme may be problematic. The only real legacy of The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr rests with the children who took part. It is easy to be impressed by the range and quality of the new activities on offer during 2007 and to be sentimental about the way in which many of the pupils interviewed engaged enthusiastically and were articulate about the culture of their village, city or island. However schools will need to be supported on a regular basis for long-term effectiveness. The Highland Promise - An Gealladh Mòr has shown what can be possible.