Glossary

Searchable glossary containing hundreds of definitions and descriptions of education terms, acronyms and abbreviations used by the LTS online service and in Scottish education.

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Backbone	The part of a network used as the main path for sending data between different areas
BAECE (British Association for Early Childhood Education) - known as 'Early Education'	The British Association for Early Childhood Education is known as Early Education. It is the leading national voluntary organisation for early years practitioners and parents, with members and branches in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
Bahai	The Bahá'í faith is one of the youngest of the world's major religions. It was founded by Baha'u'llah in Persia (now Iran) in the 19th century. Bahái's believe that spiritual life goes hand in hand with the practical life. They see social and economic development projects as an expression of faith in action. They recognize all of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim prophets.
Bandwidth	A measure of how much information a communication link can carry. More bandwidth means more capacity to carry information.
Barriers to learning	Within the scope of inclusion, used to refer to difficulties for learners which arise from circumstances, rather than learning difficulties within the learner.
Baseline audit	A means of establishing the starting point for development. Action plans based on some kind of initial self-evaluation allow staff and schools to evaluate at the end of a project the extent to which they have achieved success.
BC (British Council - Education in Scotland)	In Scotland the British Council works with overarching bodies and education providers to form international links and to promote Scottish education and training systems and expertise.
Becta (British Educational Communications and Technology Agency)	Becta is the Government's key partner in the strategic development and delivery of its information and communications technology (ICT) and e-learning strategy for the schools and the learning and skills sectors.
BEd (Bachelor of Education)	A school leaver or someone who does not already have a degree can do either a Bachelor of Education degree (BEd) in Primary Education, Music, Physical Education or Technological Education, or a concurrent (combined) degree course. They do not have to make a decision on whether to undertake a teaching qualification until towards the end of the second year of a concurrent degree course and if at that point they decide they do not want to teach, they will still be able to obtain a degree in the subject they have studied.
Belief	An expression of firmly held opinion of personal morals or values or of a position (e.g. political, scientific). This belief may exist regardless of the existence of proof. Disbelief constitutes belief that an idea is false. Unbelief is a lack of belief in either the truth or falsehood of an idea.
BELMAS (British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration)	BELMAS seeks to advance the practice, teaching and study of educational management, administration and leadership in the United Kingdom, and to contribute to international developments in these areas.
Benchmarking	Involves setting a standard against which something can be measured. Benchmarking can be a means of assisting establishments to evaluate the extent of progress they have made, for example in comparing the current pattern of pupils’ attainment with a previous one for the school or with patterns of attainment in comparable schools.
BERA	British Educational Research Association
BERA (British Educational Research Association)	A learned society for educational research which publishes (in association with Carfax Publishing, part of Taylor and Francis Ltd) the British Educational Research Journal six times a year.
Bias	A predisposition or prejudice towards something or someone. Bias may be inclined positively or negatively in relation to people, situations and events.
Bigotry	A belief that one's own opinion is superior to others resulting in intolerance of others. For example, intolerance of other faiths, ethnic groups etc. A person who subscribes to this view is known as a bigot.
Binary	Composed of two parts
Black and minority ethnic	See 'ethnic minority'.
Black and Wiliam	Academics at King's College, London who carried out the review of assessment in 1998 and summarised their findings in Inside the Black Box (King's College, London, 1998).
Black Box	A metaphor for the classroom, coined by Black and Wiliam and used in the titles of booklets on assessment.
blended learning	Learning, including professional development, which uses more than one mode of learning; eg face-to-face delivery with online support.
Blog	A blog, otherwise known as a weblog, is an online diary. The person writing the weblog is known as a ‘blogger’ and the process of keeping an online diary is known as ‘blogging'.
Blogging	The process of keeping an online diary (often referred to as a blog) is known as blogging.
Bloom's taxonomy	A hierarchical classification of educational objectives formulated by the American educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom and his associates.
Bluetooth	A technology that allows computers, printers and mobile phones to make wireless connections.
Board of Directors	The LTS Board and its Chair are appointed by the Scottish Government to oversee and direct organisational affairs. Details of membership and minutes of meetings are on the LTS website. There are the following sub-committees: Audit Committee; Chair's Committee; Remuneration Committee; Location Committee; HR Committee.
Bodily kinaesthetic intelligence	The ability to control body movements and handle objects skillfully. Such learners express themselves best through movement. They have a good sense of balance and hand-eye co-ordination. Through interacting with the space around them, they are able to remember and process information. Their skills include dancing, physical co-ordination, sports, crafts, acting, miming and using their hands to create or build.
Bolt-on activity	A term applied to an activity which is added on at the end of a process.
Bookmarks	In a web browser, bookmarks allow you to keep a note of pages you want to revisit
Brain breaks	Brain breaks are simple exercises designed to equip the teacher with tools to manage the physiology and attention of the class. Research shows that structured physical movement can enhance our readiness for learning.
Brain Gym	A program of physical movements aiming to improve athletic and intellectual skills.
Brain imaging	Brain imaging, or neuro imaging, techniques are used to create images of the brain. There are several techniques: CT or CAT (computed axial tomography), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), PET (positron emission tomography), SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography), DOT (diffuse optical imaging).
Brainstorming	A means of solving a problem, developing a strategy, or generating ideas by asking individuals or a group to get together and produce as many thoughts on a topic as they can in a short space of time.
Broadband	A communications link with bandwidth of at least 1.5 Mbps. This is approximately thirty times faster than a dial-up link
Buddhism	Buddhism, founded by Siddhartha Gautama in India in 2600 BC is a spiritual tradition that focuses on personal spiritual development and the attainment of a deep insight into the true nature of life. This makes Buddhism different from many other faiths for it is not centered on the relationship between humanity and God. There are over 150,000 Buddhists in Britain.
Building the Curriculum	An explanation of Building the Curriculum as used in Curriculum for Excellence.
Bulletin	A bulletin is a brief report, update or summary about a particular item of interest.
Buzz groups	Buzz groups provide an opportunity for pupils to say what they think and ask questions about what they have been studying. The situation allows individual difficulties and points for clarification to surface within a small group context.