Neil Munro reports from last week’s meeting of the General Teaching Council in Falkirk.
Helen Liddell, Labour’s spokesperson for Scottish education, came under sustained attack over the party’s proposals in Every Child is Special. Some speakers, angered by what they see as an anti-teacher tone, said Mrs Liddell had a lot to learn.
The GTC’s convener and registrar have had one meeting with Mrs Liddell and another is scheduled for July 1 with heads of the council’s committees.
The council has already staked a claim to regulate teacher incompetence and decide who should be removed from the register, a key plank in Labour’s policy. Raymond Robertson, the Education Minister, has also asked for a paper on how the council could extend its role in this area.
But Tony Finn, the GTC’s education convener, warned that the council’s policy was to have a role in post-probationary staff development. A narrow focus on incompetence could lead the GTC down a path it might later regret.