Report from Council Meeting 24 September 2008

The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTC Scotland) held its quarterly Council meeting on Wednesday 24 September 2008 at Clerwood House, Edinburgh.

Introductory Remarks by New Chief Executive

The Convener of Council welcomed Tony Finn, newly appointed Chief Executive of GTC Scotland, to his first meeting of Council and invited him to address members.

Tony Finn paid a personal tribute to Matthew MacIver, retiring GTC Scotland Chief Executive - whom he had known as a colleague and friend - in respect of his substantial contribution to Scottish education and to GTC Scotland, as recognised over the summer by the award of a doctorate by the University of Aberdeen and a professorship by the University of the Highlands and Islands.

Mr Finn went on to emphasise that in his new role he shared responsibility with Council members in terms of enhancing standards, contributing to the quality of teaching and learning, and in the regulating of the teaching profession in Scotland.

In conjunction with Council members, he also looked forward to seeking to progress matters in a number of areas at national level, including -

• the opportunity of Council to influence national discussions through its advisory involvement in the Teacher Workforce Planning Group
• the promotion of pedagogy in the Curriculum for Excellence programme and ensuring teachers were appropriately trained for its delivery
• the involvement of the Council in discussions with the Scottish Government in relation to its plans to grant independent status to GTC Scotland
• in terms of the Chartered Teacher process, being sensitive to the needs of Chartered Teachers and the needs of schools, and recognising the strengths of the current process and the intentions of those who had put it in place, whilst ensuring that it reflected high standards which were seen to be high.

Mr Finn flagged up the possibility of having a Chief Executive's statement at future Council meetings which would bring members up to date with events and activities in the Council.

In conclusion he welcomed the opportunity to work in partnership with Council members to improve the high standards which had characterised GTC Scotland and indicated that he looked forward to meeting members individually and getting to know them better.

GTC Scotland National Education Conference - 14/15 November 2008

Members noted that online registration for and further information on the GTC Scotland National Education Conference scheduled for 14/15 November 2008 would be available via the GTC Scotland website from 29 September.

Annual Council and Committee Self-Evaluation Exercise

A revised process for the annual self-evaluation exercise undertaken by the Council and by each of its committees was approved by members. This was based on fewer evaluation criteria than the previous process in the context of round table discussion and would cover the year from 1 April to 31 March. Dates for individual self-evaluation meetings of Council and its committees were approved as part of the 2009 Schedule of Council and Committee Meetings. Where appropriate, these evaluation meetings would be combined with a training session.

Curriculum for Excellence: Building the Curriculum 3

Members noted that the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning would be overseeing a working group looking at A Curriculum for Excellence and that the Director of Educational Policy would articulate Council's views to the group. In this regard members endorsed a number of points highlighted by the Education Committee including: within the local authority concordat framework the need for mechanisms for schools to learn from each other, the importance of local authority support for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to underpin the engagement of the teaching profession with A Curriculum for Excellence, and the concern of parents that provision over the country might be inequitable - pupils needed to have access to similar experiences and provision everywhere.

Scottish Government Consultation on the Next Generation of National Qualifications

Considerable discussion took place concerning the drafting of a Council response to the above consultation. A number of points were raised including: what was meant by the "gold standard", the role which the Scottish baccalaureate might have to play, the centrality of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) within the qualifications framework, the need to identify and recognise clear exit points from the system, a lack of reference to College sector qualifications and the need for greater emphasis on vocational qualifications, the importance of ensuring first that an appropriate curriculum was in place and then devising a suitable assessment process, and the need for space and time for staff development and to consider the implications for pedagogy.

Members were invited to submit further comments by e-mail to the Director of Educational Policy by Friday 3 October. A final draft response would be referred for consideration at the meeting of the Policy and Strategy Committee scheduled for 30 October prior to its submission to the Scottish Government on 31 October.

Further Education

Following clarification of the requirements for registration by the Council, discussions with the Association of Scotland's Colleges and the Scottish Government had been very positive. The Council would now actively promote registration with GTC Scotland to individual college lecturers, together with the related benefits. It now lay with the Scottish Government to take forward the regulatory change required to move to a generic, rather than subject specific, Teaching Qualification (Further Education).

Chartered Teacher Review

Extensive discussion had taken place at the most recent meetings of the Council's Policy and Strategy, Education and Professional Standards Committees in respect of the Chartered Teacher Review Group's report and the Cabinet Secretary's endorsement of the Review Group's recommendations in her response at the Chartered Teacher Conference held in June 2008. Further to this discussion, members approved a paper setting out the Council's response to those recommendations of the Chartered Teacher Review Group of particular relevance to GTC Scotland.

Election of Finance and General Purposes Committee Convener

Congratulations were extended to Mr Patrick Boyle on his election as Convener of the Council's Finance and General Purposes Committee.

Annual Report and Accounts - Year to 31 March 2008

Members approved the Council's Annual Report and Accounts, at the same time noting that the financial position of the Council remained strong and stable, with an appropriate level of liquidity and reserves.

Charitable Status

There had been no contact from the Scottish Charity Appeal Panel. Members noted that progress of GTC Scotland's appeal against removal form the Charity register remained suspended meantime pending clarification of the Government's proposals regarding GTC Scotland independence.

Accreditation Working Group - Pilot Project

At its June 2008 meeting the Council had approved the implementation of the report and recommendations of the Working Group set up by the Professional Standards Committee to look at ways of removing unnecessary duplication in terms of the accreditation of programmes of initial teacher education undertaken by GTC Scotland and the validation exercise carried out by the universities. As a result a pilot event had been held at one university and arrangements were in hand for a second such event. Whilst at an early stage, the pilot events would be the subject of a rigorous evaluation process.

Other Matters

Discussion took place on a number of other educational, registration, disciplinary and financial matters before the meeting concluded.