A new edition of the bestselling textbook for Scottish teacher education courses

This detailed, informed and critical account of contemporary education in Scotland examines each of the main sectors in depth: early years, primary, secondary, further and higher education. It scrutinises the historical, cultural, political, and socio-economic dimensions within which schools, colleges and universities operate.

Featuring 67 new authors and updated and expanded throughout, this fifth edition is so substantially updated from the previous edition as to practically constitute a new book. The contributors have drawn on up-to-date research and professional analysis to give fresh insights into recent educational developments – in particular during the period from the Independence referendum in 2014, through the complexities of the post-Brexit years. These have been years when education has faced difficult challenges and the writers analyse the many factors affecting teachers’ efforts to operate during uncertain times.

This latest edition contains forthright and informed commentary on every aspect of education and is essential reading for anyone concerned to know how education currently ‘works’ in Scotland.

New Topics for the 5th Edition

• Poverty, class and inter-generational disadvantage
• Digital education in schools
• Children’s rights
• Governance reforms in the universities of Scotland
• Educating migrant and refugee pupils
• LGBTI issues in schooling
• A pupil’s experience of Scottish education
• An alternative vocational pathway: a model for the future
• A Journalist’s perspective on the future of Scottish Education
• The direction of post-school education in Scotland

Praise for the First Edition

‘The most comprehensive treatment ever of education in Scotland.’
– Peter Scott, Scottish Affairs

‘This book tells us comprehensively how Scottish education works. It also sets a research agenda for the future.’
– Sheena Erskine, International Review of Education

Praise for the Second Edition

‘A text that is authoritative yet accessible, scholarly yet provocative, definitive yet iconoclastic’
– Frank Pignatelli, Times Educational Supplement Scotland

‘Excellent and admirably succinct ... We are indebted to the hard working editors and authors. I am now much better informed, if a tad exhausted, by my reading of this
important book.’
Sally Brown, Scottish Educational Review

Praise for the Third Edition
‘There are numerous chapters where the level of analysis is impressively high, which are models of lucidity, perceptive and stimulating, and well (in some cases, elegantly) written.’
– Gordon Kirk, Times Educational Supplement Scotland

‘A compendium which provides a compleat overview of the Scottish Education system. In all, this is a book even bigger than the sum of its parts.’
– Cate Watson, Education in the North

Praise for the Fourth Edition
‘This edition is ... new and fresh and therefore definitely worth purchasing as your standard reference for matters concerning Scottish Education.’
Steven Cowan, Scottish Educational Review

‘This is an important book for anyone who is interested in researching or seeking a deeper insight into Scottish education.’
Kay Livingston, Scottish Affairs