Scottish education has a long tradition of educational innovation, not least because we recognise that learning is a constantly changing process. We know that the world is changing more quickly than ever and that, for children and young people to succeed, we have to ensure they are better prepared than ever.
Education Scotland is presently disseminating across educational establishments and services. an approach which brings a ‘futures’ perspective into the improvement planning cycle. ‘Promoting innovative practice and transformative change’ is a change management tool which increases the likely success of innovative change projects.
Professionals now routinely look closely at the quality of outcomes for those they serve and the processes that lead to those outcomes. We have also encouraged education professionals to look outwards much more systematically in order to learn from others so that improvement planning is ambitious and expectations are high. This often involves learning visits to colleagues’ classrooms or discussions in professional networks. More widely, to support this outward look, excellent practice has been shared online through, for example, The Journey to Excellence or our web resources supporting Curriculum for Excellence. It’s not about simply replicating what we see elsewhere. It’s about gaining an insight into how ‘best problems’, challenges and opportunities are being addressed in different contexts. With this insight, we are much better placed to find our own, unique solutions which best meet the needs of the learners we serve ourselves. To contribute to this learning system, Education Scotland has been developing new approaches which help bring a third perspective – the future perspective – to the fore within existing improvement planning cycles. By exploring the short-, medium- and long-term needs of learners we can give better, orchestrated direction to improvement strategies which might just give us the means and confidence to break down some of the long-standing and seemingly insurmountable issues, once and for all. The first of these new approaches ‘3-Horizons’ (hypertext link to more info?) helps to open up conversations which take a much more ambitious look at the future needs of learners in a rapidly changing world. It also takes account of and addresses the challenges of the present. The second resource ‘implemento’ is a set of change management tools which increases the likelihood of success when we set off on ambitious and innovative change projects. These tools help us to understand the emotions and challenges involved in change, and then plan the process of change with greatly enhanced foresight.
This site will include a range of case studies, including those from the ‘It’s my Future’ series to exemplify transformative practice across a range of education contexts.
