Scottish Primary Schools Research Articles

Understanding Scottish primary teachers’ experiences in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of their pupils post-Covid through the lens of self-efficacy theory

Health and wellbeing has been identified as a responsibility of all within the Scottish education system for over eight years (Education Scotland, 2014). The Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns have brought new challenges for primary teachers in Scotland. The current study examines Scottish primary teachers’ experiences in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of their pupils following the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns through the lens of self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1977). Nine female primary teachers with experience teaching in Scottish primary schools before and following the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns participated in semi-structured interviews. Braun and Clarke’s (2022) Reflexive Thematic Analysis was used to analyse the data. Themes were organised according to the four sources of self-efficacy, with eight sub-themes being identified: adapting previous experiences, prioritising health and wellbeing, observing good practise, lack of opportunity to observe peers, the value of practical and emotional support, availability of support, overwhelmed and under pressure and keep calm and carry on. Implications for future research included the potential for a focus on experiences of newly qualified teachers. Implications for policy and practice included the need for prioritisation of health and wellbeing and the role of the EP in supporting the mental health of teaching staff.

Exploring the effects of a multicultural literature intervention on children’s creative writing skills

Multicultural literature can be used as a pedagogical tool to promote the voices of marginalised communities (Yokota, 2001). At present, most of the research on multicultural literature focuses on studies which are based in America. To address this research gap, this study aimed to explore the effects of one Scottish primary school’s bespoke multicultural literature intervention by analysing stakeholders ‘perspectives on pupils’ creative writing skills post-intervention. Four focus groups were conducted with: the senior management team, class teachers, P7 pupils, and the authors/illustrators who participated in the intervention. Through thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), two overarching themes were identified: Developing Critical Awareness and Promoting Culturally Diverse Stories. The findings suggested that the intervention helped to: develop pupils ‘critical awareness skills; enrich pupils’ creative writing skills; and normalise multiculturalism. From a Scottish context, these findings illustrate how the multicultural literature intervention appeared to have a positive effect on P7 pupils.

Meeting the needs of highly able readers in the primary classroom: teachers’ perceptions in China and Scotland

ABSTRACT This study explored regular classroom teachers’ perceptions of highly able readers and their actual practice of gifted education in the educational contexts of China and Scotland. This study is qualitative in nature and questionnaires and interviews were used to gather data in Chinese and Scottish public primary schools. The analysis indicated that many teachers in both countries believed that compared to their similar-aged peers, highly able readers could demonstrate advanced linguistic, cognitive and socioemotional abilities, and additional support was needed to develop reading ability. However, divergence emerged in terms of the role of school education. While Scottish teachers believed that highly able readers could be developed by school education, Chinese teachers believed that the role of school education was to provide basic education rather than enriched and additional education for highly able students. Chinese teachers regarded family education as the main source to extend highly able children’s learning experience. A concern for lacking professional knowledge for properly identifying and addressing the needs of highly able children was revealed between Chinese and Scottish teachers. The findings suggest that teacher training for gifted education and the flexibility for planning differentiated instruction should be provided to teachers in both countries.

The relationship between young children’s transitions and power: ‘Why are all the doors locked? I don’t feel free … I am not in charge of me anymore'

ABSTRACT Increasing attention to the relationships between transitions, power, spaces, and schooling, this article explores the disjuncture between seemingly liberal concepts in transition processes and hierarchical abuse of power. This ethnographic study sought to explore the perspectives of 16 children as they transitioned from one ‘early learning and childcare centre’, Lilybank, to four Scottish primary schools. Participant observations and face-to-face interviews were conducted in the formal educational settings and children’s homes. Overall, the study found that the perspectives of children can often be silenced by educational professionals or overshadowed and undermined by procedures. Children were expected to become acquiescent as they adjusted to coercive practices that limited children’s access to spaces in the school. The results suggest a need for a commitment to listening approaches, which may encourage educationalists to become respectful and responsive to children’s transition discourses and subsequent social realities.

Creativity in childhood: exploring how children’s experiences of creativity can be understood intersectionally and spatially

ABSTRACT This paper marks the study of childhood creativity as a geographical concern and examines children’s experiences of creativity in school spaces, paying particular attention to how such experiences are understood intersectionally and spatially. It draws on findings from an ethnographic research project that was conducted in one Scottish primary school classroom. It argues that the performance of children’s intersectional identities during peer-group interactions influences the way power operates in and through school spaces, creating cultures of inclusion or exclusion. It reaches the conclusion that childhood creativity is directly linked to, and affected by, the way children’s intersectional identities are performed within social spaces, and suggests that it is important for creativity research to take into account the operations of power among children. Implications for further research include the need for more dialogue on children’s experiences of creativity in various places and spaces in both the global North and South.

Enabling positive change in primary school: learner‐led research in a Scottish context

The relevance and value of increased learner participation in effect change research is increasing in its significance and importance across the education sector, guided by current national governance and the move of local authorities to implement action research models to drive improvement. This paper reports on a study led by primary seven pupils in a remote rural Scottish primary school, working collaboratively towards planning, developing, implementing and evaluating learner‐led research. The pupil researchers created their own initiative, introducing dogs to the classroom, which was designed to increase self‐esteem and self‐efficacy for all learners in their school. Through the implementation of the initiative, they were observed to develop their own social and emotional well‐being as they engaged in the process of interviewing, results analysis and subsequent resource dissemination. This article discusses the collaborative and supportive relationship alongside the desire to bring about positive change that must underpin genuine collaboration.

‘Never mind children’s cognition, what about mine?’ Teachers’ perspectives of the enactment of policy: The case of metacognition

AbstractEducational policy in the UK and beyond increasingly focuses on promoting skills that encourage learners to be independent thinkers and to self‐manage their own learning. While the educational benefits of metacognition (i.e., thinking about and managing one’s own thinking) are widely acknowledged, little attention has been paid to teachers’ perspectives about the enactment of such approaches within the educational setting. Thus, this interview study seeks to investigate Scottish primary schools teachers’ perspectives about the enactment of policy, using metacognition as an exemplar case. Analysis produced two broad themes that distinguished between ‘bottom‐up’ implementation of metacognitive approaches, and more commonly described ‘top‐down’ approaches promoted by local or national policy. The perceived ‘changing tide’ of externally set top‐down initiatives was described as particularly challenging for teachers to negotiate, resulting in a perceived crowding of the curriculum and associated ‘tick‐boxing’ practices. Results are discussed in relation to the process of enactment—arguing that the predominance of top‐down policy initiatives acts to restrict teachers’ agency by diminishing professionalism and promoting performativity.

Teaching in lockdown: Examining Scottish primary teachers’ resilience during national lockdowns

The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in an unprecedented move to emergency remote teaching. The present study examined the Scottish context of teacher resilience (TR) by considering the lived experiences of eight Scottish primary school teachers during ongoing lockdowns, referred to as ‘transitional emergency remote teaching’ (TERT). Data from virtual interviews was analysed following an inductive and experiential approach to Braun and Clarke’s (2013) six phases of reflexive thematic analysis. Four main themes were identified: ‘Teacher career adaptability’, ‘Relationships within school’, ‘Learning from home’ and ‘Continuous Professional Development’(CPD). Key findings suggest that teachers who demonstrated resilience adapted to TERT and identified new positive aspects to their teacher identities; senior management had a key role in supporting TR; TERT impacted positively on teacher-student relationships with parents increasingly viewed as partners in learning; and reflection promoted help-seeking behaviours, with practitioners desiring more formal reflective opportunities considering the impact of TERT.

Creativity in primary schools: An analysis of a teacher’s attempt to foster childhood creativity within the context of the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence

The importance of creativity in education has been increasingly recognised by policy-makers and, as contemporary research argues, the way curricula are organised and implemented impact on children’s creativity. Scotland has recently introduced a new curriculum, the ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ (CfE), but there has yet been no research on how the implementation of the CfE has impacted on childhood creativity. This paper uses qualitative data (field-notes and interview transcripts) – from a case study conducted in one Scottish primary school classroom with 1 teacher and 25 children aged 11–12 – to explore what cultural and structural issues influence childhood creativity. This paper is primarily based on teacher’s data and also includes data from seven children. The study found that the CfE can be implemented in both rigid and flexible ways and that structural barriers to creativity emerge when, amongst other causes, cultivation of skills within a tick-box system is perceived as more important than exploration and risk-taking, and when teachers are pressured to evidence the outcomes of their work. This paper concludes that the cultivation of creativity requires schools to build participatory frameworks which leave space for reflection and co-construction and which value diversity, equity and collaboration.

Art in my world: Exploring the visual art experiences in the everyday lives of young children and their impact on cultural capital

AbstractThis paper presents data from a unique longitudinal study exploring the visual art experiences of nine children in two Scottish primary schools. Using a theoretical lens of cultural capital, the study is focused on spaces where children experience visual art and the value of these experiences, using arts‐informed, visual methods. While each child presented a particular insight, the findings question the value of current school visual art experience over other spaces. The findings also demonstrate the capacity of children to resist the control of cultural capital by adults, engaging with visual art on their own terms.

Play as a Mode of Capability Development in Scottish Primary Schools

In Scotland, the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) provides education practitioners with the opportunity for transformational change through the delivery of a holistic, broad and general education. This paper explores the extent to which play can be used as a pedagogical tool in developing the capabilities of children to realise the ambitions of CfE. The focus here is four of the ten core capabilities identified by Martha Nussbaum in her version of the Capabilities Approach; one of which is play, the others being those with which it is intrinsically linked, i.e. affiliation, ‘senses, imagination and thought’, and ‘practical reason’. This conceptual analysis of play, autonomy and the Capabilities Approach constitutes a theoretical case for playful approaches in all stages of Scottish primary schools. It is argued that this would provide opportunities for human flourishing in the context of the CfE.

An Insight Into the Involvement of Mothers of Low Socioeconomic Status in Scottish Primary School Health Education Activities

School-based health activities that involve parents are more likely to be effective for child health and well-being than activities without a parent component. However, such school-based interventions tend to recruit the most motivated parents, and limited evidence exists surrounding the involvement of hard-to-reach parents with low socioeconomic status (SES). Mothers remain responsible for the majority of family care; therefore, this study investigated mothers with low SES to establish the reasons and barriers to their involvement in school-based health activities and to propose strategies to increase their involvement in those activities. Interviews were conducted with mothers with low SES, who were typically not involved in school-based health activities (n = 16). An inductive-deductive approach to hierarchical analysis revealed that there are several barriers resulting in mothers being less involved, particularly due to issues surrounding the schools' Parent Councils and the exclusivity of school-based events. Efforts made by the school to promote health activities and involve parents in such activities were revealed, alongside recommendations to improve on these practices. The findings offer multiple ways in which future school-based health interventions can recruit and involve mothers with low SES.

Challenging violence against women: a Scottish critical health literacy initiative.

Violence against women constitutes a significant public health problem affecting an estimated 35% of women worldwide (WHO, 2013); the scale of the problem and its ongoing intransigence indicate the need for critical and transformative approaches that confront the cultures that support gender violence and lead to change. The present paper analyses a program run in Scottish primary schools for 10-12 year olds called RESPECT that was successful in making pupils alert to and critical of gendering norms and practices. Analysis reveals that the teaching plans and activities of RESPECT are highly consistent with a critical pedagogical approach (Freire, 2005; Matthews, 2014), and indicates the value of combining the theoretical approaches of critical pedagogy, feminism and critical health literacy in public health campaign materials aimed at challenging the cultural bases of gender violence in ways that promote health in an educational setting.

Moderation and the primary school context

ABSTRACTThis study presents an examination of the enactment of moderation in a Scottish primary school. The study investigated how an individual school made sense of moderation. Documentary evidence was gathered providing an in-depth understanding of both moderation and the wider context of the school. Audio recordings of three moderation meetings provided data on moderation enactment. Unstructured, semi-structured and focus group interviews captured the views of all participants involved in moderation. Moderation was viewed positively, understood as a social process enhancing collegiality and curriculum improvement. Finally, a typology for moderation is proposed.

Educational and Health Outcomes of Children Treated for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects 39 million people worldwide; in isolation, it doubles annual health care costs and, when associated with comorbid mental health problems, it quadruples the costs. To compare the education and health outcomes of schoolchildren treated for ADHD with their peers. In this population-based cohort study, individual-level record linkage was performed of 8 Scotland-wide administrative databases covering dispensed prescriptions, admissions to acute and psychiatric hospitals, maternity records, annual pupil census, examinations, school absences and exclusions, and unemployment. The study cohort comprised 766 244 children attending Scottish primary, secondary, and special schools at any point between September 21, 2009, and September 18, 2013. Data analysis was performed from June 1, 2015, to December 6, 2016. Medication approved solely for ADHD treatment. Special educational needs, academic attainment, unauthorized absence, exclusion, age at leaving school, unemployment after leaving, and hospitalization. Outcomes were adjusted for potential sociodemographic, maternity, and comorbidity confounders. Of the 766 244 schoolchildren, 7413 (1.0%) were treated for ADHD; 6287 (84.8%) were male. These children had higher rates of unauthorized absence (adjusted incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.16; 95% CI, 1.14-1.19) and exclusion (adjusted IRR, 5.79; 95% CI, 5.45-6.16), more commonly had a record of special educational need (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 8.62; 95% CI, 8.26-9.00), achieved lower academic attainment (adjusted OR, 3.35; 95% CI, 3.00-3.75), were more likely to leave school before age 16 years (1546 [64.3%] vs 61 235 [28.4%]), and were more likely to be unemployed (adjusted OR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.25-1.53). Children with ADHD were more likely to require hospitalization overall (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.25; 95% CI, 1.19-1.31) and for injury (adjusted HR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.40-1.65). Even while receiving medication, children with ADHD fare worse than their peers across a wide range of outcomes relating not only to education but also to health.

Going further than the 'Daily Mile'.

A recent primary school initiative encouraged pupils to run or walk a mile each day. Andy Fairhurst and Sarah Hotham of the Centre for Health Services Studies, University of Kent, highlight the importance of encouraging children to explore a full range of social and physical activities, building foundations for continued physical activity in later life.[Image omitted: See PDF.]In 2015, media attention focussed on a Scottish primary school where the introduction of a 'Daily Mile' saw pupils run or walk a mile, taking around 15 min each day.[1] The benefits claimed by the school and media included that obesity had been eliminated and that educational attainment and concentration had been improved.[2],[3] The simplicity and replicability of the concept has caught the attention of the health and education sector, and over the last year, there have been moves to reproduce the programme across England.Why not the Daily Mile?The Daily Mile falls short of where primary school physical activity needs to be. While an additional 15 min or more per day of activity will contribute to achieving the recommended daily minimum of 60 min of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity in children,[4] the Daily Mile is an overly simplistic contribution to energy expenditure that misses opportunities to develop a range of physical and social skills. Furthermore, it is a potential contributor to the issues underpinning physical inactivity later in life.It also fails to address what children want from physical activity. Children have an inherent interest in physical activity-based play and a strong belief in its value, with the main reasons for positive attitudes towards physical activity identified as fun and enjoyment, being with friends and the sense of belonging to a team.[5] It is unlikely that an enforced mile run will engender these feelings in every child.The worst case scenario is that the Daily Mile is setting up a generation for a lifetime of inactivity. Low levels of participation after leaving primary school are often due to negative experiences of primary school sport and physical activity, particularly in girls.[6] Reasons cited for children and young people not wanting to participate in physical activity in primary school include getting cold and wet,[7] and boredom;[5] both commensurate with a compulsory year-round outdoor run in school uniform.The Current State of Primary School Physical EducationThe excitement with which the Daily Mile has been received is a tacit admission that there is a lack of structured physical activity in primary schools. Physical education (PE) lessons in England last an average of 108 min, well below the daily recommended levels of physical activity.[8] Outside classes and break times provide an opportunity for free play, but for children who are already disengaged with physical activity, this time is usually spent sedentary.[9]There is also a variation in quality of primary school PE delivery. Initial Teacher Training allocates a maximum of 12 h to physical education, meaning primary teachers do not feel confident or safe delivering PE lessons.[10] Furthermore, many teachers start with preconceived views of PE, usually shaped from their own negative school experiences, which are difficult or impossible to change.[10]Building the Foundations of a Sporting FutureThe benefits of the Daily Mile claimed are not exclusive to a mile's walk or run, but are the widely reported benefits of physical activity. If schools are to commit time to physical activity, could it be better spent promoting physical literacy, movement skills and leadership as well expending energy?Physical literacy is the foundation of PE and school sport and describes the range of motor skills, flexibility, agility, co-ordination, confidence and motivation required to take part in physical activity or sport. …

Young children’s social class identities in everyday life at primary school: The importance of naming and challenging complex inequalities

This article explores young children’s social class identities in the context of a Scottish primary school, highlighting the ambivalent institutional discourses around ‘diversity’ and social class in the school context. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with 5- to 7-year-olds, it shows the emotional and embodied aspects through which social class differences are performed in the children’s intra- and intergenerational interactions, and the implications for the children’s relationships and experiences in school. The study shows that practitioners need to name and address social class differences, in intersection with gender, race and ethnicity, and involve young children themselves in discussions about identities and inequalities.

Scottish Primary School Children Who Consume Greater Levels of Fruit and Vegetables Have Improved Health Markers

Background: There is conflicting information about whether Scottish children follow the UK government recommendation of consuming 5 portions of fruit and vegetable (F & V) a day, or whether increased intake of F & V promotes improved health. Objective: This study aimed to 1) perform a cross-sectional study of the number of F & V portions that primary school children consume in relation to age (4 - 13 years old) and sex, 2) establish the relationship between F & V intake and health parameters. Methods: Data were collected from 466 children using a specific F & V intake questionnaire. Health parameters (weight, height, blood pressure, waist circumference, hip circumference and lung function) were measured from all of the children. Results: Children consumed on average a total of 4.50 (SD 1.86) portions of F & V per day. F & V intake was not significantly different between girls and boys (t(464) = -0.397, P = 0.69). Children had greater intake of F&V on week day compared to weekend day (t(465) = 6.42, P ≤ 0.001). 42.2% children achieved the recommended F & V intake of five or more portions per day. After adjusting for age, sex and school, children who consumed more F & V had several markers of positive health including greater height, and parameters reflecting pulmonary function (FEV1 and FVC) were improved, while body weight, body fat, systolic blood pressure, pulse, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist to hip and waist to height ratio were all reduced. Conclusion: The recommended level of F & V or more can promote health among primary age children.

The emotional geographies of belonging: children’s intersectional identities in primary school

This article examines the role of emotions for young children’s social identities of ethnicity, race, nationality, class, gender and culture in the context of a Scottish primary school. It argues that emotions contribute to how intersectional identities are performed in children’s peer relationships within the discourses available to them, and that analysing emotions is crucial for understanding how children’s intersectional belongings come to be constructed and politicised. This makes emotions a highly political matter, important for understanding the complexity of intersectionality and for informing childhood policy and practice.

Preventing violence against women by challenging gender stereotypes in Scottish primary schools

Preventing violence against women by challenging gender stereotypes in Scottish primary schools