Students in Scotland (United Kingdom) engage in learning through Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), which aims to provide them with a holistic, coherent, and future-oriented approach to learning between the ages of 3 and 18. CfE offers an inspiring and widely supported philosophy of education. This report analyses the progress made with CfE since 2015, building upon several months of observations in Scotland, the existing literature and experiences from other OECD countries.

Interrogates the rise of national philosophies and their impact on cosmopolitanism and nationalism.

This fully updated third edition of Becoming an Outstanding Primary School Teacher includes new material on blended learning, pedagogical leadership and teaching entrepreneurial skills. It offers comprehensive coverage of all the key topics that engage primary teachers, including planning, meeting curriculum demands, promoting positive behaviour, assessment, engaging with parents, research, and professional development. Throughout, Russell Grigg draws on theory, research, and case studies of classroom practice to discuss what it takes to become an outstanding primary teacher, making this essential reading for raising pupils’ standards of achievement through high quality teaching. How do primary teachers who excel in their work approach topics such as planning and assessment? What strategies do they use to inspire pupils when teaching English, Mathematics, Science, and other subjects? How do they keep on top of everything in managing workload and still get the best from pupils? These are the kinds of questions that this revised third edition addresses. It includes: • more than sixty ground-breaking infographics to convey key points in a highly accessible way • discussion of recent curriculum changes in the UK and the implications for high quality teaching • tried-and-tested classroom strategies, points for reflection and further research to bridge theory and practice • key concepts and international views on topics such as creativity, teachers’ well-being, and assessment • reflections on the lessons from the recent pandemic such as the need for a robust digital pedagogy • extensive references for further research. Becoming an Outstanding Primary School Teacher has been updated to reflect significant changes in the context within which primary teachers operate both in the educational system and broader society. Providing a complete guide to the notion and practices of outstanding teaching, this a vital reference for trainee teachers, NQTs, and more experienced practitioners who aspire to excellence in their teaching.

All teachers are responsible for assessing the children they teach, and the outcomes of any assessment are important for individual learners, schools and wider education systems. Designed as a pragmatic guide for new teachers and those training to teach, this book is your one-stop-shop for understanding assessment in schools. It covers formative and summative approaches used across primary and secondary education, supporting a balanced overview with policy examples drawn from the UK, Ireland and wider international contexts. This updated second edition reflects recent trends in assessment and includes: more balanced coverage across primary and secondary age phases with a broader range of examples across curriculum subject areas a new chapter on the potential of digital assessment for both formative and summative purposes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on assessment in general, and examinations in particular Damian Murchan is Associate Professor in the School of Education at Trinity College Dublin. Gerry Shiel is a Research Fellow at the Educational Research Centre, Dublin, Ireland.

This book draws on an extensive international literature and policy context, from a wide range of fields of enquiry, to challenge the orthodoxies and systemic issues that serve to marginalise children and young people and lead the way for schools to become more equitable, inclusive and compassionate in their practice. With a particular focus on children with social, emotional and behavioural/mental health needs, it critiques policy and practice as they pertain to behaviour management and school discipline in the UK and the USA, and offers alternative perspectives based on collaborative and relational approaches to promoting positive behaviour and building community. Each chapter features reflection points to provoke discussion as well as offering additional suggested reading, culminating in a discussion of the role of school leaders in leading for social justice. Ultimately, this book will be of benefit to scholars, researchers and students working in the fields of behaviour management, inclusion and special needs education, and education, policy and politics more broadly. It will also offer substantial appeal to education professionals, school leaders and those with a locus on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.

Every single person in Scotland has some kind of stake in the effectiveness of the nation's schools, so in writing this book my goal was to explain the intricacies and inconsistencies of the system, and to explore its strengths and weaknesses, in a way that would make sense to as many people as possible. How much do we really know about the state of Scottish education? Why do inequalities continue to dictate the school experiences of children across the country? What can be done to address the problems in the school system? James McEnaney does what he claims pundits and politicians cannot or will not do... tell the truth about Scottish schools. Class Rules makes the key issues and information surrounding Scotland's education system accessible to all. McEnaney delves into the successes and failures of the Curriculum for Excellence, interrogates the rhetoric around closing the 'attainment gap' between the richest and poorest pupils, and considers the impact of the global Covid-19 pandemic. Most importantly, this book also looks to the future to ask what changes can be made to improve the system for young people across the country, and is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of schools in Scotland.