Remind me what's good about living in Scotland?

[CoralPaperweight]

I moved to Scotland 25 years ago (central belt) and I've had a great life here but over the last year or so I've got increasingly itchy feet. May be a post-Covid or age thing but I'm not sure I want to stay in Scotland forever - it just doesn't seem to be as appealing to me, and even the cities seem a bit flat at the moment. Realistically, I can't disrupt DS education at the moment, he's very settled and happy so please remind me of everything that is fantastic about life in Scotland. I'm forever reading threads about people who are desperate to move to Scotland and I'm not really seeing why at the moment.

Here's me thinking my son did well getting his master's and all the while not realising he's actually a failure as his ancient Greek just isn't up to scratch.

Scotland eh, who'd live here?!?

Curriculum for Excellence in reality:

me: "can you put your coat on please?"

them: "I'm the boss of my own body and you can't tell me what to do."

me: "can you just put your coat on?"

them: "I am my own person and I have the right to be listened to and my views respected".

me: "FFS it's minus bastarding 12 out there - can you just for the love of sweet baby cheeses just put your bastarding coat on and listen to your mother for once?".

Don’t worry @StickyFingeredWeeNed All that normal teenage drama will fade into insignificance when you’re watching them graduate with a Masters, or complete their apprenticeship in a highly sought after trade, or progress down whatever route they decide to go.

You might not get that far with this one however as Masters degrees are relatively unpopular in the UK as a whole, and Scotland fits into this pattern, when compared to some European universities where they are almost a pre-requisite of professional employment.

What a load of tosh.

Masters degrees are absolutely a requirement for a significant amount of professional employment in the UK - have you tried becoming a Chartered Engineer without one?

The numbers in the UK taking taught postgrad degrees has been steadily increasing since the 1960s, plus undergrad Integrated Masters degrees are becoming increasingly popular - particularly given the funding for an IM is more straightforward than for a stand alone Masters.

I am pretty shocked about how poor the state education is in Scotland. Curriculum for excellence saw my kids being taught nonsense such as yoga, meditation, massage etc in the month or so before summer at late primary. I send my kids to school to learn academic subjects. It’s my job as a parent to look after their wellness. What an incredible wasted opportunity to use that time to advance their academic skills. And don’t get me started on the near constant films / concerts / trips to panto/ crafting that destroys any chance of them learning anything in December. Doesn’t the school realise we do all of this stuff at home?

Yoga and meditation? What a fantastic opportunity and so good for their physical and mental well-being.

You might look after your child's wellness, doesn't mean all other parents out there look after their own children's wellness unfortunately...

Absolutely. A nation of people schooled to be non-academic, non skilled in trades, yoga enthusiasts who can mediate and do a bit of massage while insisting on equality at all times sounds amazing. What more could a country want?

Disclaimer - I might be slightly biased as my education in Scotland was bloody awful, I wasn't able to take higher History and the school and careers advisor didn't even encourage pupils to go to university at all. My mother actually complained about me being forced to take home economics as it wasn't academic enough (there was very little of the economics part) and pointed out that I would learn how to run my own flat when I left for university. I think she shocked them into submission. But yoga, meditation, wellness and massage sound as though its still going in the same direction. I'm not sure those subjects are focussed on in any other European countries to such an extent.

Again, if you can afford panto and other festive fun during December, that is brilliant. Not all children have a fun Christmas time and are as fortunate.

The only proper meal many Scottish children get are in school hours, also same for fun activities.

I think many posters on MN have led a very sheltered life.

Countries like Japan where academic success is paramount also has a high suicide rate. Yoga and meditation taught in Japanese schools might actually be invaluable to combat children getting stressed from a young age. Mental wellness is really important for young people.

I'm pretty sure that Scotland didn't invent yoga and meditation and that the Japanese are aware of it too...

As I said in my post, I thought you might not like the Italian school syllabus, and that isn't the point. The point is that our children do basic and often boring things at an age when other children are doing high level things. Italian children are actually learning to appreciate and discuss history, philosophy, literature, culture, in a way that ours really aren't. They will actually end up educated. I also dislike the way that the work here is so regimented - so you have to include 2 facts to get 2 points, etc. When I was at school, essay writing meant that you went for it in your own way - there were no rules to follow.
It's far from reassuring to see posters here argue that the role and benefit of school is to teach our children about their place in society, equality, etc, as their parents may teach them the wrong things. This sounds totalitarian, particularly in the context of the Hate Crime Act, etc. A healthy country allows for different opinions and beliefs. A healthy country doesn't indoctrinate. A healthy country doesn't seek to undermine parents. A healthy and successful country wants its children to reach their potential. Small independent countries can thrive, but only if they have strong education systems. Eg Estonia, Ireland.

Not only are you biased you’re obviously prone to exaggeration. How often do you think yoga and meditation is actually taught across the curriculum? Rough ball park is fine.

Academic success is to be applauded and something we have certainly encouraged in our DC, but I also want them to have a well rounded education which exposes them to opportunities which they otherwise may not have. How boring school life would be if it focused solely on academic subjects to the exclusion of all else.

I'm being sarcastic. You know, facetious. Try to keep a sense of perspective. It is quite funny to imagine hordes of yoga-proud meditators emerging from Scottish schools, ready to bore anyone who disagrees with them into unconsciousness. That was also sarcasm by the way.

I think its really obvious from this thread that debating skills and tolerance of opposing views really needs to be taught in Scottish schools. I'm not referring to the current poster, who has remained polite, but a few other posters who think theres nothing wrong with immediately resorting to sweeping insults and character assassination simply because someone disagrees with them is quite embarrassing to see in adults. The alternative is the nit picking which seems characteristic of a technique adopted by a certain political party. I don't really either of these traits as being likely to distinguish Scots on an international stage, but perhaps no-one cares any more because the world of some people seems to end at the border.

Yes, really quite prone to exaggeration (with a healthy dollop of hyperbole and unconscious irony thrown in for good measure).

We will need to agree to differ on our views on the education system and leave it there.

I agree with you that is does tend to be very prescriptive here. I went back to study a Higher as an adult only a few years ago and the exams and tests were unrelenting but of course there was no time to mark them properly. So you were encouraged in some of them to write one word or one phrase answers, and if these did not appear on the answer sheet, you were marked wrongly. So in one of them I wrote "precipitation" rather than "rainfall" as an answer because it more thoroughly answered the question, but was marked wrong. I discussed it with the teacher, who insisted that although it made more sense, it was not the word that was on the marking sheet and therefore it had to be wrong.

Overall, I got the impression that the teaching was aimed at almost learning off by heart the responses required.

I wonder how equality is taught too. You could teach children a lot by combining it with teaching about the French revolution and its emphasis on egality, liberty and freedom and compare and contrast it with the lack of individual citizen rights achieved by the Russian Revolution. You could discuss Montesquieu's development of the separation of powers and how healthy and successful nations have a clear division between the organs of state but that might mean criticising the Scottish unicameral system. You could teach about the greater rights in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights when compared to those in the ECHR and the history behind those rights being rooted in the aftermath of the Second World War. Since the licensing regime in Scotland is ever increasing, you could discuss how the trades are professionalised in many European countries with licensing of tradespeople in certain fields. Perhaps this is what is done and I am criticising unnecessarily.

The Romans have never been popular in Scotland with their classical ways though...

I am sure I have said nowhere in my post that Scotland invented yoga🤔

Doesn't change the fact that others belittling mental health strategies in CfE for our young people is short sighted. Let children be children and learn about mindfulness. What of it?

A well rounded education is more meaningful than just scoring well academically. I agree with your sentiments SirChenjins.

I don't think its a bad thing that schools are trying to be more mindful of children's mental health. The pandemic has left many children struggling and children's mental health services are on their knees. Schools that try to have some sort of help should be applauded i think. For every child who doesn't need it there will be others who do. And like everything else, its not a one size fits all.

They might have to change the module about Scotland’s excellent international transport links, and internal road and rail network 🤣

@ssd luckily, my Ancient Greek is pretty hot 🤣

Countries like Japan where academic success is paramount also has a high suicide rate

On the other hand they don't have a massive issue with anti-social behavour.

Yoga is part of the Early years teaching as they noticed that kids were lacking in core strength so struggled with writing... I'm happy with that.

Have literally no idea how the secondary system works but my 6 year old seems happy enough and is as challenged as she was in England and as much as I remember being at school.

Proper meal? I don’t think the food that passes for nourishment can be described as a proper meal. In most schools now it is all packed lunches anyway.