This paper follows on from the previous bulletin (Redford 2022), which covered the education remit of the Parliament's Education, Children and Young Peoples Committee between September 2021 and January 2022. The following bulletin covers the major pieces of work of the Education, Children and Young People Committee from February 2022 to January…

Analysis of data on school leavers in Scotland points towards considerable inequality in access to higher education. This is highlighted in terms of participation in higher education by young people from lower-income households or identifying as first in their families to consider going to university. The situation is more acute in terms of access…

During COVID-19 lockdown precautions in Scotland, severe disruption occurred to collaborative working amongst speech and language therapists (SLT?s) and education authorities' staff meeting the needs of school pupils with language disorders. This was documented in surveys undertaken by the SLT UK professional body, and by Scottish child health…

Most research into parental involvement and engagement examines the perspectives of teachers and parents, but often not pupils. Additionally, the focus is commonly on younger children. This study addresses these gaps. A questionnaire was distributed to pupils in Primaries 5, 6 and 7 (ages 9-12), which, after data cleaning, resulted in a sample of…

This paper provides a critical discussion of "Putting Learners at the Centre: Towards a Future Vision for Scottish Education," which was published by the Scottish Government in 2022. After reconstructing the case made in the report for putting learners at the centre of Scottish education, I raise critical questions, both about the idea…

The introduction of Universal Credit and the effects of the economic crisis precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, compounded by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have all contributed to a rise in the levels of poverty and child poverty in Scotland and the wider United Kingdom. The rise in child poverty will have an impact on an increasing number…

Although there are no attendance or registration fees in the UK for publicly funded school education there are hidden costs in attending compulsory education. This article investigates one of the hidden costs: school uniform. We investigate the affordability of school uniform in Scotland, looking at what is required in school uniform policy (class…

This paper follows on from the previous bulletin (Redford 2021), which covered the education remit of the Parliament's Education and Skills Committee between February and August 2021. The following bulletin covers the education remit of the Education, Children and Young People Committee from September 2021 to January 2022. [For the previous…

This paper examines different curriculum making actors, discourses and practices at different sites and then situate Scotland and Wales within these. I illustrate the interconnected nature of different sites of curriculum making and explain how these exert influences in the two countries while acknowledging their social and cultural differences.…

In a contemporary society dominated by visual media, critical visual literacy (CVL) is a significant skill to inculcate, and yet, in some educational systems, its integration in teaching and education has not (yet) achieved enough recognition, especially in a context like Pakistan. As it is assumed that students will develop the necessary…

Under Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence, the health and wellbeing of school pupils is the 'Responsibility of All'. Mental health is included in this though the extent to which secondary teachers feel confident to deal with the many and varied issues which their pupils present with is less clear. This pilot study seeks to explore the potential…

Concerns regarding levels of stress and increases in the prevalence of mental health issues have focused mainly on the general well-being of the teaching workforce. In contrast, this paper examines the issues around well-being potentially associated with the support of children whose distress may present as behaviour that challenges. In doing so,…

Against a backdrop of increasing pressure globally to enhance the quality of teacher preparation, and a corresponding push to 'measure' this performatively, we present a context-specific framework for identifying the quality of initial teacher education (ITE). The framework derives from a project involving all Scottish ITE providers. It adopts a…

Impairments of emotional awareness and regulation are recognised features of autism spectrum conditions and are known to impact school experiences and outcomes. However, most research in this field takes place within clinical settings, and there is a scarcity of literature describing how these difficulties are addressed within schools,…

Lifelong learning has been the subject of international policy debates and incremental developments over the past century. The purpose of this paper is to critically reflect on the neoliberal discourse of key competences for lifelong learning, which is promoted by the European Union as a self-sufficient policy solution that can cure a wide range…