Scottish Union for Education - Newsletter No9
Newsletter Themes: The dangers of Holyrood progressivism, labelling children, and library closures
This week’s newsletter, Stuart Waiton, academic and Chairperson of the Scottish Union for Education, reflects on the impact of the departing First Minister on public life in Scotland. Julie Sandilands looks at policies for children with additional support needs and special educational needs and the willingness of schools to place children on the ASN/SEN registers. We have had several letters from parents concerned about school discipline and welcome any thoughts on the subject, particularly from teachers. To finish, an anonymous storyteller has written in to remind us of the joy of tales, libraries and librarians. SUE members would like to see reading and literature placed at the centre of both primary and secondary curricula.
Humza’s progressivism is not good for democracy
Stuart Waiton is Chairperson of the Scottish Union for Education
There has been a lot of talk over the past month about the legacy of Nicola Sturgeon. For me, one of her key legacies is the way she has helped to transform and undermine the meaning of democracy through the institutionalisation of identity politics. This change is not one that is simply embodied in the former First Minister. You can see it whenever you enter Holyrood to sit on one of their many committees filled with interest groups, or indeed when you read the myriad ‘progressive’ policy proposals that come out of the Scottish Parliament.
Find an institution in Scotland and you are likely to come across the influence of these unelected interest groups – groups that are often funded by the state and who then feed back into the state to parrot the beliefs and prejudices of those in authority.
I’m still surprised at how many times I come across some reference to LGBT Youth Scotland, for example, a group that appears to be supported by and that influences just about every state institution in the country. Originally led by James Rennie, the group gets at least some of its kudos from the association with ‘youth’ but of course is not led by young people but by individuals like Rennie, who turned out not to be so youth-friendly after all.
The appeal of the ‘youth voice’ is interesting in and of itself, as historically the use of youth wings or youth organisations to promote policies has been associated with some of the most anti-democratic and authoritarian regimes in modern history.
Discussing the Sturgeon legacy, the co-leader of the Scottish Green Party, Patrick Harvie, explained that a key part of her character as a politician was her ‘commitment to be an ally to marginalised people’. This type of politics, politics of the ‘marginalised’, appears to be progressive but is in fact the very opposite.
Mass politics in the UK emerged in the twentieth century and was easily identified through the mass membership of, in particular, the Labour and Conservative parties, and with the associated groups that supported them, most noticeably the trade union movement that backed Labour. Ignoring the many flaws of this set-up, politics did at least have a majoritarian dimension and an often direct relationship with the public, whose voice was heard through our representative democracy.
The ‘marginalised’, in comparison, are often made up of small, sometimes tiny groups of activists who claim to be the ‘voice of a community’. Or we find politicians acting as the ‘voice of the voiceless’, which is a handy slight of hand for a politician, especially one who has little or no connection with the mass of people who really would like their actual voice to be heard.
Talk of the marginalised should be understood as a form of politics that is anti-majoritarian, anti the mass of ordinary people. The clue is in the names. This is a politics of the margins: of those often-imagined groups, or ‘communities’, who in the minds of progressive politicians are seen as needing protection from the deplorable masses.
Even our unions have been transformed over recent decades, and we find that they themselves often feel far more comfortable engaging with the margins than with their mass membership. For example, despite the myriad issues that education faces at the moment, it was noticeable that the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), Scotland’s biggest teaching union, still found time to put out a statement about gender recognition this month, which read, ‘The EIS is clear that trans women are women and trans men are men.’ One wonders what their position must be on male rapists being placed in women’s prisons, or indeed how the EIS square their marginal position with the voice of the majority.
When Humza Yousaf made his speech about Scotland being run by white people, he similarly appeared to be progressive and to be challenging the elites. But his spitting of the word ‘white’ sits far more comfortably with these very same elites who are more than happy to promote the problem of ‘whiteness’ (read, ‘white people’) in our schools. The politics of the margins is, in reality, part of a modern form of misanthropy and contempt for the imagined bigoted majority.
There is more to this anti-democratic trend than the mere, if significant, influence of certain interest groups, or the virtue signalling of modern politicians, and that is the wider shift in the meaning of freedom from something that was external, public and political, to something that has become internal, personal and emotional.
You can see this most clearly with the issue of freedom of speech, a politically liberal ideal that related to the public right not only to speak but, perhaps more importantly, to hear. Today, this idea of freedom has shifted, and the new freedom that carries more weight is that of the freedom from offence.
When councils and the police sign up to LGBT policies, part of what they are doing is adopting this new type of ‘freedom’, adopting an approach that understands people to be emotionally fragile, especially those who (apparently) ‘live on the margins’. And so we end up with a new moral absolute, a new ‘good’, a new type of freedom, often articulated through the mantra of ‘protecting the vulnerable’. Note that almost invariably when this phrase is used, the outcome is that more powers are given to the authorities to determine the lives and freedoms of the majority.
We can see how this pans out with examples such as the recent Portobello Library fiasco in Edinburgh, which has been brilliantly exposed by Susan Dalgety. Dalgety notes, ‘What price free speech in Edinburgh? Six hundred pounds plus VAT, if you’re concerned parents who want to hire a room in their local library to discuss sex education in schools.’
In their wisdom, the police and council in Edinburgh contrived to charge local parents £600+ because of the threat that this event would be disrupted by trans activists. Parents, whose voice I would suggest reflect that of the majority, and who have concerns about schools presenting contested ideas about sex, gender and ‘gender identity’ as fact, and even socially transitioning pupils' were forced to pay security and for the right to simply organise a public discussion about this.
The politics of the margins, weighed down with identity politics and the new freedom from offence, meant that a mob of activists was given moral weight to disrupt a public discussion by the very council and police force that is meant to defend democracy and to reflect the wishes of the majority in society. And true to form, the mob did exactly that: setting rape alarms off in the library, hiding in rooms and needing security guards to carry them out, and disrupting the entire event with screaming megaphone chants aimed at intimidating the speakers and parents who attended.
This shameful performance is Sturgeon’s legacy. Let us hope that Dundee City Council and our local police force understand the importance of democracy and the need for public debate, because we are holding an event of our own.
Are schools harming children by affirming their ‘transgender identity’?
Wednesday 12 April – 6.30 p.m. Dundee – new venue to be confirmed due to cancellation by the original venue
Speakers
Jim Sillars, former Deputy Leader of the SNP
Maggie Mellon, independent social worker
Ewan Gurr, Evening Telegraph columnist
Dr Jenny Cunningham, SUE board member and retired community paediatrician.
All those who want to debate rather than disrupt this event are warmly welcome.
Why are so many Scottish children labelled with ‘additional support needs’?
Julie Sandilands is an English/business teacher who worked in several secondary schools in Fife until 2017. Now based in Cumbria, she works as a private tutor teaching children both in and out of mainstream provision.
In a recent article, we looked at Restorative Practice (RP) in Scottish schools. In a nutshell, the embodiment of this strategy means we have gone from ‘Sit down, be quiet and do as you’re told’ to ‘What went wrong for you today?’ and ‘How can I help to make things better?’ It is widely understood that poor behaviour is one of the biggest barriers to education, but there is another factor which needs to be addressed: the substantial rise in pupils diagnosed as having additional support needs (ASN). The latest Scottish government statistics state: ‘The number of pupils identified with additional support needs (ASN) has increased markedly since 2010 and there continue to be year on year increases. These increases were likely due in part to continued improvements in recording and the introduction of the additional need types “Child plans” and “Other” in 2011.’ England’s SEN figures from the Department for Education can be found here: ‘The number of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) increased to 1.49 million pupils in 2022, representing 16.5% of all pupils. The proportion of pupils with SEN had been decreasing since 2010 (21.1%), however it has increased for the last 5 years.’
The Scottish government statistics also state that ‘There were 241,639 pupils (34.2% of all pupils) with an additional support need (ASN) recorded in 2022.’ In 2010/11, when the changes highlighted above were introduced, 9.5% of pupils in Scotland were recorded as having an ASN. With an increase to more than a third, it now seems appropriate to investigate the possible causes behind this worrying trend. I have worked with children in a professional capacity for nearly 26 years and have on several occasions found cause to query the logic behind both diagnosis and data collection. I list some of my questions below.
During my time as a foster carer, I was looking after a 14-year-old boy who because of family breakdown had been placed in emergency care. I was asked to accompany him to a clinic to complete an ADHD assessment. The child sat in front a screen for 20 minutes, watching coloured shapes move about, and had to click the mouse every time they changed in colour or shape. I was intrigued as to how this assessment would be used and what other assessments would be carried out, so I asked the receptionist if I could speak directly to the specialist in charge. I was told that she was not in that day and that the parent/carer would get a follow-up phone call. Are the current assessments used by clinical professionals complex and thorough enough to diagnose ASD, ADHD and related conditions accurately? What internal audit systems are in place to ensure consistency in diagnosis and quality decision-making?
Once a clinical diagnosis has been reached for a child, there are a number of financial support schemes that parents/carers can apply for, for example Disability Living Allowance, between £24.45 and £156.90 a week, and the Carers’ Allowance, £69.70 a week. Does the benefit system encourage parents/carers to seek a clinical diagnosis? A 15-year-old boy placed in emergency care with me had a penchant for stealing and crashing cars. Since his social worker neglected to pass on this critical information, I was unprepared for this. He stole my car and drove more than 60 miles before picking up his mates and crashing into a parked car. Fortunately nobody was hurt. At the request of his mother, his was assessed and received a clinical diagnosis which was taken into account when he was being sentenced, resulting in a fine and ongoing supervision by the local Youth Offending Team.
Throughout my teaching career I have noticed that some pupils, once they had received their official clinical diagnosis, would then recreate themselves within the parameters of that condition, actually leading to a deterioration in behaviour and attitude which was subsequently excused and explained as the ‘expected behaviour’. I cannot recall how many times a child, when challenged about his or her behaviour, replied: ‘It’s not my fault, I’ve got ADHD.’
Do parents/carers, social services and schools struggling to manage a child’s behaviour look for official evidence, an official reason that partly removes accountability from themselves and the child for any consequences of the child’s behaviour?
A non-clinical diagnosis is usually done in schools by the additional support staff. In Scotland, factors such as communication support needs, young carer, bereavement, substance misuse, family issues and risk of exclusion are all part of the criteria staff use to decide on ASN status. Once identified, pupils receive support in several ways including timeout cards, exemption from certain school rules, reduced timetables and safe spaces set aside for morning and lunchtime breaks.
One morning, while teaching at a secondary school in Fife, I accompanied my registration class to the year assembly in the hall, that day being taken by the pastoral team, known as Principal Teachers of Guidance. On each chair was a small card with several questions, including: ‘Are you expected to tidy your bedroom?’ and ‘Do you help with shopping or housework?’ The responses were going to be used to identify any student who might fall within the criteria of having an ASN. I remember thinking that if I and my peers had been asked either of those two questions at that age, the SEN register would have included the whole school! Are schools too eager to identify and add pupils to the SEN register? Are schools under pressure from parents/carers to identify their child as having an ASN in order to benefit from extra support in school?
There is no doubt that there is a genuine increase in children demonstrating behaviour patterns that warrant robust investigation and deserve the appropriate support. This has been further exacerbated by increased level of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents since the catastrophic decision to close schools during the Covid era. Nevertheless, with finite resources, the ‘year on year increases’ are not sustainable. What percentage of pupils with an ASN within the system do we have to reach before we really start to pay attention and avoid a crisis in the classroom?
No more ‘happily ever after’ in the library
In February this year, the TES reported that several Scottish local authorities would be getting rid of the school librarian. One lover of literature felt compelled to comment on what will be lost with the closure of libraries and the eradication of librarians.
Once upon a time someone told a lie. The lie was repeated, as lies often are, and became bigger and bigger till everyone in the land believed it to be true and no one dared to say any different. That lie was that Scotland had the best education system in the world – unbeatable! No comparison! Envy of all whosoever could wield a piece of chalk. Inside that lie lay another falsehood, that Scotland was a land of poets and scribers and that we coveted the written word beyond all other things – that by reading and writing that any ‘lad or lassie o pairts’ come make good and rule the world.
To that end, every school was given a magician with magical properties and spells. Children were to flock, brought by their teachers, to the enchanted land where the younglings could find everything they could ever need to make them successful, confident, responsible and effective – and all for free! The magician would guide these precious children to open their minds and think beyond the day to day, would support their creativity, hobbies and schoolwork; and would help them find worlds both real and imagined in a safe and nurturing environment. What price would a nation put on such an offer? Surely a priceless asset to any nation, school, and child?
Well, it seems that the magicians and all their magic are expendable and no longer of value. North Lanarkshire sacked all 23 of theirs just before Christmas, and their rooms now lie vacant, to be turned into storage or classrooms. Inverclyde moved their last two, to be replaced by untrained staff. East Renfrewshire plans to ‘delete’ their last remaining 3.5, and Midlothian are taking a year to think about what next to do with theirs. School librarians are magicians – making tiny budgets stretch for miles and teaching essential lessons on critical thinking and digital literacy. School librarians encourage reading for pleasure and support the mental health of our children.
But sadly, Scotland, the land of Burns and Banks, of Breslin and Barrie, no longer values these experiences and skills, and the Scottish government stands idly by with platitudes not action. This is not happily ever after.
News Round-up
A selection of the main stories with relevance to Scottish education in the press in recent weeks.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/23/dont-know-who-fancy-queer-schools-tell-children/ Daniel Sanderson, If you don’t know who you fancy then you’re queer, schools tell children. Edinburgh’s top state school also teaches that there are three biological sexes and suggests highly controversial concepts are facts. 23/03/23
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/ghost-children-the-pupils-who-never-came-back-after-lockdown/ Harriet Sergeant, Ghost children: the pupils who never came back after lockdown. 25/03/23
Malcolm Clark, Sex Education: The Nicolson Paradox
When MPs sound off on subjects, they know nothing about it’s never a good idea as John Nicolson proved when he spoke out about Sex Education in schools. 22/03/23
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/03/23/florida-principal-fired-michelangelo-david-pornographic Torey Akers, Florida school principal fired for showing students Michelangelo’s ‘pornographic’ David sculpture. Tallahassee Classical School’s principal, Hope Carrasquilla, was fired following parental complaints her Renaissance curriculum was too risqué 23/03/23
http://www.sedaa.org/2023/03/wakefield-blasphemy-incident-is-a-wake-up-call-that-we-could-lose-the-the-freedoms-we-enjoy-in-britain/ Khadija Khan, Wakefield ‘Blasphemy’ incident is a wake up call that we could lose the freedoms we enjoy in Britain. 21/03/23
https://compactmag.com/article/welcome-to-terf-island?fbclid=IwAR0dS9m9FgahfoSe3MceoDiBBKXgUFZWpslEEBYtY23jF27O3y5LaZWSSWk Nina Power, Welcome to TERF Island. 22/03/23
https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/gillian-keegan-transgender-guidance-schools Callum Mason, Keegan promises draft transgender guidance this spring. The education secretary says it is ‘incredibly important’ that the government takes the time to get its transgender guidance for schools right. 22/03/23
https://forwomen.scot/24/03/2023/gender-identity-theory-in-schools/ FWS, Gender Identity Theory in Schools. So what does the T mean? 24/03/23
https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/nicola-sturgeon-not-step-scottish-080217201.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGBdfvt_jwi8621hNxxfe849bEWFpCxKEDaoGY33KDRlozZma3BMNZwmypBC77RKBZkb4RAFIZ_vfpzBsv8B7aobpvAzOpMA3XYH3rwwAtjPeuXi9OyJ9sL7pf9mF-L5GV-Av4seWHl9aVDa_srCst11b6vCkZkG9mFOQXXmHF-j Jody Harrison, Nicola Sturgeon: ‘I was not out of step with Scottish public over gender reforms’. 21/03/23
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/mar/27/humza-yousaf-profile-snp-scotland-first-minister Severin Carrell, Humza Yousaf: continuity candidate taking over as Scottish first minister. Part of the SNP government for over a decade, the 37-year-old is now Holyrood’s first minority ethnic leader after a bitter contest. 27/03/23
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