Successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors. It used to be, in the early days of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), that it was impossible to walk down a school corridor without being confronted by wall displays emblazoned with the so-called “four capacities” - the four, two-word phrases designed to sum up the purpose of the Scottish curriculum.
However, a new piece of research suggests the ubiquity of the four capacities is on the wane - the researchers surveyed more than 600 pupils and found 60 per cent hadn’t heard of the four capacities at all and more than 20 per cent were not sure if they had.
The new research - commissioned by Education Scotland and carried out by NoTosh - suggests the vision that led to CfE has become clouded since the new curriculum began being introduced in schools in 2010, and it could be time to ditch the four capacities for good.
The research report - titled Exploring The Four Capacities: Scotland’s Curriculum - says “any importance attached to the four capacities in designing curriculum has been diluted, crowded out in a busy policy marketplace by two decades of new initiatives, guidelines and expectations”.
It concludes that there are three options going forward: “to ditch the four capacities”, to “develop a renewed shared vision of the four capacities”, or to update them and pull them “into the 21st century”.
The researchers asked the 600 pupils: “Have you heard of the four capacities?” and discovered that “the majority hadn’t”.
The report says 60 per cent “hadn’t heard of them at all, and over 20 per cent weren’t sure”.
It says that 50 per cent of upper primary school learners “had heard of the four capacities, therefore backing up the evidence that they are more commonly referred to in primary schools than elsewhere”.
However, it says the results for S1-3 and the senior phase “are stark: 74 per cent of S1-3 learners and 68 per cent of senior-phase leaners have never heard of, or have entirely forgotten, the four capacities”.
If the four capacities are to be updated, the researchers say the full spectrum of educators needs to be involved - from the early years to the third sector - and also for young people to have a voice.
The report suggests “a new national debate might focus on a renewed set of purposes for the curriculum”.
In his report, published in March, on how the reform of key education agencies in Scotland should be taken forward, Professor Ken Muir highlighted that it had been 20 years since the National Debate on Scottish Education, which resulted in the introduction of CfE.
He recommended that the government initiate a new national discussion on Scottish education to establish “a compelling and consensual vision for the future of Scottish education”.
Last month, the national discussion on Scottish education got under way.
However, in a blog published this week - in response to the national discussion - curriculum expert Professor Mark Priestley questioned why “some decisions that should rightly stem from this conversation appear to have been made already”, including that “the four capacities will only need tweaking”.
The research can be read in full here.
