Evaluation of Teaching Scotland's Future

In 2010, Professor Graham Donaldson undertook a review of teacher education on behalf of the Scottish Government. The resulting report, ‘Teaching Scotland’s Future – Report of a review of teacher education in Scotland’, published early in 2011, concluded that the two most important and achievable ways in which school education can improve is by strengthening the quality of teaching and the quality of leadership.

The recommendations from the report were taken on board by the Scottish Government and, ultimately, this resulted in 20 substantial projects being taken forward by the National Implementation Board for Teacher Education.

Ipsos Scotland was commissioned by the Scottish Government in July 2015 to evaluate the early impact of Teaching Scotland’s Future (TSF) on teacher education and professional learning. The main aim of the research was to evaluate the current landscape of teacher education, highlighting what progress has been made in key areas since TSF was published and where further progress and improvements are still needed. 

Evaluation methods

This mixed methods evaluation was conducted between September 2015 and February 2016 and comprised:

• an online survey of over 6,000 teachers
• 15 focus groups and 33 in-depth interviews with teachers across Scotland at all career stages and from all sectors
• in-depth interviews with representatives from all 32 local authorities
• 21 in-depth interviews with key national educational stakeholders.

Key findings

The evaluation found evidence of progress in many areas of teacher education and, above all, a significant shift in the culture of professional learning. This shift in culture was demonstrated in four key areas of improvement:

• greater engagement with professional learning
• greater focus on the impact of professional learning on pupils
• more professional dialogue and a move towards more openness, sharing of experience and willingness to talk about pedagogy
• greater willingness to try new approaches to teaching and learning. 

However, there was widespread acknowledgement that there is a considerable way to go before the vision set out in TSF is fully realised. The evaluation identified a number of areas where further progress is required.

At the Initial Teacher Education and early career stage, the development of teachers would be enhanced by:

• further clarification and agreement of the respective roles of the school and the university in relation to joint assessment of student teachers
• improved communication between the university and the school on aspects of student placements
• the provision of support for probationers to further develop key pedagogical skills.

Career-Long Professional Learning (CLPL) for class teachers could be improved by:

• increasing awareness of, and involvement in, local authority/university partnerships
• raising awareness of different options for SCQF level 11 learning
• better Professional Review and Development support for supply teachers
• developing a shared understanding of what mentoring and coaching involve
• increasing coaching and mentoring skills among teaching staff.

CLPL for all teachers could be enhanced by better signposting to high quality resources and by the development of more professional networks. Networks would be particularly beneficial for those with relatively specialist expertise, interests or needs.

There were also two system-wide challenges: difficulties in obtaining supply cover (due to a lack of available supply teachers) and the view that there are currently too many national priorities in education.

• Download the full report (PDF)