Shaping the Future: Strengthening Scotland's education system through empowered schools
Final report of the Independent Professional Advisor on future school reform in Scotland, with a focus on improvement, funding and governance.
8. Conclusion
Future Scotland
We love our country. We are proud of its history: complex; laced with intrigue; a combination of diverse strands forged into one nation. Most of all we are proud of the people of Scotland and have faith in our children and young people shaping the future.
Tempting as it is to be nostalgic for the past, our future beckons.
Our education system has its own history. We can be proud of it too. The current system dates back to a time before the Scottish Parliament was created, since when we and the world around us have changed considerably. It is time to look again at what we are aspiring to achieve through our education system and to be honest about whether we are achieving it.
Through a series of statutory changes and agreements we have inched towards releasing the full potential of our learners, teachers and leaders. Effective strategy and practice are not yet delivering equitable, sustained improved outcomes to all. We haven’t yet reached the top of this Sisyphean hill. This is not due to a lack of will or ability on the part of those who contribute to it. It is because our education system in its current form inhibits full empowerment: the very thing that would make it stronger. Our system therefore needs to change.
This report is an urgent call for action.
Key to a successful future Scotland will be sustained investment in the professional capital of practitioners and of school and authority leaders; a commitment to openness and accountability; and a renewed determination to enhance system capacity to meet the challenges and opportunities of full inclusion.
The passion and commitment demonstrated by all the people I’ve engaged with in the development of this report have confirmed my personal belief that we have what it takes to achieve excellence and equity for every school and every learner, in every community. Future Scotland awaits.