Tag: Jimmy Reid Foundation

Scottish Education needs radical overhaul, argues Jimmy Reid Foundation paper

The Jimmy Reid Foundation has released a new paper, Liberal education in a neo-liberal world: re-culturing and recalibrating, to coincide with the first day of the 2021 STUC annual congress.

The full paper can be found here: JRFeducationpaperfinal-3Download

Summarising the paper, Boyd, Kelly and Maitles argue: ‘Whilst there are some strong positive aspects to Scottish education and which can be improved with some relatively small alterations, the key negative factors operating within our education system — a neo-liberal agenda and inequality of attainment and achievement, stemming from too many of our population living in poverty — mean that a radical overhaul is needed’.

The authors say: ‘Neo-liberalism – the idea that choice and markets and testing can deal with the problems – has failed and, indeed, exacerbated the problems.  Marketisation of education, de-skilling and lack of trust in our teachers, the growth of managerialism and the politicisation of education all need to be challenged’.

Instead, they argue that: ‘The development of well-rounded human beings, knowledgeable of values, human rights and citizenship, should be the aim of education.

‘All pupils should have the opportunity to become independent learners and creativity should be at the heart of education and this requires a radical student-centred approach. Parents, pupils/students, communities and society as a whole should have a role in designing an education system for all.’

The authors suggest the closing of the achievement gap is related to poverty and will require macro-intervention but positive attempts to tackle it should begin in Early Years education.

They say: ‘We need to intervene early, postpone the age of formal education, ensure that early years are based on play and outdoor learning and raise staffing levels and funding in our nurseries and primaries’.

They add: ‘Secondary schools should never again be in thrall to an examination system which distorts learning and teaching and institutionalises failure for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

‘Nor should internal selection in schools, supported by Universities’ ever increasing entrance requirements, be continued. Further and Higher Education need to become much more student and community focused’.

Boyd, Kelly and Maitles lay out a blueprint for radical change, putting Scottish culture and history and the decolonising of the curriculum at the core and whereby all students should have the opportunity to become independent learners with creativity being at the heart of learning. 

Also part of this blueprint is that all of the sectors of education should find common cause and create a coherent system with manifest choices being presented to learners with parents, pupils/students, communities and society as a whole having a role in designing an education system for all.

Details about authors: Brian Boyd, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of Strathclyde, John Kelly, Lecturer in Business, West College Scotland, and Henry Maitles, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of West of Scotland.

JRFeducationpaperfinal-3Download

New pamphlet on the need for a publicly-owned care service

The horrific – and often avoidable – impact of the coronavirus pandemic in Scotland on the lives of those in care (like older people and disabled people) has thrown into sharp relief the inadequacies of our social care system.

While the recent Report of the Independent Review of Social Care (the Feeley Review) identified some of the problems, its recommendations shrank back from confronting the cancer at the heart of social care, namely, its domination by market forces and by private providers whose primary concern is with profit and not care.   
 
By contrast, this pamphlet, jointly published by the Jimmy Reid Foundation and the Social Work Action Network (SWAN) with contributions by leading disabled activists, public sector trade unionists, frontline workers and campaigners including Neil Findlay MSP and journalist Kevin McKenna, calls for a publicly owned, controlled and funded national care service, where care workers and care users are in the driving seat.
 
The pamphlet can help shape the debate in the coming months over the kind of National Care Service we want to see in Scotland. Buy it, read it and order copies for your union branch, your college course or your organisation.
 
Copies can be purchased in pdf or hard copy from Calton Books for £4 each:
 
PDF: https://www.calton-books.co.uk/books/people-before-profit-the-future-of-social-care-in-scotland-pdf-version/
 
Hard copy: https://www.calton-books.co.uk/books/people-before-profit-the-future-of-social-care-in-scotland/
 
If you wish to order more than 10 copies, there is a 10% discount so please contact Calton Book at shop@calton-books.com to do so

Yours sincerely

Professor Gregor Gall, 

Director, The Jimmy Reid Foundation

Building Stronger Communities

Paper proposes way forward to create stronger,self-sustaining communities

The Jimmy Reid Foundation has released a new report called ‘Building stronger communities’ (LINK FOR PAPER HERE) by Dave Watson.

Building upon his earlier papers for the Jimmy Reid Foundation, in this new paper he argues the pandemic has highlighted the importance of strong communities for supporting each other despite communities of place having been undermined by recent austerity.

The pandemic has also highlighted that political opportunities are opening up for society to be organised in new and quite different ways from before. In this context, he puts forward a set of proposals to create stronger, self-sustaining communities.

Summarising the paper: 

  • Watson makes the case for a comprehensive programme to rebuild communities as the building block of a more equal, democratic, healthier and sustainable society. To do this, he deploys the concept of ‘social infrastructure’, namely, the physical conditions that determine whether personal relationships can flourish. When social infrastructure is robust, he argues, it fosters contact, mutual support, and collaboration among friends and neighbours. When degraded, it inhibits social activity, leaving families and individuals to fend for themselves. Watson looks at a wide range of initiatives that can strengthen social infrastructure including housing, libraries, leisure facilities, voluntary organisations, community ownership and the role of planning.
  • In this context, he argues that it has to be recognised that the governance of public services in Scotland is one of the most centralised in Europe. Consequently, he makes the case for national government to focus on setting frameworks, and leaving the delivery of services to local democratic control. And so, local integrated services should, he argues, be based around community hubs in recognisable communities of place. But this also includes, he suggests, repurposing our town centres in Scotland via community wealth building based on wellbeing and inclusion. 
  • And, given the impact of austerity, Watson also recommends that stronger communities require fair funding for local services. Therefore, in addition to a fairer allocation of grant support, he argues the reform of both the council tax and business rates is long overdue and as are considering local levies for revitalised Common Good funds and the taxation of digital services. He adds that accompanying measures to decentralise powers at the local level are essential to democratise society and economy.

Commenting on his paper, Dave Watson said: ‘The paper argues that stronger communities will not happen by mere accident or as a result of more political rhetoric. Instead of a series of piecemeal initiatives, we need a comprehensive programme of action that covers all the factors that help build stronger communities.

By making communities the building block of our society, we can create a fairer Scotland where we care about each other, where people can pool their resources, demand accountability, build institutions and influence the decisions that affect them. This responds to evidence from polling that people want to be more engaged, but generally don’t feel part of the decision-making process.’

Dave Watson was head of policy and public affairs at UNISON Scotland until retiring in September 2018.  He has been a government advisor on public service reform, health and energy policy.

He was an expert advisor to the Christie Commission that set the current framework for public service reform in Scotland. He now works on policy development, human resource and pension consultancy projects and is Secretary of the Socialist Health Association Scotland.

His previous papers for the Jimmy Reid Foundation papers are ‘Public Service Reform’ (2017) and ‘Municipal Socialism for Modern Scotland’ (2018).

He blogs at http://unisondave.blogspot.com

Yours sincerely

Professor Gregor Gall, 

Director, The Jimmy Reid Foundation

First Minister: “Workers’ rights are human rights”

First Minister to deliver Jimmy Reid Memorial Lecture

jimmy-reid-win

The UK Government’s Trade Union Bill does not reflect the reality of industrial relations in Scotland and does not contain a single proposal that would be passed by the Scottish Parliament, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will say tomorrow. Continue reading First Minister: “Workers’ rights are human rights”