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With the Scottish parliamentary elections upon us, many organisations have shared their ideas for improving education alongside the traditional party manifestos.

Students on the at the University of Edinburgh recently discussed their own priorities for the future of Scottish education.

The session started with provocations from Professor Carol Campbell, head of Moray House School of Education and Sport, as well as headteachers Jenny Hennessy and Pam Davie. The aspiring heads then developed their own four manifesto pledges for the betterment of Scottish education.

These pledges vividly set out where Scottish education is now - and where it might go next.

Culture

Many pledges focused on cultural issues within education and how these can stifle progress and innovation. The need for school leaders to show courage in key areas of school improvement was noted.

But there was broad recognition that this must be underpinned by a broader reshaping of the expectations placed upon school leaders, teachers and the education system as a whole, enabling leaders to set clearer boundaries about what is and isn’t within the gift of individual schools.

Reframing the discussion of attainment towards a stronger focus on progress over time and developing parity of esteem for other types of achievement also featured prominently.

This points to the importance of reframing the narrative around education towards one that is more hopeful and aspirational, foregrounding the existing strengths of schools rather than relying on narrow measures of attainment.

Resources

No discussion of education would be complete without talk of resources. The groups’ manifestos recognised the nuances of this issue and the harshness of the financial realities many local authorities face.

The suggestion was that the answer to some existing resource issues was not always “more of the same” but increased flexibility on how to use (particularly human) resources, which could be achieved through reimagining the working conditions of teachers in future pay negotiations.

A split in the group was evident in the discussion of digital resources. While some advocated for a more educative role for technology, others felt the need to reduce the impact of screen time on young people and pushed for more of a “digital detox”.

Structures

A strong sense emerged that many of the historical structures in Scottish education were stifling creativity and the ability of schools to respond effectively to the changing lives and needs of pupils.

Suggestions were tabled regarding the school day, the school year and teachers’ working lives. It was seen as important to realign teachers’ conditions with those of other professionals, where new working patterns were seen as potentially beneficial to recruiting and retaining teachers.

Partnerships

Genuine commitment to working with multiple agencies and partners emerged, perhaps in the form of schools as what could be called multi-agency hubs. However, greater clarity on the purpose and efficacy of such collaborations was strongly argued for.

Closing the discussion, one group memorably proposed that the key to improving education was to “fill it with gold”, reminiscent perhaps of the Japanese practice of , where what is broken is repaired with gold to create something new and beautiful while recognising its brokenness.

What was clear in the manifestos put forward by these aspiring headteachers was that the gold in the context of Scottish education is the people who learn, teach and lead in schools. Whichever party is handed power this week, they must be put at the heart of the system.

Kevin Brack, Rosemary Grady and Zoè Robertson are tutors on the Into Headship course at the University of Edinburgh

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