EDUCATION Secretary John Swinney, Baldrick-like, is a man for the cunning plan. His latest wheeze is to improve the nation’s schools by substantially enlarging headteachers’ powers at the expense of local councils.
In some ways it makes sense. Lines of communication would be shortened and teachers, parents and communities empowered to identify local solutions for local issues. Thinking back to my own day, we heads would no longer be able to complain about the council’s dead hand frustrating all our innovative schemes.
As it turned out, local authorities had done rather a lot for us. However, the role of the Scottish headteacher has has constantly evolved. Fifty years ago the stereotypical secondary head was aged 50 to 60, male, cautiously conservative, had worked his way up over a lengthy career and would stay put until retirement. They were generally paternalistic towards pupils and staff. Their appearance in a classroom was cause for staffroom comment. Mavericks such as RF Mackenzie were very much the exception.
My first head fitted the stereotype. The janitor’s first duty was to light the open fire in the head’s office, make his tea and lay out the morning paper. On the few occasions I was in his office, I noticed the crossword completed well before his secretary replenished the teapot for the morning interval.
Educational expansion in the late 1970s and early 80s saw the emergence of a new breed of heads. Many were in their 30s or early 40s. The number of female secondary heads rose significantly. Most of the new breed had risen promptly through the ranks and were adept at networking in the right circles. Many had no intention of hanging around in one school and some saw headship as a stepping-stone to greater things.
In some respects that trend has continued, and is writ large in England’s academies. It’s unlikely that Mr Swinney is a fan of the academies but he need look no further for potential pitfalls of increased headteacher powers. The Centre for High Performance’s (CHP) recent report on headteacher performance across 160 academies and 411 heads doubtless lies open on Mr Swinney’s desk. The report places the heads in five categories but focuses on the two identified as “surgeons” and “architects”. As the name suggests, “surgeons” cut out anything getting in the way of short-term and usually short-lived improvement as measured by exam performance. The research reveals the “surgeons” remove an astonishing 28 per cent of final year students and eight per cent of staff.
At the other end of the spectrum are the “architects” who plan meticulously for the longer term. The CHP research suggests that the exclusion rate for final-year students in schools led by “architects” is around one per cent.
The report throws up other curious features. The “surgeons” are rewarded much more generously, averaging a mindboggling £154,000. The “architects” still pocket a respectable £86,000. En passant, Scottish heads would be daft to take on additional responsibility without substantially increased remuneration. As a historian, I draw no conclusion from the fact that 71 per cent of the “surgeons” had PE backgrounds while 68 per cent of “architects” were history and economics graduates.
While the CHP research is based on English experience it is still relevant north of the Border. The Association of Directors of Education Scotland (ADES) has recently pointed out that increased responsibilities for heads will fundamentally change the nature of the job. The traditional leader of learning role would become increasingly subordinate to corporate functions. In England some “surgeons” are compared to football managers obsessed with instant “success”: league tables, competition with neighbouring schools and ruthlessly “dispensing” with under performing pupils and staff.
ADES has also indicated the potential legal pitfalls for individual schools, particularly in dealing with equality issues and additional support entitlements for youngsters experiencing learning difficulties.
Increasing headteachers’ responsibilities will also present major challenges for recruitment, selection and the development of new professional competences. Plans are afoot for mandatory new headteacher qualifications. However, previous attempts have met with mixed success.
Above all, Mr Swinney must ensure that we appoint “architects” not “surgeons” or members of the get-out-fast brigade. School improvement requires careful, long-term planning and continuity. As my late mother would have said, our schools need to be led by people who will be there for more than a “day and a dinner”.
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