"As long as a hundred of us remain alive we will never be subject to English dominion, because it is not for glory or riches or honours that we fight but for freedom alone, which no worthy man loses except with his life. " Arbroath 1320.
The Scots develop citizens as whole. It is not about the riches and honours, but about continual growth. Scots believe education should be available to everyone and that money should not be a factor. There is a strong sense of pride among Scots. They are proud of the work they've done and want to have their own sense of identity, even in education. The Scots were not quick to blame or bash the government, but want to remain autonomous regardless of the rest of the UK. We wonder what the English perspective of the Scots are since seems to be a clear divide.
They weren't quick to bash England which I, too, thought was interesting. I also wonder if Scotland will come up when visiting the school in London. I think we've seen a strong sense of pride not only at the school but also with our tour guide, Eddie. He took much pride in his homeland and the history of it. I also thought that their value of self-reflection had ties to the saying from the sign. Being self-reflective is a way of continually getting better and I feel like they are doing this in order to become better and better.
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ReplyDeleteI agree. I thought it was interesting that they were hesitant to raise taxes because it might cause citizens to move out of the country. This is just demonstrates how many factors are at play when making decisions for education. It is never as simple as, "What is best for the children." And even when it is, we have to take into consideration all children. As today's speaker mentioned, the assessments were helpful when measuring some sub-groups. But at what cost to the entire educational system? --Brooke Walden
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ReplyDeleteI agree. The sense of pride among the Scots is understood from the moment you arrive here. The educational system is no exception. The teachers and students from Castlehead were clearly proud of the system that is in place in Scotland with the exception of the multiple testings. The head teacher seemed confused by the question about what countries they aspired to be like. He eventually came up with Finland but looked confused for a moment, like why would we want to be like anyone else?
ReplyDeleteI love their mindset and slightly embarrassed by our country's actions. We are a money first, react and ask questions later society. We want results immediately without truly understanding the problem and wonder why our decisions did not change the outcome.
ReplyDeleteI think autonomy of the Scottish people is extremely evident in every facet that I have noticed. The Scottish teachers were very slow to speak ill of the British, which we thought would be a likely outcome to many of our questions, However, they seem to be much more focused on their own issues rather than worrying what others around the world were doing/pressure from the rest of the U.K.
ReplyDeleteI was so impressed with the Scottish pride. When asked "which education system do you look up to" the answer was "basically ourselves," which I thought was so cool. I don't think Americans have that much pride in anything, especially not our education system!
ReplyDeleteThey were not quick to bash or blame anyone. I find this interesting as I feel if these same questions were asked in the US there would be finger pointing. Another thing I have to keep reminding myself of is that some of these countries are the same size as our states. If we had a smaller palette to paint as they do perhaps things would be different.
ReplyDeleteWow!! You all are experiencing so much. Thank you for sharing. I'm so impressed by the obvious pride the Scottish people hold in their education systems; so many lessons to be learned about creating a positive culture for education, and valuing education. -Ali
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