Scottish Union for Education – Newsletter No85
Scottish Union for Education – Newsletter No85
Newsletter Themes: a teacher speaks out, & the need for classical education for all
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The Substack has focused on the issue of transgender ideology in schools over the past few weeks. A lot has been happening on this front, and it’s worth bearing in mind that this issue, as well as being extremely important in its own right, is also something that is worth thinking about in terms of education more generally. With the ethos of schools developing around issues like children’s identity and their private selves, SUE has argued since its inception that there is a danger that this reflects a shift away from education itself.
One of the dangers of the self-identification trend is that once adults adopt this approach to children there is the possibility that just about any form of self ID becomes the norm. And, as the Scottish Professionals Advising on Gender point out, it looks as though the Scottish government and health professionals look set to side-step the Cass Review and ‘cause more harm to children and young adults'.
Last week, for example, we heard about a child identifying as a wolf and the school adopting (read encouraging) this type of self-identification. It sounds too ridiculous to be true, but we know of other schools where children identify as animals (but have yet been unable to report on them). Unsurprisingly there has been a strong reaction to the ‘wolf-child’ revelations, but with the Scottish government’s insistence on celebrating childhood identity as ‘liberation’, it’s hard to know how they will react to this.
We have to bear in mind that until relatively recently the idea that a school would validate little girls saying they are little boys (or vice versa) would have been seen as mad. But here we are. (You can watch an interview with SUE’s Dr Jenny Cunningham about her work on this issue).
Just to give a taste of things, below is an email we received from a teacher that explains how transgender ideology works in schools and how parents are often kept in the dark. Additionally, and this is a repeat story, we hear how one ‘identifying’ child was actually going through some other serious issues in her life and eventually dropped the transgender identity.
Tragically schools, egged on by our politicians and educational elites, coupled with the activists in LGBT Youth Scotland, are being cajoled into simply affirming a child’s transition, despite the horrific implications of doing so.
As you can see from the letter, this teacher – and many others – are appalled at what is happening in schools and are equally nervous about speaking out. We are thankful that these teachers exist, and they are gold dust for all of us who are trying to show what is going on in schools. So please keep your emails coming. info@sue.scot.
Another email this week came from Fotini Hamplova. If you don’t remember her, check out Substack No52, where you can read about her remarkable one-woman attempt to promote inspiring books for children. We encourage you to visit her brilliant website.
More recently, Fotini has started a Substack to promote classical education in primary schools. You can read the opening paragraphs below. Here, she also raises the question, ‘What is the role for schools if children are no longer being socialised by their parents?’ This is an important question, one that makes me more than a little uncomfortable, as it could lead to schools increasingly seeing their role as one of parenting and could arguably disempower parents. But I think it is an important and a worthwhile issue to address.
Finally, as we are on the theme of classical education, I thought I would take this opportunity to throw in my tuppence worth and write something about the purpose of education. I do this in part below, with reference to an academic paper that was forced to conclude that the curriculum in Scotland is ‘characterised by a lack of coherence and mixed messages about the place of knowledge’.
Additionally, I have reprinted a Declaration on the Classical Approach to Education.
Whatever else schools do, the essence of their role in socialising our children should be their role in transmitting the great wealth of knowledge, indeed the civilising brilliance, that is embodied in our past. This is something that every child, regardless of their background, has a right and a need to engage with, challenge and cherish.
Stuart Waiton, Chair of SUE
A letter from a concerned teacher
The letter is anonymised to protect the teacher, who simply wants to do the right thing.
Dear Stuart and members of SUE,
It was a huge relief to read your recent email news regarding a movement to ban LGBT Youth Scotland from schools.
I am a peripatetic teacher visiting state and private schools every week. I am also a concerned parent and have been looking on in horror at what is going on in the schools over the past several years.
In June, things came to a head in one particular school (state run) where they went into overdrive with promotional posters, emails to pupils and teachers, and requests to pass information on to pupils too.
It was then that I decided to document these posters, which I was only able to save as photos, since any forwarding to external addresses was not allowed.
This particular school has gone to huge efforts draping rainbow flags on both sides of the school entrance and pursuing an aggressive agenda promoting LGBTQ etc.
In another state school, I was informed by the guidance team that a new pupil of mine identified as a boy and had new pronouns for the occasion but that her parents were not to be told! Thereafter – week in, week out – guidance updated me as to the new ‘boy’s’ name for that particular week.
Needless to say that this was evidently a cry for help from a young girl whose parents had divorced. The mother was with a new family and had no time for her, and the father was taking on sole care of his daughter.
This was a cry for help and not a pandering situation. Luckily, that pupil is now settled and happy to be her biological self and has turned out to be a lovely, highly intelligent person.
Other teachers in the state schools will testify to the fact that we were all forced to sign non-disclosure contracts when Nicola Sturgeon got into power (see Appendix Contract).
I would very much like to do my bit to help with this situation, but I hope you can appreciate the implications for me if my identity is revealed.
Something has to be done.
Several colleagues of mine have secretly confided in me their disgust at what’s happening and the need to unite and eradicate this illness pervading our schools.
Please let me know how I can be of use in this matter, and I hope these posters can be forwarded to the powers that be as evidence of blatant grooming and indoctrination in schools.
Yours in hope and solidarity
Appendix Contract
I wanted to double check with my colleague before responding. He too remembers this well. In 2016 our manager for our section of teaching brought us this contract that we all had to sign at an in service and which I didn’t at the time. I think I was the last to sign and only because he came to my place of work with the contract and there was no getting out of it. We were not given a copy ( for which I could kick myself) but I did read through it and it was to the effect that as employees of the council, we were not allowed to criticise the government on any of our social media outlets or communicate any grievances to any journalists or divulge matters pertaining to internal school processes to any third party not affiliated with the government/council. Any problems or issues we had; the agreement was to take these matters directly to management.
I did see this as an infringement on my freedom of speech and was reluctant to be dictated to. However, he was a new manager and since “everyone else” had to sign, so did I. What would be interesting would be to see if our newly appointed colleagues have been made to sign a similar contract.
Primary schools need to be forever evolving but never changing
Fotini Hamplova belongs to that species that we all thought was extinct – she is a happy housewife. Before she met her husband, she used to have a crush on C. S. Lewis. She also has a doctorate in Ancient Philosophy, specialising in Socratic education.
Do schools need to keep up with the times?
People often think that the aims and processes of education need to change to adapt to ‘the times’. This makes some instinctive sense. We can all understand that children in a mostly illiterate agricultural society need to learn different things than children in developed, highly technological societies. Societies use education to prepare new generations to enter their ranks in an able and positive way. As our societies change, therefore education changes also.
The view that education needs to be agile and evolve to meet the changing needs of society is often based on the idea that education is primarily concerned with preparing people for the economy. As the economy shifts, the needs for workers also shifts. It is a very widespread view both in theory and in policy. The World Economic Forum, for example, has published a paper saying that the changing demands on education are in fact so large that education as we know it cannot possibly keep up. The crisis (of learning aims) is so intense that we need to reinvent education altogether. I quote: ‘…it’s clear that following the traditional path of transferring skills by means of education isn’t working anymore. The skills needed to work today change so fast that no education system can keep up with the constant need to reinvent how we work and live together.’ (Bandelli A. ‘Education can’t keep up with our fast-moving world. Here’s what needs to change.’ 27 June 2017)
In this essay, I am going to suggest that this is a wrong way to look at education and that it distracts us from our proper focus as educators. First, I am going to make the case that education does not change essentially over time. Our tail is not on fire. Concentrating on following the ‘traditional path’ as well as we can is precisely what we should be doing. Then I am going to say something about the ways in which societal shifts do change the role of education, where we are today, and what social needs we ought to be taking into account. Notice that I will only be discussing primary-level schooling – what North Americans call elementary school. Some of these claims may be true regarding adult learning, but they should not have much influence in the education of children. I will say that this is because children are still ‘developing their humanity’ and that therefore they have some ‘fixed needs’ which are true for all humans across time.
You can read Fotini’s Substack here. Fotini hopes to set up a Primary School in Edinburgh based on a Classical model. If you want to help her in this project get in touch. info@sue.scot.
The curriculum we need
Stuart Waiton is Chair of SUE
In 2014, an academic paper was written by Mark Priestly and Claire Sinnema that asked the question, ‘Is the curriculum in Scotland downgrading knowledge?’
The authors concerned themselves not just with Scotland but with changes they identified across the English-speaking world that included a move away from specific knowledge-based content towards a generic skills-based approach coupled with an emphasis on the centrality of the learner.
Critics, they note, argued that this was downgrading knowledge, and while knowledge (perhaps inevitably) continued to be important, Priestly and Sinnema concluded that these concerns were at least partially justified because the curriculum in Scotland is ‘characterised by a lack of coherence and mixed messages about the place of knowledge’.
Rather than knowledge being at the heart of schooling, they note that ‘the acquisition of knowledge remains only one of a variety of purposes of education within the new curriculum, rather than the key purpose that distinguishes education from other activities… In such a context, one might therefore argue that in reducing the primacy of knowledge in the curriculum, governments are indeed downgrading knowledge.’
The authors of this paper see the flexibility given to teachers could result in a better form of teaching. However, I would argue that this will only be the case if the culture within education is strongly focused on transmitting knowledge to children.
The Downgraded curriculum paper was written ten years ago, and as we have seen, standards continue to fall in Scottish schools. A key reason for this is that the culture in education has moved ever further away from the focus on schools being all about knowledge. Whether in teacher training, or in educational documents about the ethos of teaching, what we find is a preoccupation not with knowledge but with social justice ‘education’. Equally, we find that there is less and less of an emphasis on the need for disciplined learners, and a rapid rise in the idea that teachers (as quasi-therapists) should increasingly concern themselves with the ‘wellbeing’ of pupils.
The results of these developments have been disastrous for education in Scotland.
As a potential solution to these confusions within our schools, below we have reprinted the Declaration on the Classical Approach to Education that has been developed by the think tank MCC Brussels. We hope that this can be used by parents and teachers to start a discussion about how to re-establish the Scottish education system as one of the best in the world.
…And if you’re in Edinburgh this Thursday 26th September, you can catch SUE’s Stuart Baird discussing Education Scotland: Leaving Excellence Behind.
Declaration on the Classical Approach to Education
‘Conservatism, in the sense of conservation, is of the essence of the educational activity, whose task is always to cherish and protect something – the child against the world, the world against the child, the new against the old, the old against the new.’ (Hannah Arendt, The Crisis in Education, 1954).
We, in recognition of the renewed crisis facing education systems across the Western world, seek to renew education by returning to its classical roots.
Classical education is a rigorous system of education that is content-heavy and based on an appreciation of the best of human culture from Socrates to David Hume and from Shakespeare to Goethe. This classical approach has been followed by generations of people, from those in Ancient Rome right through the rise of industrial society and beyond.
The knowledge-based curriculum assumes that a child needs to know the facts about their world before they can develop their critical faculties. Classical education trains children in the foundations of human knowledge and understanding so that, as they grow and mature, they can develop their ability to observe, analyse and question, compare their understanding with others, and engage in dialogue and debate.
Declaration:
Knowledge is fundamental to civilised life. School education’s unique role is to transmit knowledge first.
The ultimate aim of education is to develop the child as an intellectually independent human being through the inculcation of virtues. The aim of intellectual independence precludes the imposition of ideological narratives.
Education rests on the authority of the teacher, and the teacher’s authority rests on their command of a subject.
The principle of subsidiarity should guide educational authorities. Parents should have the freedom to make choices about their children’s education
Further:
Knowledge is fundamental to civilised life. School education’s unique role is to transmit knowledge first:
A vital part of any education is acquainting students with their intellectual, historical and cultural legacy.
Complex knowledge of and proficiency in the humanities, (especially history, literature, and philosophy) serves as a foundation for understanding the world.
Disciplinary knowledge – the knowledge of a subject – is logically prior to the teaching of skills. Knowledge-based education cannot be replaced by a skill-focused education.
The removal of intellectual substance from education dispossesses students of the intellectual legacy of humanity and leads to rootlessness, alienation and the politicisation of the curriculum.
STEM subjects are a vital part of the curriculum. But they take no precedence over the humanities and arts. Indeed, these different elements of the education system should always be taught alongside each other.
A classical education insists on the education of aesthetic sensibility in addition to knowledge of the humanities.
The ultimate aim of education is to develop the child as an intellectually independent human being through the inculcation of virtues. The aim of intellectual independence precludes the imposition of ideological narratives:
Good education instils the Socratic virtues: through doubt, questioning and argument we grasp the truth.
We feel deep scepticism about single-issue movements, ideological control, and the attempt to instil values through education: we enjoy complexity, debate, and change.
The extreme reliance on psychology and therapy in education undermines the capacity of students to achieve intellectual independence. We believe that a sound pedagogical practice relies on the resources provided by philosophy, the disciplinary insights specific to different academic subjects, and the virtues transmitted through generations of experience.
It is crucial to promote the virtues of discipline and hard work rather than the therapeutic approach that relies on emotional validation and affirmation.
The classical education aims to provide the pupil with the foundation to live a good, noble life.
Education rests on the authority of the teacher, and the teacher’s authority rests on their command of a subject:
The authority of the teacher is the foundation for an effective education because it is the teacher’s role to pass on knowledge.
The so-called student-led education, which seeks to bypass the teacher’s role, can only lead to an inferior form of schooling.
A good teacher, grounded in their knowledge of the subject, should be able to exercise their professional judgement as to how best to teach pupils.
The teacher must be in charge of the classroom, and this should be strongly supported by the school community.
The aim of good teaching is to educate young people to eventually become intellectually independent. Once students gain intellectual maturity, the teacher–student relationship becomes more like a partnership.
All pedagogical methods that lead to effective learning are worth considering. Openness to learning from experience makes for sound education.
Digital technology or AI can contribute to the process of learning; however, education is always accomplished by teachers rather than machines.
The principle of subsidiarity should guide educational authorities. Parents should have the freedom to make choices about their children’s education:
The state’s role in education systems differs according to different cultural, social and historical backgrounds. European systems follow different paths to Atlantic systems. Both models are products of organic development which should not be artificially changed.
The state should be involved in the strategic management of education, such as the design of a framework curriculum, regulation of assessment, and teacher training. School leaders, educators and parents have responsibilities concerning local content and school-management.
It is important to permit the establishment of independent schools as religious or private institutions.
Parents should have the freedom to make choices about their children’s education.
The school should not take over the role of parents in relation to children’s wellbeing.
The ultimate responsibility of learning, career and life management belongs to the pupil (and his/her parents).
Education should not be politicised; the indoctrination of students violates the vocation of teaching.
Signatories to this declaration include academics and educationalists from across Europe, including SUE’s Substack editor Dr Penny Lewis.
Reference
Priestly M, Sinnema C. 2014. ‘Downgraded curriculum? An analysis of knowledge in new curricula in Scotland and New Zealand.’ Curriculum Journal, Special Edition: Creating Curricula: Aims, Knowledge, and Control.
News round-up
A selection of the main stories with relevance to Scottish education in the press in recent weeks, by Simon Knight
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13854683/children-referred-specialist-gender-service-scotland.html Mary Wright, Children as young as seven among 352 youngsters referred to specialist gender service for under 18s in the past year alone.
https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/education-s4-victorian-scottish-government-exams-jenny-gilruth-4789448 Alexander Brown, Scottish pupils to sit fewer exams, but calls for SNP to scrap tests rejected amid lack of ‘ambition’ anger. 19/09/24
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13866107/school-pupil-species-dysphoria-identify-wolf.html Graham Grant, Howling mad! Fury as school allows pupil suffering from 'species dysphoria' to identify as a WOLF. 18/09/24
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/19/swedish-children-to-start-school-a-year-earlier-six Miranda Bryant, Swedish children to start school a year earlier in move away from play. Compulsory preschool year for six-year-olds to be replaced with extra year in primary school from 2028. 19/09/24
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/gcse-english-texts/ Jake Kerridge, No GCSE student should have to read Of Mice and Men again. The list of set texts offered by exam boards needs a revamp. So what should be added to the curriculum, and what should be dropped? 16/09/24
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/will-frances-school-uniform-experiment-foster-egalite/ James Tidmarsh, Will France’s school uniform experiment foster égalité? 15/09/24
https://www.scotpag.com/post/standards-what-standards?utm_campaign=5fa733d4-6995-479f-9adc-b99a2b544d15&utm_source=so&utm_medium=mail&cid=8ba70ec0-5e5a-451a-a2b5-fa029719421b Authored by a GP and an educationalist; An analysis of the Scottish Government GI healthcare team standards (SGHTS) in relation to the Cass recommendations. 11/09/24
https://archive.is/r1wA9 Daniel Martin, Conversion therapy ban for trans people could backfire and put girls at risk, UN expert warns. Ban could make it easier to ‘fast track’ lesbian and autistic girls on the path of gender transitioning. 22/09/24
https://archive.is/soxWI Caroline Williams, ADHD: What's behind the recent explosion in diagnoses? Cases of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are rocketing, but what's the cause? Fortunately, we now have a better understanding of the condition - and how to identify those who have it. 02/05/23
https://archive.is/H8HMZ Sanchez Manning, How Britain ‘hugely overstated’ its trans population. For the first time ever, Britain’s most trusted source of statistics stands accused of publishing false census data. 19/09/24
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