No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Mathematics teaching in Scotland today*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 August 2016
Extract
Home to just over five million souls, Scotland is the most sparsely populated part of Britain. The people are overwhelmingly white (some 98.7%) and English speaking. Levels of deprivation vary considerably across the country as a whole. Some 20% of the school population was entitled to free school meals in 1995, though the figure was twice as high in the City of Glasgow, where life expectancy is 10 years below that of affluent parts of the south of England. In July 1997 proposals were presented for the creation of a Scottish parliament. Whilst the Westminster parliament would ‘remain sovereign’, many powers would be devolved to Edinburgh, including those relating to virtually every aspect of education. So today, the Scottish Executive Education Department (or SEED) administers Scottish Executive policy for pre-school and school education in co-operation with local authorities that are responsible for providing school education in their areas. No less than 96% of youngsters are educated in state schools. Schools associated with religious groups including the Roman Catholic Church were incorporated into the state system in the 1920s. The annual cost of running the whole education system is a little under £5 billion or some 9% of Scottish GDP [1, p. 17].
- Type
- Articles
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Mathematical Association 2003
Footnotes
*
This is an abridged and edited version of a talk given at the NCTM Annual Meeting in Orlando in April 2001. The author wishes to thank the anonymous referee for the helpful comments given.
References
1.
Paterson, L.
Educational provision: an overview, in Bryce, T. G. K. & Humes, W. M. (eds) Scottish Education, Edinburgh University Press (1999).Google Scholar
2.
Wilson, D. K.
The History of Mathematical Teaching in Scotland to the End of the Eighteenth Century, Scottish Council for Research in Education (Publication VIII), University of London Press (1935).Google Scholar
3.
Darling, J.
Scottish primary education: philosophy and practice; in Bryce, T. G. K. & Humes, W. M. (eds) Scottish Education, Edinburgh University Press (1999).Google Scholar
4.
Clark, M. M. & Munn, P.
Education in Scotland, Policy and Practice from Preschool to Secondary, Routledge (1997).Google Scholar
5.
Beaton, A. E. & Robitaille, D. F.
An overview of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, in International Comparisons in Mathematics Education, Kaiser,
et al.
Falmer Press (1999) pp. 30–47.Google Scholar
6.
SOEID
Improving Mathematics Education 5–14. Report by HM Inspectors of Schools (1997).Google Scholar
7.
Star, R.
Robertson, I. J. & Napuk, A.
The Assessment of Achievement Programme, in Bryce, T. G. K. & Humes, W. M. (eds) Scottish Education, Edinburgh University Press (1999).Google Scholar
8.
Tinklin, T. & Croxford, L.
Scottish School Leavers Survey, Special Report III (Summary): High-attaining Female School Leavers, SEED (2000).Google Scholar
9.
Ganson, H. & Deluca, C.
Gender Research, Paper presented at SCRE
Annual Conference, Dundee (1995).Google Scholar
10.
Elliot, D. & Ganson, H.
SEB findings on Scottish achievements; in Bryce, T. G. K. & Humes, W. M. (eds) Scottish Education, Edinburgh University Press (1999).Google Scholar
11.
Biggart, A.
Scottish School Leavers Survey, Special Report II (Summary): Gender and Low Achievement, SEED (2000).Google Scholar
12.
SEED, Standards and Quality in Secondary Schools 1995–99: Mathematics. Report by HM Inspectors of Schools (1999).Google Scholar
13.
Harlen, W. & Malcolm, H.
Setting and Streaming: A Research Review, Scottish Council for Research in Education (1997).Google Scholar