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APPENDIX
Public feeling about educational problems in Scotland

From the Regional Information Officer, Scotland.

This report does not incorporate the viewpoint of educational experts. It was compiled by ascertaining the opinions of representatives of different groups within the community - business people; professional people; workers in shops, offices and factories; housewives; young people; and people in rural areas. Opinions expressed at discussion groups on education among Civil Defence workers, Women's Land Army groups, and Women's Rural Institute groups have also been noted.

There seems to be very little spontaneous interest in education; seldom does the subject come up in general conversation. Several correspondents deliberately tried to introduce the topic in desultory discussion with their friends but without result. On the other hand, where a discussion group set out to talk about education, opinions were freely expressed.

The public seems to be very vague as to what is going on in the educational field and as to what proposals have been put forward. Educational reform is considered generally less urgent than the solution of employment problems and housing difficulties. This, in spite of the fact that discussion groups invariably conclude that education is the fundamental and possibly the most important social service, in view of the importance of training the next generation along the right lines.

The educational topics which are most in the public mind at the moment seem to be (1) the school-leaving age, (2) the question of equality of opportunity and (3) school meals.

In considering all that follows it must be borne in mind that interest in this subject is still at a low level; those most exercised on the subject, apart from educational experts, being clergymen and other social workers.

1. The School-leaving age

The division of opinion which was noticeable before the war has become less acute. Fewer voices are raised against the proposal to increase the school-leaving age. “People are getting used to the idea.” Those who wish the leaving age to be kept at 14 do so for the following reasons:-

Reasons for raising the age are more vaguely expressed:-

The hope that the additional year will be used in a positive way to develop a sense of responsibility is widely expressed. Many deplore the fact that children leaving school now are inadequately equipped for life. The need for “social education” especially during the last year or so of school life and the necessity for citizenship training is stressed over and over again.

The idea is gaining ground that girls should be taught more domestic economy and be especially well grounded in modern mothercraft. For boys the general public seems to agree that training in craftsmanship, or even more narrow vocational training, should be embarked on during this extra period.

All correspondents agree that if the age is raised most careful consideration must be given to the curriculum.

2. Compulsory after-school education

People generally seem very vague as to what is meant by this term; in Glasgow and Edinburgh day continuation classes are in the poorer areas confused with the Junior Instruction Centres for unemployed boys and girls which existed before the war. The women members of a discussion group on education concluded that “day continuation classes are condemned out of hand. Such classes are finishing schools for unemployables”.

Existing evening schools come in for much criticism too, especially the English and arithmetic taught there. “I had occasion to deal with butcher apprentices a few years ago and found that whilst they attended the practical classes regularly, they absented themselves from the English and arithmetic classes. They could not see what was the use of writing essays on ‘Coal’, ‘The Seasons’ etc., or doing decimal fractions.” Correspondents suggest that the syllabuses for after-school education should be strictly vocational in type and that cultural subjects be either wiped out or have an apparent relation to everyday life.

The opinion is expressed that employers will take unkindly to day continuation classes. “You cannot expect an employer to be so interested in a boy who is only with him half the week.” Another correspondent points out that the establishment of such classes will be easy in big towns but will present many difficulties in small towns and rural areas. On the other hand it is said that “in industrial areas the vast majority of adolescents seem to have only one desire after they have begun work and that is to run after idle pleasures. In rural areas there is quite a different outlook, due, I consider, to better upbringing by the parents”. But it must be stressed that the public has shown little interest in this subject.

3. Size of School classes

There is complete unanimity among our contacts on this topic. Everyone believes that classes are too big at the moment, and the figure 20 to 30 is that most often quoted as the ideal. “More than this number might be kept in subjection, but not taught”; “With classes of 40 or over there is no bond of fellowship between the teacher and the pupil; the teacher becomes a policeman rather than a teacher”. Large classes are considered to produce ill effects on the children, especially on backward children who cannot be given the individual attention they require. Very rarely are the ill effects of large classes on teachers mentioned.

Rural correspondents write that their problem is not one of large classes but of classes which are small but diverse as to age and stage. It is admitted that the solution of this problem is not easy.

4. Status, pay, qualifications and training of teachers

Many correspondents express a nostalgic longing for the days of the old dominie under whose guidance and encouragement so many Scottish leaders were trained in the past. Some deplore the fact that in spite of the huge sums spent on education nowadays the results seem so poor. The usual plaint of businessmen that candidates for jobs can neither read, write nor spell has come in and poor teaching is assumed to be at the root of this.

School teachers in rural schools still come in for high praise. “In sparsely populated areas the teacher is the sole adviser and confidante of the people. These teachers deserve great credit for all the work they are doing. It is recognised that teachers are not overpaid and many have instanced the pay of a police inspector compared with a non-graduate headmaster, the teacher undertaking the honorary secretaryship of several associations and the police inspector confining himself entirely to his own duties.”

In contradistinction, teachers in industrial areas are much less liked. Very seldom do they live near the schools; they travel by bus or train for considerable distances. One contact remarked of his own area (a small industrial town in Lanarkshire) “I do not know a single teacher who lives here. They all rush away every night”. The system of repeated transfers is partly blamed for this, also the teacher's desire to get away from the industrial grime each evening as quickly as possible. The same is true of course of slum areas in the larger cities.

[An interesting complaint comes from ESCA - an association of Edinburgh Secondary School Children - who declare that because of the call-up of young teachers, those left in the profession are becoming ever more remote from the realities of boy and girl life. They feel that the younger teachers formed a bridge and were more sympathetic to the point of view of youth.]

Some correspondents have discussed the motives of teachers in choosing their profession. It is noted that few well-to-do people encourage their sons to enter teaching since other professions are “more looked up to” and are better paid. Many feel teachers take up the job because of the good holidays, pay and “genteel” occupation instead of a real love of teaching. The training of teachers comes in for considerable criticism but in vague and general terms. It is said that teachers should be chosen for their ability to teach and because of their “sense of vocation” rather than because of their academic qualifications. It is pointed out that ability to learn and ability to teach are two very different things.

Regarding actual conditions of teaching, the majority of the public knows very little. The middle and upper classes agree that the salary and prospects are fairly low and should be improved, but the working classes think on the whole the profession is well paid. Long holidays and free weekends are frequently pointed out.

Many think that teachers for younger children do not require “brilliant academic attainments” - but rather sympathy and understanding of children.

The opinion that teachers are too remote from everyday life is expressed again and again. To quote one correspondent who has made a special point of obtaining information on this in her contacts with the public and the Forces all over Scotland: “The status of teaching is hampered most by the teachers themselves. So many become narrow and mix only with their own profession, taking little interest in the welfare of the rest of humanity. Only a few of the public who have thought about it seem to realise that this is due to our system of training teachers. So many leave school and go straight to the training centre and then re-enter school again as teachers. They have little chance of mixing with others who will enter other professions and they start teaching with little knowledge of the economic and social struggles that must touch the lives of those whom they are going to teach.” Another correspondent writes “If every teacher could spend one year of life actually working in that sphere in which their pupils must earn their living, how very much more competent they would be.” Keeping up to date in their profession by vacation courses is also considered by some a necessary reform.

Regarding promotion, contacts from differing social groups have commented on the humiliating spectacle of teachers currying favour with Town Councillors, knowing full well that their influence rather than academic ability or successful teaching will assure their advancement.

It is recognised at the moment that there are far too few teachers and that the problem of finding sufficient enthusiasts to enter the profession after the war will be a difficult one to solve.

5. School Buildings

There is little spontaneous interest in school buildings but when attention is drawn to the question some interesting views emerge. Parents agree that schools should be modern and not too large, and conveniences such as facilities for drying clothes and shoes should be provided. Easy access to playing fields is also mentioned as necessary. Townsfolk complain that schools are like barracks and often too near busy streets where noise and dust make for discomfort. In rural districts there is much bitter complaint about inadequate buildings with poor sanitation. One correspondent complains that visitors are taken to beautiful modern schools, but the old-fashioned out-of-date buildings are kept hidden out of sight. Some contacts have been mindful of the views of ratepayers, declaring that modern buildings are required “provided they are not too expensive”. The influence of the actual buildings on the minds of the children is mentioned by one correspondent who says: “There can be no romance, no nostalgia, no treasured memories for the square box contraptions which present-day councils consider the ideal structure for modern schools. The school is one of the most important buildings in any city and should always conjure up in the mind of the child an impression not dissimilar to that of the church - in the building of which the greatest artists, sculptors and architects have given of their best for the past 2,000 years.”

6. Equality of Opportunity

Working-class people consider this a sine qua non and understand perfectly what is meant by the phrase. To quote one working-class mother: “It means that if my Jeanie wants to be a teacher she can go straight ahead.” There is some confusion of thought concerning the phrase among middle-class people. They say: “The interpretation of the phrase gives rise to many difficulties”, or “There is no such thing as equality of opportunity. Everyone is born different.” Several business and professional contacts interpreted the phrase “Equality of Opportunity” as meaning “to bring down everyone to the same low level”. “Let's have equality at all costs - let's drag down the Public Schools and the High Schools.”

7. Public Schools

“The important question should not be ‘where’ but ‘how’ were you educated?” This sums up the commonest attitude towards the present ‘snob-value’ of the Public Schools.

Many of our working-class correspondents showed by their replies that they quite misunderstood this question. In Scotland “public school” is the general name given to the common elementary school and their reply was almost invariably: “Of course we believe in public schools.”

The question is really, of course, one pertaining to English education rather than to Scottish education. Contacts such as Trade Unionists who were most denunciatory were obviously echoing official partisan views.

A few, a very few, are fervent supporters of the English Public School system. They attribute to these institutions all the virtues - the inculcation of learning, tolerance, refinement, etc., etc. The sensible viewpoint seemed to be that “the problem really does not exist here. Scottish secondary schools of good standing fulfil the functions of the English Public Schools to the satisfaction of most”.

It is interesting that many correspondents spontaneously mentioned the value of boarding schools for children - especially children in their teens. They are considered specially valuable for their citizenship training rather than their scholastic opportunities.

The Scottish public in three of the largest towns, namely Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen, have recently been exercised on the question of payment of school fees and feeling has been running pretty high. Those in favour of fees mention school tradition, the right of parents to choose where and how their children should be educated, and the wish of parents to keep their children uncontaminated by the morals and manners of the lower classes. Those in favour of abolishing fees say simply: “All education should be free” and despise “the snobbery with which fee-paying schools are infested”.

Apart from the towns mentioned, the question has apparently rarely been discussed. One remark worth noting, however, comes from a rural correspondent who deplores the fee-paying schools as taking away too many secondary school children of well-to-do parents from the country and so depleting the local secondary schools almost to the point of extinction.

8. Examinations

Most people are content to leave examinations to the educational experts. Some, however, feel there is “something wrong but we don't quite know what”. The nervous child who does badly at examinations and those whose talents do not show well at written examinations are quoted again and again. A system of complete school record instead of single examinations seems generally favoured, though parents are occasionally doubtful about individual teacher's impartiality.

Regarding the Leaving Certificate - this examination still has a most honoured place within the Scottish community but parents of L.C. candidates are conscious of the cram necessary to complete the course in five years and there is some suspicion that the aim of some schools is to produce as many L.C. successes as possible. “Examinations are more important as giving a good name to the school than giving real knowledge which children will find useful later.” Teachers are said to become nervous and irritable around examination times and the aim of “lessons” in the minds of children is “to pass exams”.

9. Vocational, Technical, Rural and General Education

(a) Vocational

The general public would like to see education more nearly vocational than it is at the moment. “The children should be taught something useful; having some bearing on their future job.” It is thought that the extra year at school should be largely devoted to vocational training.

(b) Technical

Technical training for adults is understood, but not for school children. The idea in Scotland is still new but a few enthusiasts would like to see simple engineering, for example the internal combustion engine, taught to boys in their early teens both in rural areas because of increased mechanisation of farming and in industrial areas.

(c) Rural

People in rural areas are becoming alive to the fact that secondary education fits country children for “anything but” rural life. Thoughtful members of rural communities would like to see drastic changes in rural education. The present policy is considered “not only useless but seems to persuade young people to despise country life”. It is felt that unless children are taught to understand and respect the country, and to realise that life on the land is worthy of all the skill and knowledge that can be devoted to it, no permanent improvement in the agricultural industry can be obtained. Teachers possessing a real knowledge of and sympathy with rural life are desired. At present many teachers aim at persuading pupils to qualify for bursaries in town schools. Agricultural courses such as provided in Craibstone, Aberdeen, should be extended. So too should practical instruction in rural subjects in elementary schools. Intelligent parents would like to see more secondary schools having hostels for country children. Country people too are interested in the experiment whereby town children are encouraged to become interested in rural subjects - for example, the Farm School for Glasgow boys is noted and praised. Several correspondents from rural areas stress the need for integration of all educational facilities whereby Young Farmers' Clubs, Women's Rural Institutes, etc., should be linked up to the existing educational scheme - all of them making use of extraordinary aids such as films and lectures on rural topics.

(d) General

The “man in the street” is exceedingly vague regarding general education. “A thorough grounding in the three Rs” is considered essential for the elementary stage and time and again correspondents have stressed the need for citizenship training - either incidentally or as part of the planned curriculum. The only dissentient voice in this desire for education for citizenship is the “Dundee Courier” - wherein the fear is expressed that citizenship might degenerate into making scholars the pawns of political parties. The views of the people are best summed up in the words of a report of ESCA: “The Edinburgh Schools' Citizen Association wish to see bridged the gap between school and life. They wish boys and girls to leave school ready to take an intelligent part in the affairs of life.”

10. Nursery Schools

Again we must report little general interest in this topic. In rural areas particularly the subject is rarely mentioned though one writer would like to see nursery schools in agricultural areas: “The children would be better off in them than playing, often filthy, around farm middens

Opinion is sharply divided regarding the value of nursery schools. About half of the people are enthusiastic. This includes those who have visited the schools. The rest are quite antagonistic because mothers ought not to shirk the responsibility of bringing up children. Mothers bringing up their own children apparently resent the spectacle of young mothers at work “parking” their children for the day. Such phrases as: “The infant is the responsibility of the mother. Relieve her of that responsibility and motherhood deteriorates” occur again and again. Discussions on the subject with working-class mothers show that the majority are at the beginning quite against the idea but eventually agree wholeheartedly with nursery schools for (a) children whose parents are working; (b) neglected children; and (c) children from overcrowded homes. But sentiment against nursery schools is still strong.

Trades Union opinion is generally in favour of nursery schools and some middle-class people believe they will be necessary after the war because of the shortage of domestic help.

11. School Meals

The majority are in favour of school meals, though a few grumbles are heard on the lines that “the taxpayers feel that the business of feeding and very nearly bringing up children involves a great deal of money without proportionate results”. School meals are specially favoured for children who come from a distance and for those whose mothers are out working. The importance of social training at mealtimes is stressed though many fear that this at the moment is receiving scant attention. To quote an extreme example: “One small country school I visited the children were seated round a large pot of soup in the middle of the classroom floor and filling up their bowls by dipping them in. The same sort of thing can be seen in Darkest Africa.”

One rural contact mentions the long term effects on home cookery which school meals ought to produce. “Children accustomed at school to good plain and varied diet would soon become so rebellious against the home routine of potatoes and porridge that changes there might well be the price of peace.”

12. Vocational Guidance

Almost nothing is known of this by the “man in the street”, though the work of juvenile advisory committees and of headmasters is acknowledged to be of value.

13. Intelligence Testing, Child Guidance, etc.

These terms are unknown to the large majority of people and are usually quickly dismissed as “fads”. Psychologists come in for some hard knocks. Those parents who are really interested and know something about the subject are enthusiastic but they are few and far between. From Dundee comes the complaint that parents dislike the child guidance clinics as they feel that their children are stigmatised by attending them.

One writer from a bi-lingual district in the North of Scotland expresses his hope that when intelligence tests are used in his area Gaelic tests will be employed.

Parent-teacher associations are considered by many a very good idea and a necessary development. It is felt that the gap between parents and teachers is too wide: “Parents only swim into the teacher's ken in an irate condition - not a happy foundation for complete understanding!”

14. Juvenile Delinquency

The public is less alarmed about juvenile delinquency than Press accounts would indicate. Children have always been naughty and so many juvenile crimes like playing football in the street are not considered criminal acts at all. Few parents take the view that their offspring can be delinquent children.

At the same time many people have read of the increase in delinquency but few have ideas as to how the problem should be tackled or cured. There is little faith in probation and many openly applaud such sentiments as “I would thrash them with a thick and heavy leather strap until they howled for mercy.”

Bad upbringing is almost universally considered a reason for juvenile delinquency and the idea of punishment of the parents wins much approval.

Approved schools are considered necessary evils, but care in the choice of the staff, especially the Head, is urged. The influence of approved schools is generally considered bad. “Young children there learn wickedness from the older ones.”

15. Boarded-Out Children

Town people think the “boarded-out scheme” a first rate one, but country folks among whom the children are living are much more doubtful. Country people believe that the young boarded-out children are a bad influence on other children and are convinced that insufficient supervision of the foster homes is undertaken. “All too often it is only a means for some crofter or farmer to procure cheap labour.” Supervision meanwhile only ensures they are clothed and fed. It does not examine too closely the sort of feeding and clothing provided. Labour exploitation of the 14/18 years group was, before the war, rampant and probably still is. To prevent this, better after-care work during these years would seem essential. Another correspondent writes: “A large hostel with a farm and workshop attached would retain practically all the merits and under good management would rule out the grave disadvantages. A study of the admirably conducted Highland Orphanage, Inverness, would be valuable and a contrast can be made with the conditions of boarded-out children known to schoolmasters in the neighbouring districts.”

St. Andrew's House,

Edinburgh.

August, 1943.