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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Fair questioning	A wide, open and inclusive approach to receiving responses to questions. In one sense this might mean allowing everyone in a group the opportunity to answer or respond to a question, and not accepting answers from only 'star' pupils or those who insist on answering before others. In another it can mean questioning which takes appropriate account of pupils' experience, including school work and social and cultural background; or that which does not aim to 'trick' them into providing answers based on ignorance of the topic.
Faith	A system of belief and values, whether secular or religious. Firm belief in something for which there is no proof; complete trust; a general term often used to refer to religious belief, in particular acceptance of religious doctrines and dogmas.
Fanaticism	From French fanatique or Latin fanaticus 'of a temple, inspired by a God'. Excessive enthusiasm, unreasoning zeal, or wild and extravagant notions, on any subject, especially religion; religious frenzy. A person who subscribes to this approach is called a fanatic.
Fascism	Fascism is opposed to individual liberty and capitalism conducted for the purpose of private gain, and all non-governmental forms of association which might tend to weaken a person's loyalty to the primary group, which is the state. Fascism is a form of totalitarianism in which devotion to the group over self-interest is emphasized. Fascism is a political system, which developed in Italy, Spain and Nazi Germany during the 1920s and 30s.
FE (Further Education)	Post-school, mainly vocational education, offered through 46 FE colleges, which are grant-aided, directly or indirectly, by the Scottish Government. The funding agency set up by the Executive for this purpose is known as the Scottish Further Education Funding Council.
Feedback	The process of providing a structured response, with information about work in terms of strengths and aspects for improvement. Feedback can be written or verbal. However the aim is to bridge the gap between present performance and desired goal, and is instrumental in moving towards next steps in learning.
Felder-Silverman learning style	A learning styles model that contrasts different learning characteristics or orientations. Learners may be to a greater or lesser extent: Sensing learners or Intuitive, Visual learners or Verbal learners, Inductive learners or Deductive learners, Active learners or Reflective learners, Sequential learners or Global learners.
Fenian	There are two definitions: 1. One of a legendary group of heroic Irish warriors of the second and third centuries A.D. 2. A member of a secret revolutionary organization in the United States and Ireland in the mid-19th century, dedicated to the overthrow of British rule in Ireland. Though the term is often associated with sectarianism, the term Fenian itself is not sectarian or religious. Often swear words are attached to the term Fenian to make it offensive and derogatory.
Fibre-optic cable/Fibre	A way of transmitting data or voice signals that uses glass or plastic fibres rather than copper wire. The signal is generated by pulses from a laser or light emitting diode. Fibre-optic cable has a much greater bandwidth than copper.
firewall	A security system designed to prevent unauthorised access to a computer network. Not only can it stop hackers getting in, it can also be used to restrict what you see on the internet and what kinds of files you receive.
First-stage remediation	The process of self or peer review of a piece of completed work in order to eliminate small or trivial errors in advance of evaluation by the teacher. If pupils are encouraged to look critically at their own work or pass it to another pupil for checking, simple or careless errors can be corrected before asking for teacher feedback. This enables the teacher to focus on genuine misunderstandings.
Flash	Vector graphic animation software from Macromedia animations viewable in webbrowser as long as the plug-in is installed. Flash animations have relatively fast download time. Flash now provides a lot of interactive pages on the web, video, applications and many other types of content are displayed in flash.
flexible routes to headship	A pilot programme to support to the development of aspiring headteachers, a unique feature of which is the role of the professional development coach. An alternative to the standard route to Scottish Qualification for Headship.
Flow	The perfect learning state that enables the brain to engage fully with a learning activity. According to the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihaly, this is achieved when the challenge is equal to the level of skills and the learner receives continuous feedback on his or her performance.
Focus group	Generally, a small group of participants, usually no more than twelve, invited to examine and provide feedback on an issue in the presence of a moderator. A school might work with focus groups of staff, pupils or parents to identify school improvement issues. In teaching, the phrase might refer to small group tutorials focusing on an identified area of weakness or a particular skill or aspect of knowledge.
FOI (Freedom of Information)	A term used to refer to the rights of the individual to obtain recorded information from public bodies either under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
FOISA (Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002)	This Act was introduced by the Scottish Parliament to ensure that people have the right to access information held by Scottish public authorities. The Act states that any person can receive information that they request from a public authority, subject to certain exemptions such as protection of personal data, commercial confidentiality or national security. It came into force on 1 January 2005.
Folder of evidence	Also referred to as a folio or portfolio. Essentially, it should contain work which illustrates how pupils met the outcomes intended
Folio	Sometimes called a portfolio, a representative collection of work by one individual. It should illustrate what the student or pupil has achieved and may imply next steps in learning.
Formal moderation	The planned, systematic process of establishing comparability standards, in order to ensure that assessment is valid and reliable.
Formative assessment	Assessment which focuses on the gap between present performance and desired goal. To be formative, the information gathered must be used to adapt the teaching or the learning to meet the needs of the learner. In the 5-14 national assessment guidance, this type of activity is called 'assessment as part of teaching'. In the AifL - Assessment is for Learning programme, it is called 'assessment for learning'.
Formative use of summative assessment	Summative assessments, such as end-of-unit tests, used formatively with an emphasis on using the information gathered to support the learner in future learning, for example, in improving areas of weakness shown in the test.
Fostering	Definition of foster care in Soctland as described in the 1996 Fostering Regulations as ‘arranging for a child to live as a member of the family of a person who is not a parent and does not have parental responsibilities for the child’.
Freeware	Software that can be downloaded from the internet free of charge.
Frontal lobe	The specialised region of the brain thought to be associated with planning, problem solving and some movements.
FTP File transfer protocol	File transfer protocol is the simplest way to exchange files between computers on an intranet or the internet. It is commonly used to download programs and other files from a server to a computer.
Fundamentalism	Fundamentalism is a religious position typically characterised by a rigid adherence to what are perceived to be the most basic and traditional principles and beliefs of that religion.