It was interesting last week to note what Morag Gunion, of Glasgow’s education services directorate, would like to see on the front page of TESS, namely the headline “All schools delighted to embrace Curriculum for Excellence”. But as the gloves come off over the 2+2+2 model and the real business of secondary departments - in other words, the exam system - comes more sharply into focus, I would say, “Dream on.”
Once the details of the new Nationals 4 and 5 are made public, at last, hopefully we will be able to plan a coherent curriculum that matches the excellence already present in the examination work done by most hard-working subject departments up and down the country. Perhaps then, once we can see the whole picture with the last key piece of the jigsaw in place, we will understand the endgame and will consequently be able to develop the lines of progression missing from the experiences and outcomes of CfE.
Faced with a choice between CfE vagueness and clear SQA syllabus guidelines, I wonder who will win the hearts and minds of our teachers. As I say, “Dream on, Morag, and remember the king’s new clothes.”
Rob Hands, 37 years a geography teacher.
