"I am confident that in years to come this will have a positive impact on the University, as well as the quality of teaching provision for young people in the twenty first century."
In the Sutherland report, the following strategic
recommendations were made and have steered the merger of teacher education
and the universities.
"In recent years there has been the movement towards closer links
between the monotechnics and universities, and in some cases full integration.
There are I believe, strong arguments, both academic and financial, for
strengthening further links between the monotechnics and the universities
in Scotland.
"On academic grounds, I believe that the proposals that I have put
forward in the main report for a new qualifications framework point, inevitably,
towards the provision of teacher education within a broader intellectual
context than can be provided by a monotechnic. For example, I have argued
for the development of a more flexible framework that allows trainees
to opt in to teacher training from a variety of subject pathways and have
recommended a number of new courses that seek to build teacher education
in an integrated fashion onto a period of subject study. These proposals
imply that there should be increased diversity in the type of training
and education available and that new forms of courses should be delivered
in institutions offering a broad range of studies. There are also strong
arguments that the student experience in Scotland is likely to be enhanced
through being educated in a broader Higher Education context and, integration
into, the research environment of a university.
"I have considered the range of provision that is necessary to guarantee
a supply of appropriately trained teachers and, in particular, the impact
of increasing diversity in provision. In the main report I have set out
arguments for a new qualifications framework that provides a wider range
of provision based on new entrance points and greater opportunities to
enter teacher education from a variety of pathways."