SCIPD visits - Aims
The SCIPD programme
Learning and Teaching Scotland is responsible for the operation of the Scottish Continuing International Professional Development (SCIPD) programme for International Education. The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring greater equity in access to, and participation in, the SCIPD programme for teachers and authorities across Scotland.
On an annual basis, LTS will determine programme priorities following discussions with the Scottish Government, the Reference Group and other bodies.
The International Perspective
The Scottish Government aims to ensure that young people are outward looking with a strong sense of identity and Scotland’s place in the world.
This supports the 'Smarter' strategic objective, which seeks to expand opportunities for Scots to succeed from nurture through to lifelong learning, ensuring higher and more widely shared achievements.
One of the key principles of this objective, the International Perspective, has the following terms:
The focus should be on Scotland and Scotland’s place in the world - challenging our ambitions against the achievement of other countries and aiming to have a confident sense of self.
Learning in schools should promote an understanding of Scotland, our culture, heritage and history, our environment and our place in the world.
Benefits
In this context, SCIPD individual and group study visits widen teachers’ horizons by providing an opportunity for them to look closely at different approaches, reflect on their own practice, develop a global perspective and improve learning and teaching. Many visits should fit in with the Scottish Government’s commitment to benchmark Scotland against international practice, particularly through the work of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Sharing experiences from study visits enables others to draw on the good practice for their own work and helps to benchmark Scottish education against international practices.
This principle also applies at a policy-making level, where international comparisons can provide us with a variety of data about policies, processes, systems and performance. We already engage in many international surveys, for example PISA, PIRLS and TIMSS, and with many European and international bodies across the portfolio, from children’s wellbeing to higher and adult education.
International research, for example the OECD review of the quality and equity of schooling in Scotland, along with information sources such as the EU's Eurydice network, are valuable when comparing our education system and policy developments with those of other European countries.