Re-shaping Teacher Preparation in Scotland: Curricular, Institutional and Professional Changes, 1920–2000

Abstract

This chapter offers a description and analysis of teacher preparation in Scotland from the period after World War 1 to the end of the twentieth century. It traces the development of the sector from Training Centres responsible to Provincial and National Committees, through monotechnic Colleges of Education, to Faculties of Education within Universities. Among the topics covered are: political and economic pressures affecting the policy context; the drive to improve standards and raise the professional status of teachers; the influence of key policy documents, such as the 1965 Primary Memorandum; the degree of control exercised by the Scottish Education Department; the significance of shifts in language (e.g. training/education/professional learning). The 1960s are seen as a particularly important period when major structural changes were introduced in Scottish education (e.g. the establishment of the General Teaching Council and Central Committees reviewing particular aspects of the school curriculum): these impacted on the aims and content of courses designed to prepare trainee teachers for work in schools. Similarly, later reforms of curriculum and assessment (Standard Grade, 5–14, Higher Still) necessitated responses by the teacher education community. Throughout the chapter certain key themes recur: the relationship between colleges and universities; the variable scope for innovation at different points in the twentieth century; the differential provision for primary and secondary teachers, graduates and non-graduates, men and women; the relative importance of academic knowledge and pedagogic skills.

Citation

Humes, W. (2020), "Re-shaping Teacher Preparation in Scotland: Curricular, Institutional and Professional Changes, 1920–2000", Shanks, R. (Ed.) Teacher Preparation in Scotland (Emerald Studies in Teacher Preparation in National and Global Contexts), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 33-48. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83909-480-420201004