Teachers in Scotland have traditionally been led to believe that they operated in an educational system far superior to that in the South. The higher proportion of graduates in Scottish schools, the supposedly more "liberal" course content of the Scottish Certificate of Education Higher Grade courses over English Advanced Levels, the wider curricula in the early years of University courses—all these arguments, which anyway relate only to the higher levels of the system and not the experience of the average pupil, have been used to perpetuate the myth of a superiority which was already on the way out 100 years ago.
More relevantly, in the recent past, this myth has masked a situation in which in a whole number of respects the Scottish system is the poorest in Europe:
Until the present pay awards the Scottish minimum salary for a primary teacher was £780 compared to £860 in England.
3.3% of Scottish primary classes were over 50 in number in December 1968 against 0.04% in England and Wales.
20.8% were over 40 against 10.7% in England and Wales.
Ironically enough, the Scottish National Party, usually so willing to turn any statistics against the British political parties, has almost completely ignored this question—perhaps because it tends to raise too many awkward questions about the Scottish "tradition" which they so opportunistically uphold. They might for instance have to confront the fact that the Scottish system is one of the most authoritarian in the world, where the use of the belt is widespread and "progressive" educational ideas often meet with a frosty response.
It is these myths whose swan-song has been so prolonged, that have also helped to strangle effective teacher unionism in Scotland for so long. There are three main organisations:
The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), 30,000 strong, which is leading the present salaries campaign, is in an even more dominant position in relation to the other unions than is the NUT in England. Its voice is decisive in the Teachers' Panel of the Scottish Teachers' Salaries Committee. But, like the NUT, though perhaps to a somewhat lesser extent, the composition of its leading bodies does not reflect that of its membership. 13 out of the 24 Executive members in 1969 were headmasters, as were 54 out of 121 members of the National Council. Its Glasgow section, which has more than 5,000 members, has tended always to be somewhat in advance of other areas and was responsible for the last significant strike action, the one-week stoppage in 1961.
The Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association (2,500 members) is a reactionary organisation consisting mainly of Honours Graduates, with its base in the more conservative East and North-East of Scotland. Throughout the present negotiations it has [illegible] strike action:
The Scottish Schoolmasters' Association is a male-chauvinist outfit, with a history of opposition to [illegible] pay. Its policy usually consists in doing exactly the opposite to the EIS in order to better differentiate itself in every situation and perhaps pick up a few of the latter's discontented members.
None of these unions has followed any consistently militant policy in the past. All of them cling to the notions of "professional status". Even during the recent strike campaign EIS leaders have been at pains to point out that the union upholds the right of its members to opt out of striking on grounds of "conscience".
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PRESENT SALARIES CAMPAIGN
The Scottish teachers' dispute should be distinguished from that of the English in so far as it represents an attempt to secure a full restructuring and review of salaries. The English teachers on the other hand [illegible] interim rise of £135, pending [illegible]. At the time of writing, the EIS [illegible] proposals [illegible] trained teachers to the £980 that the NUT have [illegible], have reaffirmed their [demand] for £1,070 as [illegible] "a minimum of £20 a week for every Scottish teacher". The strike campaign is continuing, and there is [a] chance that, if the management are not forthcoming with an increased offer for [illegible] teachers in the negotiations due March 20th, it will go over into the summer examination period.
[illegible] Scottish teachers in the last few months. A situation where mass meetings in such [illegible] as Aberdeen and Dundee unanimously [illegible] unthinkable even a [illegible] years ago. It constitutes an object lesson to those who look at a section of the working class and write them off without understanding their past or examining the potential of their future—those who refuse to look at social processes and think dialectically. It is also a lesson in how rapidly consciousness can change through actual experience of struggle, even at the lowest level. Thus, almost overnight, hundreds of teachers have seen themselves, for the first time, as a part of the working population, of the working class. They have compared their own struggle to that of the dockers, dustmen and Ford workers, and learnt the lesson—militancy pays. Above all perhaps they have been influenced by the strikes of their colleagues south of the border.
The consequences of this change are potentially of tremendous importance to revolutionary socialists. The educational system constitutes one of the certain flash-points in the chronic crisis of the British economy and institutions which is liable to be a [illegible] feature of the [illegible]. The contradiction [illegible] between [illegible] "consumers" and the capacity of the state to finance the system, are liable to be particularly acute at the "lower" levels of the system, i.e. in the schools, Colleges of Further Education, etc. The development of a militant movement amongst teachers will be a necessary counterpart to the SAU and other student movements. The experience of the teachers' disputes this year indicates that a modest start in this direction is now possible.
Already a group of socialists in the EIS have got together to produce the first issue of Scottish Rank and File (available, price 1/- p.p. from: Tony Southall, 97 Otago Street, Glasgow W.2). The journal is inspired by the example of the paper of the same name which has built up a considerable following in the NUT in the last couple of years. It is hoped a more permanent structure will emerge from this initiative. Such a paper, if it is to be useful, will have to avoid the danger of being oriented solely towards wage [illegible]. While it is [illegible] to raise demands [for] the highest possible increase, it is far more important to begin to work out a real transitional programme for teachers which can develop consciousness beyond its present "economist" stage, In the first instance, this is likely to be achieved by beginning to pose questions about the control and financing of the schools. It will also be important to work out a programme for the Union, e.g. affiliation to STUC, majority of unpromoted staff on leading bodies, etc.
In the convulsions that will undoubtedly shake the schools and colleges in Scotland in the coming years, such a rank and file teachers' organisation could play a key role, both in radicalising members of the profession itself, and in exacerbating the crisis of one of the key institutions of advanced capitalism.