According to the Oxford Dictionary, a tradition is “a belief, custom or way of doing something that has existed for a long time among a particular group of people”. The Merriam-Webster definition has it more interestingly as “an inherited, established or customary pattern of thought, action or behaviour”.

Traditions are valued in many cultures but also in our communities and families. They can unite groups of people and provide a sense of identity that many feel proud of.

In education, traditions play a large part in how and what we teach. I am beginning to wonder, though, if our loyalty to traditions is holding us back in the 21st century from becoming a truly globally inclusive and equal society.

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It’s about time we considered who benefits from education traditions in the areas below - and who they disadvantage.

1. Our curricula

Many educators are beginning to realise that traditional curricula have been designed to highlight the successes, contributions and stories of those mainly from Europe and the West.

The voices of others - including many communities who were colonised by the European nations - have been suppressed and excluded. This has resulted in narrow-minded world views, based mistakenly on privilege and perceived superiority. Educators and learners alike are poorer without knowledge of global perspectives in history and current affairs.

2. LGBT+ rights

Since the repeal of Section 28 in Scotland, there has been a growing acceptance of the rights of our LGBT+ communities, and rightly so.

Recently published LGBT+ education resources in Scotland will help educators break down stereotypes and raise awareness of the rights of these communities. Unfortunately, some responses to their release, on both social and mainstream media, showed how deeply entrenched traditional thinking is, with so many still unwilling to change their views. Work is still to be done here.

3. School starting age

The concept of learning through play has progressed into the infant years of primary school, where more schools implement a play pedagogy in the first few years; this has been shown to benefit a child’s development and readiness for the more regimented years ahead. The debate on raising the school starting age, therefore, is a very valid one.

Countries such as Finland, with some of the best outcomes in education and wellbeing, officially start school almost three years after Scottish children. We look to such countries but seem only to pick and choose certain elements of their success, which results in an unsatisfactory experience for our learners, who, for example, learn through play in P1 but are made to sit standardised tests at the age of 5.

4. School uniforms

School uniforms are a very British tradition and a legacy that the Empire left in colonised countries, whereas in many other parts of the world, schools have no uniforms. But is this a tradition that holds us back? I feel that uniform promotes equity and unites a school community with a shared sense of identity, although it is absolutely right that those who cannot afford new uniforms should be supported by local authorities.

I do think we need to consider reviewing what uniforms should be. Is it practical to expect early primary pupils to wear shirts, ties and blazers? As smart as they look, these requirements may not complement our push on learning on through play. Maybe we should focus more on developing confidence and skills rather than worrying about how our learners look.

5. Homework

This is another debate worth having in 21st-century education. What really is the benefit of homework? I’m sure most of my colleagues will agree that the learners who would really benefit from completing homework or extra revision at home are often the ones that lack support at home or are disengaged and don’t complete it.

Homework is also not enforceable, so why do teachers commit hours every week to planning, organising and marking it? Homework should instead be viewed as an opportunity to encourage family learning and participation, empowering parents and carers to become part of their child’s learning. Often, families who feel they can’t support their child’s learning have had negative experiences in education themselves, so maybe this can be an opportunity for them to re-engage.

6. Our workforce

Teaching is a white profession, certainly here in Scotland. Narcissism has a lot to do with this: people want to work with those who look like them, who share the same interests, languages and culture. Pupils who see no representation of themselves in role models at school, in their curriculum or in their books, do not want to join a profession that does not value their ethnicity and background.

Thankfully, the tide is changing, although very slowly. But we need to think more about proactive measures that will address the lack of diversity in our workforce.

Nuzhat Uthmani is a Glasgow primary teacher, vice-chair of the EIS teaching union’s anti-racist Sub-committee and founder of Global Citizenship Education Scotland